Is Perl still relevant for IT professionals?
 

Is chose to learn Perl over Python cause I thought it to be the superior programming language, and I still think it is. But as an aspiring IT professional
is it actually of any use if no uses it, cause they all use Python instead? Am I right in my thinking that hardly anyone uses Perl still?

I doubt that's right, but I don't know for sure. I use perl to do some pretty complex and (patting myself on the back) amazing things in web-based applications.

I've only recently looked at python and was, frankly, appalled at the indenting/column dependent syntax...shades of COBOL and AS/400...frightening!

That said, I don't know
1. anything about python
2. what is currently used in IT

NOTE: I have never used perl in a day job in the last 30 years. I've programmed in WANG VS BASIC, Burroughs LINC, Oracle SQL, Informatica and shell scripting (ksh and later, bash)...so, probably not helpful, except to say I really like perl...;)

Welcome to LQ

Python is quite popular. So is Python3. It's a bit lame that they are incompatible, you cannot write "any-Python" scripts.

perl is still in use. Probably somewhere you can replace it (and use for example python), but not everywhere.

I'd say perl is clearly a better fit for regular expression pattern matching but that it is only a little ahead for general text processing.

Python is rather good but seeing it used as a training language makes me wonder that it is being shoehorned into places where it is not a good fit. Oh, well. At least it won't be a repeat of what happened to us with BASIC.

perl is the latin of computing languages ... :p
Why do I suddenly have images of John Cleese as a centurion floating past ??

I've never understood the hatred for BASIC. Early versions had the line numbers and gosub/return and were pretty horrid, but even on old 8bit machines like the BBC Micro there were better dialects that had full support for functions, Procedures, labels and other niceties (BBC basic even had an inbuilt 6502 assembler).


Anyway, Perl is still a good fit if you're a UNIX systems admin as it is well suited to the kind of tasks that entails.

I really don't like the trend I see, especially in open-source/free-software of python encroaching into spaces it doesn't really belong in. My pet peeve at the moment is needing Python in order to build software with these fancy build systems that everyone seems to be using these days.

These days ???.

I remember deleting python from my gentoo system - must have been around a decade ago. Made a hell of a mess ... :p

Yeah fair point, though with the newer stuff like meson it seems far more visible than before.

If you are truly an 'aspiring IT professional', you need to learn that having knowledge is NEVER a bad thing. You do realize that you can learn BOTH languages, right?? I use Perl a LOT...and Python as well. Personally, I think Perl is FAR more versatile, and can even be compiled to a genuine executable...not sure you can do that with Python, but honestly I've never tried.

You need to select the right tool for the job you need to do. Learn both, plus whatever else you might think you need.

Probably there is no right tool, just more suitable (?)

Are you coding to solve problems, or just impress someone with your buzzwords?

People are lately impressed by Python as a buzzword, as they are by Javascript. If you are solving real problems, then you want PERL for when other tools are only up to half of the job or are terribly inelegant.

I advise mastering one tool at a time, but never stop learning the value in new tools.

The whole point of Perl is that you don't care if anyone else is using it.

Indeed, the hatred for the language grew from the sort of cargo-cult posturing that looked to Dijkstra and then took him out of context. BASIC ultimately adopted all the things he thought were necessary to not learn bad lessons from it. People who knew "real languages" ignored the context of the critique and kept hating. It was an easy target. If you were a mediocre C++ coder, you could feel good about it by saying at least you don't code in Basic anymore. Meanwhile, it was Linus Torvalds first language-- so how terrible could it really be?

IMHO, "No" to both questions
 

"They" don't all use Python. It is the language du jour nowadays, though I remember when that was Ruby so they come and go like the tides. And, no, there's plenty of Perl being used.

That said... I'm swearing off Perl for the near future while I work on beefing up my Python skills. That means no Perl other than maintenance of existing scripts and no new projects in Perl so that I can immerse myself in Python. Once I get to the point where I am with Perl--I can pretty much write Perl in my sleep--and I implement enough projects in Python so that I'm writing it in my sleep, I'll allow Perl coding back into my routine. (I still find myself approaching any Python coding thinking of how I'd do this task in Perl. And, darn it, I'm so missing "use strict;". :^D )

I'd learn both if you have the time. You'll find scripts in both languages on any systems you are working on.

Have a lot of fun...

Cheers.