Perl 5 and Perl 6 are completely different; so much so that some people believe Perl 6 shouldn't be called Perl at all. Perl 6 is 100% object-based (like Python) whereas Perl 5 isn't (you can do Object Oriented Programing in Perl 5, but that's not what it was designed around).

I started with Perl almost 15 years ago through a need in my then current job. It flourished from there, now I know Perl 5 exceptionally well, Perl 6 to a degree, Python very well and can understand a lot of C/C++ etc. Once you understand programming concepts in general, learning a new language's subtleties isn't that difficult.

I'd say start with Perl 5, but I'm pretty biased. It appears as though there are more opportunities for Python hackers, but I'm sure that's based on industry, location and a bunch of other things. There is definitely a market for Perl hackers to maintain, fix, update and even translate old Perl code in many businesses. Although I code Python for work now, I'm always dabbling in Perl. I love it.

Cheers, and good luck!

-stevieb

ps. There is a significant market for Java developers, so keep that in mind too.

In reply to Re: Should I learn perl 5 in 2015 by stevieb
in thread Should I learn perl 5 in 2015 by shankonit

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