Re^2: perl.com has been restarted

As a Perl programmer and devout advocate since 1993, I gotta add my opinion here: 15 years ago the idea Perl 6 might of been a great idea, but IMO these days fundamentally changing the language structure isnt the way to go. Doing things like changing how you reference an array element from '$' to '@' only serves to alienate the dwindling base of Perl programmers that still exist. And quite frankly stuff like 'the sigil matches the type of end variable you are working with' is what *makes* Perl Perl!! :) IMO TO FIX: Ditch Perl 6, take the best features that dont alter Perl 5 syntax, and incorporate them into Perl 7. Case in point: The English language has alot of illogic and inconsistency, but noone in their right mind would start a campaign to try and 'fix it'. Not trying to start a flame war. I sincerely care about the future of the language and think that embracing the Perl 5 syntax is the way to go here.

Comment on Re^2: perl.com has been restarted

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^3: perl.com has been restarted by Your Mother (Archbishop) on Feb 05, 2018 at 18:11 UTC
I actually agree with you about sigils matching the type of the variable. Many folks have expressed confusion and dismay over it throughout the life of Perl but to me it was always absolutely logical and sensible as grammar. That said, you and I are in the minority and people have actually attempted to fix or simplify English over the years, including Ben Franklin's ludicrous spelling reform attempt. Perl 5 isn't going away soon and if it can continue to attract talented core devs it might never. The Perl 6 ship has sailed and fighting against it or trying to call it back to port hurts Perl 5, as already mentioned in this thread. If you care about Perl 5, put your efforts and energies there. The lack of apps has more to do with its usage spiral than any competition ever did. A single person, like Sri, MST, or Miyagawa, can stem the tide with a single good idea. Working will always beat complaining. Update: cleaned up a couple words/commas that were bugging me.	[reply]

Replies are listed 'Best First'.

Re^3: perl.com has been restarted
by Your Mother (Archbishop) on Feb 05, 2018 at 18:11 UTC

I actually agree with you about sigils matching the type of the variable. Many folks have expressed confusion and dismay over it throughout the life of Perl but to me it was always absolutely logical and sensible as grammar. That said, you and I are in the minority and people have actually attempted to fix or simplify English over the years, including Ben Franklin's ludicrous spelling reform attempt. Perl 5 isn't going away soon and if it can continue to attract talented core devs it might never. The Perl 6 ship has sailed and fighting against it or trying to call it back to port hurts Perl 5, as already mentioned in this thread.

If you care about Perl 5, put your efforts and energies there. The lack of apps has more to do with its usage spiral than any competition ever did. A single person, like Sri, MST, or Miyagawa, can stem the tide with a single good idea. Working will always beat complaining.

Update: cleaned up a couple words/commas that were bugging me.

[reply]