there is an irrational hostility toward Perl

From my very limited experience, it seems to mostly come from people who are extolling Python

Yes Bod, I noticed your curious phenomenon while working among programmers hired primarily for C++. For years, one chap kept telling everyone how much he loved Python and hated Perl ... until our coding standards were finally updated to permit Python scripts to be written, in addition to Perl.

After recently learning Python myself, I eagerly joined the code review of our Python lover's new script to see what I could learn ... and was flabbergasted to find myself pointing out embarrassing blunders in his code! :) ... you see, it turned out he "loved" Python and "hated" Perl based mostly on hearsay, not personal experience. He'd never written a Perl script in his life and his Python skills were mediocre.

BTW, Stroustrup noticed similar bigotry towards C++: "twice as many people claimed to hate C++ as had ever written even a single small C++ program".

Now I'm wondering how many Perl programmers might have badmouthed PHP based mostly on hearsay... ;-)

Cheers Rolf
_{(addicted to the 𐍀𐌴𐍂𐌻 Programming Language :)
Wikisyntax for the Monastery}

PS: Hint: at least me once or twice...