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Perl 6 Optimism

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Re: Perl 6 Optimism

#141

Perl Pessimism: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=perl I have happy memories of Perl, and it started me on the path that led to a nice career of Python awesomeness. Thanks, Perl! That said, I can't imagine a plausible scenario where I'd ever consider using it again. I almost certainly wouldn't use it professionally because it's not exactly going to light up a resume. Yes, there are still Perl shops.…

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

― George Bernard Shaw

Not all great decisions are rational, follow your heart be happy

For me, Python is an uninspiring language, yet it inspired many people to build great things, a decision that to me, sound so .. irrational

Re: Perl 6 Optimism

#142
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Python: dict[index] = stat ...works much the same.

The Python version blows up if the slot isn't already populated. The Perl version works in either case (there is a typo in the Perl code though).

Only if you're using a list, not a dict. I just tried it in the REPL:

    >>> foo = {}
    >>> foo[3] = 72
    >>> foo[64] = 80
    >>> foo
    {3: 72, 64: 80}

Re: Perl 6 Optimism

#143
post #118

Perl Pessimism: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=perl I have happy memories of Perl, and it started me on the path that led to a nice career of Python awesomeness. Thanks, Perl! That said, I can't imagine a plausible scenario where I'd ever consider using it again. I almost certainly wouldn't use it professionally because it's not exactly going to light up a resume. Yes, there are still Perl shops.…

>>Yes, there are still Perl shops. But no, there aren't very many of them That's because any shop that needs to get job done quickly is a Perl shop. During my early career I even knew a architect who had sort of put a blanket ban on any Perl to be written. He was only stumped people were largely acting like pirates, were writing and running directories full of Perl code all the time. Only a week back, I needed some s…

[deleted]

Re: Perl 6 Optimism

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. I’ve run across two distinct sets of Perl mongers, though: - “We have lots of deployed code and don’t want to rewrite the whole thing.” That’s valid (although I still urge them to consider the hiring challenges down the road). - “I’ve used Perl exclusively since I downloaded it over dialup and I’m not interested in those shiny new languages the kids like.” Run screaming.

There's also the "I really like Perl and I wish more people took it seriously" set (which I consider myself to be a part of)

I believe he’s grouping all of those people in with his second description

Re: Perl 6 Optimism

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's because any shop that needs to get job done quickly is a Perl shop. Be careful with that wild generalization. I’ve seen lots more “get job done quickly” in Ruby than Perl (but neither as much as with Python recently). I have nothing bad to say about Perl, but it’s not really defensible to claim it’s used as commonly as other languages.

Just remember there is a lot of perl creeping around the linux ecosystem; it may not be fashionable today but availability of the perl command is still more common than python, second only to bash/sh.

[deleted]

Re: Perl 6 Optimism

#146
post #7

I used perl when dinosaurs still roamed the land. Can somebody explain why it took so long for Perl 6? I read first p6/parrot vm textbook as a schoolboy more than a decade ago.

It took a while to design the language, which went through significant changes in both semantics and implementation (Parrot was abandoned for MoarVM, until recently, the main banch of the repository still was called 'nom' for 'new object model', there was a Great List Refactor, ...)

The language was finally deemed sufficiently stable in 2015 to have its first proper release (the 'Christmas' version 6.c). We're still waiting for an implementation with adequate performance for generic usage. The problem is that a lot of the implementation happens at a high level, which necessitates a sufficiently smart optimizer.

Re: Perl 6 Optimism

#147

Perl Pessimism: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=perl I have happy memories of Perl, and it started me on the path that led to a nice career of Python awesomeness. Thanks, Perl! That said, I can't imagine a plausible scenario where I'd ever consider using it again. I almost certainly wouldn't use it professionally because it's not exactly going to light up a resume. Yes, there are still Perl shops.…

If programming languages' impact on resumes would be a sensible metric I had never learned LISPs, prolog or MLs. Those experiences have been the key to many well-paying gigs, even though I more often than not was hired for some mainstream language/stack.

I too would hesitate to use it in a commercial context, but only because its development stalled for 15 years, leaving us with almost no developers that still speak perl and still work in the trenches... perl's cost of adaption in comparison to other dynamic languages skyrocketed :(

Re: Perl 6 Optimism

#149
post #22
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in case you have no idea how to enter ⤐ or whatever. Did you mean to type a black square there, or is my Android phone missing a font? In any case, this shows a potential issue with using Unicode characters for operators or identifiers: unless it's from a common Unicode block (like basic Greek letters), it might not be readable. It's not just writing that can be a problem.

I heard many times that perl is «write only». Unicode operators takes it to the next level.

Seriously, if Unicode operators are confusing to you(r group), don't use the feature. But if you're a mathematician, it's nice to have a language that understands set operators.

Re: Perl 6 Optimism

#150

Perl Pessimism: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=perl I have happy memories of Perl, and it started me on the path that led to a nice career of Python awesomeness. Thanks, Perl! That said, I can't imagine a plausible scenario where I'd ever consider using it again. I almost certainly wouldn't use it professionally because it's not exactly going to light up a resume. Yes, there are still Perl shops.…

Arguably more interesting:

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=perl%20t...

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