It is my impression that Java is backed by Suns marketing machine, and the reality is that more code is actually written in Perl than Java - it just looks like Java is more popular because more people that don't actually write code have heard about it. Maybe that is why there are so many job ads for J2EE. All these managers that have heard that Java is the way to go, but there is a shortage of Java programmers - because among actual programmers, Java is not that popular except as a teaching language. Or a "yeah, its a great idea but its not there yet."
Poor old Perl with no hype and marketing machine behind it, is made to look like some kind of lowly scripting language - where in fact the reality is that it is wildly popular. How else would you account for the sheer size and coverage of CPAN? What is Javas equivilant of CPAN? Is there one? Where do you go to get Java libraries that check credit card checksums? Or do neural network simulations? Or do all the billion things you can do with CPAN modules? How else can PerlMonks be a PageRank 8 site? Where is Java's equivilant of the perl web network?
Or maybe I'm on crack, and don't know what I'm talking about.
-Andrew.
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I've done work in Java, Perl and C# - I've also worked with C, C++, Informix 4GL, COBOL, RPG/III, BASIC, VB, Delphi, Clipper and assembler... If I wanted to trawl through every sourcefile of every system I had ever worked on I could probably go on for ever. If asked I describe myself as a programmer not as a $foo programmer where $foo is some one of the above listed programming languages. If I am put in front of a random programming task without any other constraints then I might choose Perl or I might choose C# depending on how quickly the solution appears in either of those languages, for a certain class of problem Perl will almost certainly win, whereas with another class C# might be prefered. However given a larger problem with pre-existing contraints I would not like to pre-judge the implementation language: the effort required to shoe-horn in a language based on my preference could screw the project. Blind language advocacy is harmful in business led development.
/J\
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[d/l] |
You may be on crack, but write the piece anyway. I like the idea. :)
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the reality is that more code is actually written in Perl than Java
Ah... But do you have anything closely resembling, you know, actual facts that this is true? Or is it mostly a WAG?
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Google search "perl programming", 644,000 hits. Google search "java programming", 1,300,000 hits. Google search ".net programming", 610,000 hits. Upon first examination that isn't good - but wait! Now actually take a look through the first 30 or so hits from each search.
What I see for Perl is solid indepth resources, that are well trafficed and well developed. Large amounts of information that obviously have many people using them. What you see for the others are either (A) corporate backed sites (Sun, Microsoft) or (B) quieter sites, that don't have nearly as much traffic.
Update:Article cancelled due to lack of support.
-Andrew
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