Re: Perl 5.10.0 or Perl 5 Version 10?

If "Perl 5 Version 10.0" is going to differentiate Perl 5 and Perl 6 as different languages, than it's also going to suggest that "Perl 5 Version 10.0" is very different from 5.8.9.

But it isn't.

Perl5 has been around since for over 14 years. Perl itself has been around for over 21 years. Perl 5.10.0 looks more like Perl 1.000 than Perl 6 looks like any version of Perl 5. The 5.X.Y numbering scheme predates Jon throwing mugs to the wall.

I'd say that if there's a need to differentiate between Perl6 and Perl5, it's Perl6 that ought to rename. (But that has been proposed several times in the past, and it hasn't happened, and I doubt it will - but then, perl6 is unlikely going to happen before my retirement).

Having said all of that, I don't think Piers will get his way. But he is (or was?) active in the Perl6 movement, so he may have more luck if he tries to rename Perl6.

Comment on Re: Perl 5.10.0 or Perl 5 Version 10?

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: Perl 5.10.0 or Perl 5 Version 10? by chromatic (Archbishop) on Jan 16, 2009 at 18:07 UTC
Perl 6 is unlikely going to happen before my retirement.... The next stable monthly release is next Tuesday. This will be, by my count, the 15th stable monthly release. Congratulations on your retirement!	[reply]
Renaming Perl (Was Re: Perl 5.10.0 or Perl 5 Version 10?) by pdcawley (Hermit) on Jan 20, 2009 at 07:54 UTC
We don't get to rename Perl. Perl is Larry's language. The various revisions of Larry's language over the years have addressed Larry's concerns and needs at the time. As those concerns go, so goes his language. Right now, he's working on the sixth revision of that language, and it looks like it's going to be a big one, but it's still his language. The family resemblance is still there. Sure, he could go all Wirthy on us and call it, I dunno, Titania, but if he does, that's his decision, not ours. Until Larry makes the unlikely decision to rename, the way we distinguish between Perl 5 and Perl 6 is pretty straightforward. We call Perl 5 "Perl 5" and we call Perl 6 "Perl 6". The meaning of 'Perl', unqualified, will shift over time, just as it shifted from carrying an implicit "4" to carrying an implicity "5" during the last great revision shift.	[reply]


good chemistry is complicated, and a little bit messy -LW
	PerlMonks