Re^3: Popularity of Perl vs. availability of Perl developers

I would argue that Perl is a definite competitor to Java. The only place I would use Java is if the majority of the programmers I expected to be working on the project were merely average. As I don't choose to work with "merely average" programmers, I don't use Java.

My rules of thumb are:

Any medium-sized project can be written in Perl with no more than 3 developers worth their salt, plus a junior
Any large project can be refactored into a series of medium projects.
Any project in Java will take 10x longer and will require 10x the effort of the same project in Perl. (Replace "Java" with C, C++, and the like, at your pleasure.)

Remember - 90% of every Perl application you will ever write is already on CPAN. ~~You can't say the same about Java.~~ There is no equivalent repository for Java.

Update: Improved wording based on the tongue-in-cheek response.

My criteria for good software:

Does it work?
Can someone else come in, make a change, and be reasonably certain no bugs were introduced?

Comment on Re^3: Popularity of Perl vs. availability of Perl developers

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Re^4: Popularity of Perl vs. availability of Perl developers by Juerd (Abbot) on Sep 25, 2005 at 23:02 UTC
Remember - 90% of every Perl application you will ever write is already on CPAN. You can't say the same about Java. Isn't it a bit unfair to expect Java extensions to be on CPAN? ;)	[reply]
Re^4: Popularity of Perl vs. availability of Perl developers by thor (Priest) on Sep 26, 2005 at 02:23 UTC
Remember - 90% of every Perl application you will ever write is already on CPAN. ... There is no equivalent repository for Java. What about this? Granted, it's not as vast as CPAN, but it's only been around since April 2005, too. thor `Feel the white light, the light within Be your own disciple, fan the sparks of will For all of us waiting, your kingdom will come`	[reply]
Re^5: Popularity of Perl vs. availability of Perl developers by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Sep 26, 2005 at 13:25 UTC
JSAN is a similar effort for Javascript. If they work, then that's great! At the moment, there's no equivalent repository for Java. Ruby kinda has one, as does Python, but they're not anywhere near as extensive or battle-tested. My criteria for good software: Does it work? Can someone else come in, make a change, and be reasonably certain no bugs were introduced?	[reply]
Re^4: Popularity of Perl vs. availability of Perl developers by aktbar (Beadle) on Sep 29, 2005 at 01:01 UTC
* Any project in Java will take 10x longer and will require 10x the effort of the same project in Perl. (Replace "Java" with C, C++, and the like, at your pleasure.) I was thinking about writing a device driver in perl, but I couldn't figure out how to avoid memory allocation in the interrupt handlers. ;-)	[reply]
Re^5: Popularity of Perl vs. availability of Perl developers by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Sep 29, 2005 at 01:58 UTC
I've replaced web applications initially written in C. I've had to deal with an HTTP request parser, written in C (that had bugs I wasn't allowed to fix). And, in 20 years, you will be writing device drivers in Perl (or whatever is around). "There are some stunningly novel ideas in Perl" -- Paul Graham and The Hundred Year Language. My criteria for good software: Does it work? Can someone else come in, make a change, and be reasonably certain no bugs were introduced?	[reply]