in reply to Perl for the Masses?

One of the important things for a 'real' language is a slick GUI-based debugger. I demonstrate ptkdb to show a decent GUI and a great debugger. I have often squelched perl criticism by demonstrating ptkdb.

The primary critique of perl is actually economic. The idea that best-in-class tools are open-source scares many people. The feasibility of open-source implies that someone could destroy a closed-source business with a competetive open-source program. Many people would like to deny that this is possible or desirable.

These same people are often afraid of non-perl open-source tools such as Linux. Such people can sometimes be reassured by telling them that you can buy support for these tools from a reputable support organization. Then they get to think, "Well, our world-class support organization will prevent an open-source upstart from knocking us off."

Often perl source code is hidden on a web server, where people can get the benefits of running the program without having access to the source code. If your business model is "I write source code and sell the executable," you are likely to think "perl is a web-server language."

I think that perl is an anomaly in the software world because it is clean, fast, and cheap. As such, it violates people's expectations. If you agree with me and you want be a perl advocate, consider that this anomaly may require extra explanation.

I like explain the benefits of perl using the FURPS model:
Functionality
Usability
Reliability
Performance
Supportability
By running down this list and showing how perl stacks up, you can make a good case.

It should work perfectly the first time! - toma

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Re2: Perl for the Masses?
by pmas (Hermit) on Jul 26, 2001 at 16:46 UTC
    One of the important things for a 'real' language is a slick GUI-based debugger.

    And and in perland goes, for free. Check Open Perl @ sourceforge.net. Slick GUI debugger, like Visual Basic (hoovering mouse over variable displays current value, etc.). For ActiveState/Windows perl only.

    pmas
    To make errors is human. But to make million errors per second, you need a computer.

[reply]
      ptkdb is also a slick GUI debugger, and it works on Linux, HP-UX, windows, etc. It has hovering, watch variables, breakpoints, stepping, etc.

      I really like debugging cgi programs with it. In X-Windows I set the $ENV{DISPLAY} in the BEGIN block and call ptkdb in the shebang: 

      #!/usr/bin/perl -d:ptkdb
$|++;
BEGIN { $ENV{DISPLAY}; }

      [download]
      You can single step or set breakpoints in your cgi and watch the output get rendered in your browser as you go.

      It should work perfectly the first time! - toma

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