Not scrapping 1600 lines of code is also a decision not to be taken lightly.

On the systems I work with 1600 lines of code is a pinpoint, and this may also true for your large long term project: (didn't your original post say something about a games site? or am I confusing that with someone else?)

In a coding system, rewrites need to be understood in context. For example, changing 1600 lines of code that has 30K of lines of working production ready code dependent on it, is likely to be a big problem. The change won't just affect the 1600 lines, but also the 30,000 lines that depend on it and the modules that depend on the 30K and so on...

But fortunately you are still in early days, so if there is a time to rewrite is it probably now. I sense you are asking the right question: how much time will be saved or lost when you compare the time spent debugging and rewriting the 1600 lines to the time spent working around, teaching, documenting, extending and maintaining each version (PHP, Perl) of code? If the long-term savings are greater than the time spent rewriting, you have a win-win situation.

In your case there is another time factor to consider: if you choose some other learning experience: (a) will it be as targeted to the skills you really want to master in Perl (b) how much time will an alternate learning project on top of a PHP project take?

The downside of using this as a learning experience, is that it may be hard - any new language entails learning new concepts. Since you are trying to do something for real you may have to learn how to do something mind-bending when all you would really like to do is get the job done.

If your gut says ...

• you could do more with less by having the project in Perl
• being in Perl won't jeopardize your market (Perl isn't so friendly to shared hosting setups)
• long term costs would be less
• the deadline is under your control
• and you are the sort to persist until you master something even if the path gets rocky

then you have little to lose.

Best, beth