I just came across and old Infoworld article from July of 2001. Sun had posed a question on it's Solaris Developer Connection site, asking "What language do you use to develop Web-based client applications?" The response went like this:
Perl41.3%
JSP19.9%
C/C++14.2%
PHP11.2%
ASP8.8%
Other4.3%
I wonder what such a poll would look like today. There are more languages to choose from, for one thing.
Of course it's very old data and it really doesn't matter anyway, but I found it interesting.
ggg

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Re: web-based client app languages
by tachyon (Chancellor) on Sep 07, 2004 at 00:57 UTC
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Re: web-based client app languages
by Anonymous Monk on Sep 07, 2004 at 11:43 UTC
    Not only is it old, it's not useful to say anything about general web-based client programming. There's a bias in the people visiting the Solaris Developer Connection site - there will be a higher ratio of people working on Solaris visiting that site then if you look at everyone working in web-based programming.

    I'd expect Perl to be way lower if the same question was asked on a Microsoft developers site. Both now, and back in 2001.

[reply]
             There's a bias in the people visiting the Solaris Developer Connection site
      That's exactly why I found it so interesting.
      ggg
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Re: web-based client app languages
by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Sep 07, 2004 at 12:20 UTC
    Not to mention that when I see the words "client" and "language" in the same sentence, I think of things like JavaScript - the client-side stuff. I do not think of ASP or other server-side languages. The question is poorly worded, at least without additional context.

    ------
    We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

    Then there are Damian modules.... *sigh* ... that's not about being less-lazy -- that's about being on some really good drugs -- you know, there is no spoon. - flyingmoose

    I shouldn't have to say this, but any code, unless otherwise stated, is untested

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Re: web-based client app languages
by prostoalex (Scribe) on Sep 08, 2004 at 03:55 UTC
    Well, the demise of the language in one particular application field really shows little, if anything. In a similar vein, here's a survey: What language did you use to develop your new hardware driver?
  • C
  • C++
  • Assembly
  • Visual Basic

    The point being that there's a tool for every job. The thing with Perl is that there's so much more than CGI module. Socket server apps, TCP and UDP servers, neural networks, GUI apps and what not. The rise of PHP and ASP is no surprise - PHP and ASP are better for building dynamic database-driven Web sites. There, I said it. ASP.NET, I wouldn't even know how one would compare it with Perl - it's really an object framework with lots of pre-built components, and the concept of a site being a single app, while Perl is more page-to-page down-to-Earth coding.

    So while there are fewer reasons today to use Perl for large commercial Web projects, each one of those projects requires lots of back-end maintenance and glue code, and that's where Perl comes in handy.

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      The rise of PHP and ASP is no surprise - PHP and ASP are better for building dynamic database-driven Web sites. There, I said it.

      Care to elaborate? I don't know much about ASP, but as far as PHP and my experiences with it, it may be more geared for web/DB programming, but I don't think the fact that Perl is generally a better programming language can be discounted.

      ASP.NET, I wouldn't even know how one would compare it with Perl - it's really an object framework with lots of pre-built components, and the concept of a site being a single app, while Perl is more page-to-page down-to-Earth coding.

      There's no reason Perl can't be used to create a site that functions as a single app. In many ways, Perl Monks (which runs on Everything) is exactly such a web site. I think the power of Perl shows up in being able to actually develop such architectures.

      Anyway, I was just hoping that you could elaborate upon your perspectives a little bit more. Thanks.

      Zenon Zabinski | zdog | zdog@perlmonk.org

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Re: web-based client app languages
by webfiend (Vicar) on Sep 10, 2004 at 00:16 UTC

    Rumours of Perl's death have been greatly exaggerated.

    Repeatedly.

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