Been using Perl for almost 10 years now. I've used Perl for almost everything. Web development using CGI::Application, developing my own web framework, console apps (using the ncurses library), POE (Perl Object Environment), Web socket stuff and more.
My main job currently involves maintaining and developing a huge code base in Perl including three websites (soon to expand to much more). Perl just works. I thoroughly enjoy coding in it. I've not spent too much time optimizing and testing code though. mod_perl is pretty fast in itself (using Apache).
That being said Perl certainly lacks the in-built features which would make meta programming a quick and easy job. Yes, I still have to start using Moose. Perhaps in 2014!
Happy 26th Birthday Perl! Without you, I wouldn't have a job!
I'm personally interested to see how this develops.
As to my own Perl story, I used it exclusively in my first (non-student) programming job, back in the summer of 2000. I built an e-commerce website, CGI, with a cookie-based shopping cart. All from scratch, no frameworks, etc. I don't even know if there were any back then.
Fast forward to the year 2011. I started using Perl again, and loving it. Still use Perl every day. A fluid mixture of procedural, functional and object-oriented code. I really enjoy the language.
Ha ha, your nickname says it all. Back when I started programming in 2000 all my yahoo, MSN and skype (when it was released) accounts either had the word linux or perl in it.
Then unfortunately I had to become more professional and started using my real name. :)
That's cool. :) But I'm sure the correct statement would be untangling messy code written in "your non-favorite language" and rewriting it in "your favorite language or management's choice based on buzzwords". :)
Is there growth in the actual number of Perl full-time positions or is it declining?
Companies obviously need Perl programmers to maintain and enhance existing systems, but we don't see or hear about any new start-ups using Perl as part of their stack.
Fwiw: I don't use Perl anymore but was a fan and love Moose and CPAN.
We're a growth stage startup hiring perl programmers to do new development in the Los Angeles area. Perl isn't the only language we use (we have some python), but it's widely used throughout our systems.
I started in a new Perl position with my current employer in 2012. We just filled another new (mostly) Perl position a few months ago. I can't speak to the total numbers of positions available, but there is work out there for sure and it's not by any stretch strictly maintenance programming.
Perl is definitely a cool language. I've used it for 15 years. However, I feel like it made a wrong turn somewhere and Ruby and Python both passed it. I've done a a little Ruby and some Python. They've never grabbed me like Perl, but practically speaking I don't think there are enough reasons to choose the 3rd most popular scripting language. (Btw, I've listened to the CPAN argument for 10 years. It's not enough)
The wrong turn was "Perl 6", and despite what you may think, the problem was more in the "6" than the "Perl". There's nothing wrong with Perl 6, except that it should have been called something else so it didn't convince people it was the next Perl version. The Perl community has now recovered from that, Perl 5 and Perl 6 are officially understood to be distinct languages that merely love each other very much, and Perl 5 development has resumed at full speed, but it lost a lot of time and mindshare before finally getting there. (Probably not a heck of a lot of use share, though. It's still there in a lot of places, working away, quietly.)
True. I started with Perl in 2003, and there was news of Perl 6 being just round the corner then. The constant chimes of it will be ready "soon" with no specifics kept people excited for a while, but that wore off.
My main job currently involves maintaining and developing a huge code base in Perl including three websites (soon to expand to much more). Perl just works. I thoroughly enjoy coding in it. I've not spent too much time optimizing and testing code though. mod_perl is pretty fast in itself (using Apache).
That being said Perl certainly lacks the in-built features which would make meta programming a quick and easy job. Yes, I still have to start using Moose. Perhaps in 2014!
Happy 26th Birthday Perl! Without you, I wouldn't have a job!