(Not to worry: this is not a "is Perl dead?" or "Perl vs Somehipnewlanguage" wringing of hands.)

Fellow Monasterians,

I have not posted here for while, nor spent much time in the Monastery. Why? Because I was following the Siren's Call of the Pythonites, Rubyettes, and all the Perl naysayers.

Staying open-minded is good thing. I have my own business, I write code to build out nicely featured Web sites for my clients, and I want to leave them code that is easily maintained by someone other than myself. So, I took a little journey, even to the point where I thought I'd be leaving Perl behind for one of the new kids on the block.

However, the confusion and doubt persisted, so this last weekend I decided to do some definitive research and make a commitment for the long haul. After much Googling, reading (much of it negative towards the Perl—but you know all about that), and "gnashing of teeth," I stumbled across the helpful Perl vs Ruby vs Python thread. The examples and technical evaluation didn't sway me one way or the other, but the watershed comment for me was, "Perhaps your time would be better spent becoming a better Perl programmer than to learn a new language?" Very convicting. So, in my own reply, I state that I'm sticking with Perl because:

1. I know Perl
2. It has worked well for me
3. It can do anything
4. I already write well-structured, easy-to-read, non-obfuscated code
5. CPAN (one of the real clinchers)
6. Perlmonks

This is no criticism of the other languages and frameworks I looked at—if I were just starting out I might very well have choosen something other than Perl. My biggest concern is not my own competency in Perl—I can always improve that, but leaving my clients code that future coder will want to and be able to maintain.

I realize I can contribute to that by participating in the Perl community, following best practices, and intelligently and fairly defending this "Swiss Army knife from hell" (as one so aptly put it).

So, thanks for keeping the Monastery fires burning while I was out. It's nice to be back.

Update: fixed link, thanks to kyle


—Brad
"The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men." George Eliot

In reply to One Monasterian's Prodigal Journey by bradcathey

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