I used Perl occasionally starting in 1998 for various database scripts that I inherited at a client site. Since I was working on a Pro*C project at the time, I was not able to get into it too much. Finally, about two years ago, I needed to dig through data in an 700+Mb report, and compare the data with entries on Oracle. This was when it all started. I still do a lot of database scripting with Oracle, and have automated much of my support work to the point that what took hours, I now have a report ready for my in my mailbox when I come to work in the morning.

Regarding the bigger question, I have three big reasons why I learn a language.

  1. I like getting paid. Being a consultant, there are several languages I prefer to work with, but I prefer to eat, keep a roof over my head, etc. over sticking to one language. I know there are people making (good) money working with only one language, but I'd rather not take that risk.
  2. I always learn something new when working with a language that I can transfer back to the other languages I use. I have begun to agree with the fact that it takes at least ten years to really learn a skill. This past summer, I was learning Scheme, when the light turned on regarding something I was working on in Java that allowed me to simplify a design significantly and improve performance in the end. Now, working with C# has given me examples of where it is good to use function references in Perl and Python.
  3. I always find the limitations of a language while learning other ones. My recent work in C# has shown me several of the deficiencies in Java. My reference above to function references above was on limitation I found. But, C# is missing anonymous subclasses. Neither C# or Java have anonymous functions, but I can work with anonymous functions in Perl, Python, Scheme, etc. But overall, they all have their beautiful features and warts. After working with several languages, I can do a much better job now with suggesting the correct language for a job than I could five years ago.

In reply to Re: Why I learn a language. by Steve_p
in thread Why I learn a language. by blackstarr

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.