A few suggested reasons

  • perl is easy to learn the basics of, but there's always more to learn
  • it allows you to use the same language to knock up an admin fix, or write an app
  • for any given job, there's usually a CPAN module that will help - no charge
  • there's a strong, enthusiastic and cohesive community (right here for example)
  • the documentation conventions make docs generally easy to follow and understand
  • perl being a slightly quirky language in design terms, its unique and it appeals to people in a way no other programming language does

    • Perl is the computer users swiss army knife - the posidrive screwdriver blade might not be as good as a freshly charged Makita cordless with a #2 phillips bit, but it does the job without any fuss when you need it to; saving you time, money and effort.

    Plus its fun. Golf can be played in any language - my dad used to play it in the 1960's on punchcard based mainframes. But obfu's?

    (but seriously...) IMHO, because perl is based on natural language principles (same link as above) and hence TIMTOWTDI, it allows more scope for self expression than any other programming language - thats what makes it fun.

    VGhpcyBtZXNzYWdlIGludGVudGlvbmFsbHkgcG9pbnRsZXNz

    In reply to Re: More Perl by g0n
    in thread More Perl by Anonymous Monk

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