Is Perl a dying language?
 

I have just started to learn Perl since I read it can do a lot of things with scripting with the shell. However, I also hear that Perl is a dying programming language and that it is being replaced by other languages like Python/PHP/Ruby. Is this true, and is Perl worth learning or should I be learning other languages such as Python?

Perl is alive & well, thank you...
 

Talk about flame bait ;-)

No, Perl is not a "dying language" (where did you hear such a thing); Ruby, Python and PHP are all excellent languages (I say that about Ruby *despite* all the annoying hype about it); and they're only a few of scores of useful, thriving languages out there.

For whatever it's worth, the Tiobe Index is always interesting to check on periodically:

http://www.tiobe.com/tpci.htm

'Hope that helps .. PSM

I read that Perl is dying from here:

http://www.perlmonks.com/?node_id=561229

Thanks for the Tiobe index. Perl seems to be alive and doing well, although COBOL and Foxpro seem to be on their deathbeds ...

Are there things that Perl can't do that Python can do and vice versa? I'm assuming yes?

Nope... There is nothing that cannot be solved in Perl that can be solved in Python. Vica versa is true too, I think.

Personally I think PHP is overrated :} ... it's ugly,
incoherent and the ongoing history of security exploits
is just incredible ;}



Cheers,
Tink

:eek: Maybe it's time I moved to another scripting language.

That's entirely up to you :}

If you can live with (or even enjoy) these, by all
means, stick with it. I didn't say PHP unusable. ;}


Cheers,
Tink

Actually I just started learning Ruby. Knowing a few alternatives is probably a good idea. :)

I'm already beginning to see what you meant tink. There's proper uniform access in ruby compared to PHP, overall makes for easy understandable code.

IMO, that PerlMonk (and he posted anonymously to protect himself from downvotes. bless) is annoyed that Perl 6 isn't out yet and that Perl is no longer number 1. It's an opinion and one that is based on the idea that other things are being used to write webby stuff and that this is a bad thing.

Reread it less in a doom and gloom voice and more in a whiny voice and you'll see the difference. One proves that Perl is dying. The other proves that some people are very pessimistic when things aren't always going their way.

I think php is just going nuts. Rather than make a coherent set of functions from which any desired functionality can be constructed, php just keeps popping up with more and more specialized functions to do specific things. The command set is currently in the many hundreds, and shows no signs of slowing its growth.

Hi -

Very simply, just take look at all the terrific sites out there that have been done in PHP. Or have been done using one of many terrific PHP-based frameworks (like phpNuke, Joomla, Mambo, PHP Gallery, etc etc etc).

The breadth, quantity and quality of work enabled by PHP is very compelling evidence that PHP has obviously done *something* right!

IMHO .. PSM

you may find this an interesting comparison: http://tnx.nl/php

But it is a fairly pointless comparison. It points out different approaches between the languages but tries to make them strengths for Perl, which is debatable. I agree that the inconsistency in the naming conventions are a little annoying but the comparison of the number of functions is meaningless. It would be nice if the functions were tidied up but that would require an update script to ensure that all programs are compatible and given the pervasiveness of PHP you can't guarantee that it would be done, hence to ensure backward compatibility the inconsistencies remain. As with any language with time you get used to its quirky little charms, forget them, and learn to use the language.

It would be nice (IMO) if Perl/PHP/Python would go away, but don't count on it anytime soon. We really need better tools than them, they're all pretty ugly hacks. However, they're still an excellent way to get the job done! :-)