I use Perl because it allows me to get my work done quickly. A tool where I currently work was written in Perl. It took one person 4 days to write it, and Marketing was happy because a change took an hour or so. Due to politics, the project was taken over and rewritten in Java. It took 4 developers 6 months to rewrite it, and Marketing has not been happy because a change takes 4 days.
I also use Perl because 90% of every Perl application has already been written, tested, and just plain-old works. No other language now or in the past has ever had that.
Perl is not the best tool for all jobs. It just happens to be an excellent tool for the jobs I tend to work on.
- In general, if you think something isn't in Perl, try it out, because it usually is. :-)
- "What is the sound of Perl? Is it not the sound of a wall that people have stopped banging their heads against?"