wow. what a mess ... and they're still not done. seriously, mod me down if you will, but someone has to say it. i will carry this cross :P - compare this, with something that would be titled "what you can do with python 3 today", or ruby, clojure, cl-lisp, javascript ... perl was revolutionary and it changed the world. we were using it at a NY financial institution since v4. we loved it. when 5 came out, we went all in. we had configuration files in perl, when every one else was writing parsers, home made databases when people had to buy sybase licences, home made template languages (yes, more than one. it was that easy) when others were struggling with c++ string libraries. and we killed; (lispers had always had these and more benefits) but alas, the world has moved on.

... and we're getting tired. it is much easier to find ruby and python guys, and i always thought ... "python? that's for sissies." until we tried it. and fellow programmers, i still had energy at the end of the day. that was the most striking. perl tires you out. perl culture and community tires you out. what a difference python makes.

initially i missed some things, but you quickly begin to see the light, and in no way will go back.

my theory is that python/js/lisp are simple because the core ideas are few. ie, because the rest of the language is the logical implication of a relatively few simple ideas. lisp is the best at this. the fewer special forms, the fact that you write in the same data structures the compiler sees (less complication) which translates into less to remember. less to keep in mind (quickly, what is the difference between 'use' and 'require' and system("") or system(@) ... bleh) which leads to less energy needs to get your stuff done. on this energy scale, perl rates pretty high. not as high as c++ but high enough that i never want to use it again.

so go ahead reader, mod me down and throw your tantrum, and try python (or ruby, etc ...)