With Fear and Wonder ...

That's how I have been approaching each piece of new Perl 6 information I've encountered.

I fear Perl 6, as I fear all things new. Over the years, I've studied and programmed in several languages, but I've only felt comfortable -- only truly enjoyed -- programming in Perl. I've devoted a lot of time to learning more and more Perl. I suppose it's only natural to feel some trepidation -- even Fear -- when something that has become a big part of your life is "threatened." Even TheDamian's recent Perl Journal article (showing how similar Perl 6 still is to Perl 5) has done little to allay my discomfort.

Some monks have said that it was probably the same way in the transition from Perl 4 to Perl 5; they obviously weren't there. :-)

I started Perl programming with Perl 4, and (sadly) had a chance to revisit it in my most recent project. The porting process from 4 to 5, at least for my applications, was: install Perl 5, then run the P4 program. I could then add P5 features (like references) as I wanted. The change was as seamless as possible.

I apparently won't be able to do that with Perl 6. Although P5 programs will run under P6 (in a "compatibility" mode), every program will either be a Perl 5 or Perl 6 program. So programming in Perl 6 will require diving into a full P6 program, with little or no opportunity to comfortably test out new features.

And yet I stand in Wonder at all the ways that Perl 6 will make some common programming tasks even easier, fix P5 design problems, and borrow even more good ideas from even more languages than Perl 5. So although I could continue using Perl 5 indefinitely, I know I won't; the New Frontier is too exciting.

(I could make a list here of all the Perl 6 features I'm excited about, but that would be an entire meditation itself.)

All in all, I'm looking forward to Perl 6. But I have trouble as seeing it as the next stage in the evolution of Perl 5. Instead, it seems like a new Perl-like language that -- perhaps -- I will learn to enjoy as much as Perl.

I hope I've adequately expressed my feelings. I've held off posting this meditation for a while, trying to find the right approach. :-)

Impossible Robot

In reply to With Fear and Wonder by impossiblerobot

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