Jared: Strawberry Perl has gcc integrated into distribution, so it is easier to install CPAN modules that require compiling C. ActiveState has similar feature now, you can install gcc with `ppm install gcc`.
Compared to Cygwin, it not an advantage, of course. For me it a question of habit – I don’t use Cygwin. Small advantage in both Strawberry and ActiveState is possibility of using ppm when external C libraries are required – it can be easier than installing library in Cygwin.

P.S. Another interesting Perl module is Perl::Critic, it helps to write more modern and more maintainable code.

I’m not really trying to talk myself out of using Perl – I really like it. I just figure that one day there will be a project I want to do which could be done better in something other than Perl. If I haven’t learnt that something beforehand then I’ll just reach for my standard big hammer.

Perl is a fantastic language well worth the effort to plumb.

Yes, consistency is a good thing in programming languages. I use Perl frequently enough that I’m not in much danger of forgetting the quirks. Sometimes that bites me in that I’ve only just started to adopt the lexically scoped three argument open (from 5.8 I think) instead of using global globby filehandles. And I haven’t even started using Moose instead of blessing my references directly.

And if I was a Windows guy I would probably consider Python although I really should take a look at Strawberry Perl one of these days.

I too take care to write clean code in perl (which usually ends up
looking like well structured C). However I still occasionally get
bitten by some of perl’s more esoteric behaviour. The thing I liked so
much about Python is it’s behaviour was so predictable and consistent.
That’s a big plus for a language you don’t work with every day.

@Piyo – I don’t suppose you can elaborate re: the advantages you find with Windows. I mean, I can think of a few things myself but always found that the standard availability of stuff like shell/perl/make + package management makes Linux the better development environment for me. Well, unless I’m doing C#.

@Jared
> I really appreciate those libraries
I understand your argument, because I apply the same ideas to my selection for my main OS and my unsavory forays. Anyways I’m satisfied with your response to my response, so keep plugging away (e.g. your recent post about A Simple Perl Server).

@Piyo – Yes, I like to dabble too My Perl is pretty good, but I am thinking about looking for a replacement – hence this post. Having said that, as I mentioned in my footnote, if I don’t need speed it does pretty much everything I need and it does it cleanly and well with very little fuss.

Yes, I know there are lots of good things about Python but really Perl on Cygwin works well enough for me on the few occasions when I need to venture into the Windows desert. And I can’t think of many areas that I am interested in where Python has something that Perl does not. It would feel like gratuitously learning the same language again only with less convenient syntax.

Hmmm… now I read that again, maybe Python would solve at least my portability concerns. But then again, maybe there is another language that does so even better.

And about the rant, well, I see a lot of stuff written about emacs-lisp too. And sure, neither Perl nor emacs-lisp are perfect languages. But they both have the same redeeming feature – libraries. The problems that I solve in either language has been 90%+ solved by the libraries available. And how can any language, no matter how good, compete with that? E.g. for database mode, what I want is a text editor (check) with emacs keybindings (check) and SQL syntax highlightling (check) that can send SQL snippets to the database? 5 lines of my own code later, I really appreciate those libraries.

And I completely agree with you about the large runtimes. Maybe Neko is where it is at.

Of course, It’s Your Free Time (TM).

Heh, now where do I recognise that meme from…

@Michael – I’m not sure what you mean by new people. They are all over 20, I guess that isn’t *that* new. But they are using relatively powerful PCs.

I know your comment is in response to a [different] flippant remark, but isn’t it the case that if you are running a heavy-weight app, that you tend to give it a lot of memory (with a command-line switch) that it immediately takes and never returns to the OS?

@Alex – I’m not quite on first name terms with Python but I did use it for a few months back in the 1.5 days. I got the impression that aside from a few niches such as SciPy it covers the same areas as Perl with no significant advantages on either side.

I know Python proponents talk a lot about code cleanliness and readability. This is of course subjective and I find at least my own Perl more readable than any Python I have come across. I respect the right of Pythonistas to disagree with me on this one

So yes, I guess I have ruled it out.