I use Perl for almost all of my scripting needs, even in cases where a simple .bat or .sh file would suffice. These scripts usually only benefit me or my co-workers during development, and customers never see these scripts.

When it comes to deciding on a technology that our customers will use, that should be left to what's best for the project. We've proposed one technology because we were interested in learning it (Java), but in the end we went with another (C++) because most of us have 10+ years experience in it, and performance is a critical requirement of the project. As tempting as it was, we should *never* have considered it. Developer skill development should not be considered when choosing technology for a customer.

The choice of technology should not be based on personal opinions, but on the needs of the project. However, developer experience with said technology should always be considered.

Phemur