Another problem is that Perl is kind of a dead end in terms of moving to other languages.

Really? As a result of programming in Perl, I will have a much easier time of moving to Smalltalk or LISP. Why? Because I now understand the fundamentals behind real object-oriented or functional programming.

My friends know for sure there'll be Java positions.

Yeah, and ColdFusion was never going away, either. VRML was the wave of the future and Flash will revolutionize the web. There are very few things that will never go away:

Perl is ideally suited for all three tasks. It is the ONLY language in the world that can be written once and run on over 200 different systems without changing a single character. Java cannot say that.

Plus, a language isn't a career path. That would be like saying "If you knew a mechanic who knew a bit about Fords and a bit about Toyotas, which would you recommend him specializing in?" That's a dumb question, huh?

Being right, does not endow the right to be rude; politeness costs nothing.
Being unknowing, is not the same as being stupid.
Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence.
Do not mistake your goals as the only goals; your opinion as the only opinion; your confidence as correctness. Saying you know better is not the same as explaining you know better.

In reply to Re: Is Perl a good career move? by dragonchild
in thread Is Perl a good career move? by Mutant

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