Re: Web aps with Perl (6) vs. Longhorn and the Windows API?

The Perl jobs are out there: you just have to be willing to take them. Like any other job, you have to go where the job is. I know one Perl shop in Chicago is constantly looking for new hires, and Google, Amazon, and Yahoo are looking for Perl programmers. The Perl Jobs list has a steady stream of posts.

Perl gets a lot of media time. It's not as much as Java, but it's a lot more than most other languages. Most people in the industry, including HR types, know that Perl (or PERL or Pearl or something that rhymes with hurl) exists. Ask them about Ruby or Python and see if you get a reaction. It's not that Perl is losing stature, but it's virtually matured into the venerable position of C, and no one seems to be worried that C is going to disappear. I see Perl in a lot of places, but because it was useful for a particular part of a problem, not necessarily because the people wanted to give Perl center stage, and I think that's good.

If you want some resources, check out the Perl advocacy mailing list, O'Reilly's Perl Success Stories, The Perl Journal, The Perl Review, The Perl Foundation, Yet Another Perl Conferences, Perl.com, CPAN, and it's activity level, Perl Mongers, and The Perl Home Page. No other open source group has it pulled together like the Perl community. Despite recurring myths of its demise, Perl is rather healthy and relevant.

On the other side, you also need to see Dave Cross's "Why Perl Advocacy is a Bad Idea", Nat Torkington's "Be an Advocate not an Asshole", and Mark Jason Dominus's "Why I Hate Advocacy".

--
brian d foy <bdfoy@cpan.org>

Comment on Re: Web aps with Perl (6) vs. Longhorn and the Windows API?

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Re^2: Web aps with Perl (6) vs. Longhorn and the Windows API? by spq (Friar) on Jan 02, 2005 at 04:00 UTC
Hmmmm... I was subscribed to The Perl Journal for years (and have all the paper copies AFAIK), donated to the Perl Foundation, been to a couple (and presented at one) YAPC, have been hosting the Boston.pm tech meetings for a while now, etc. etc. I'm not so much worried about Perl's demise, at least not in the immediate future, as I am interested in seeing Perl be the first thing businesses consider when deciding which technology to use in developing their web application. This is as much selfish silliness (I don't want to move my family to Chicago) or ego as it is basic advocacy (I do like Perl best). I agree that we (I) have to be careful about not being over-zealous in advocating Perl. I try to reserve that for discussions on places like Perl Monks. =P I'm asking, is Perl 6 going to happen sometime soon, and if so can we plan on generating media outside our usual haunts when it does? If web applications are a 'next thing' and Perl already has a large role in that space, is this a good time to look ahead at increasing Perl's share of that space, hopefully to everyone's benefit? What might be good ways of doing that we can try or suggest to the wider community? I'd like to publish some articles (which in my case will require a really good editor! ;), but should I aim for the Perl Review or someplace more widely read? Thanks very much for feedback and the links, a few were new to me.	[reply]

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Re^2: Web aps with Perl (6) vs. Longhorn and the Windows API?
by spq (Friar) on Jan 02, 2005 at 04:00 UTC

Hmmmm... I was subscribed to The Perl Journal for years (and have all the paper copies AFAIK), donated to the Perl Foundation, been to a couple (and presented at one) YAPC, have been hosting the Boston.pm tech meetings for a while now, etc. etc.

I'm not so much worried about Perl's demise, at least not in the immediate future, as I am interested in seeing Perl be the first thing businesses consider when deciding which technology to use in developing their web application. This is as much selfish silliness (I don't want to move my family to Chicago) or ego as it is basic advocacy (I do like Perl best).

I agree that we (I) have to be careful about not being over-zealous in advocating Perl. I try to reserve that for discussions on places like Perl Monks. =P I'm asking, is Perl 6 going to happen sometime soon, and if so can we plan on generating media outside our usual haunts when it does? If web applications are a 'next thing' and Perl already has a large role in that space, is this a good time to look ahead at increasing Perl's share of that space, hopefully to everyone's benefit? What might be good ways of doing that we can try or suggest to the wider community? I'd like to publish some articles (which in my case will require a really good editor! ;), but should I aim for the Perl Review or someplace more widely read?

Thanks very much for feedback and the links, a few were new to me.

[reply]