Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6?

Muskovitz has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi Monks! is it a must to update perl 5 to perl 6? There's a lot of changes in Perl 6 and also some said that learning perl 6 is like learning another language do i need really to update and learn perl 6 for future developing in perl?

Comment on Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6?

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Re: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by CountZero (Bishop) on May 26, 2015 at 17:59 UTC
Incidentally a very interesting interview with Damian Conway was published on perlhist.com that will answer your worries. CountZero A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James My blog: Imperial Deltronics	[reply]
Re^2: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by Laurent_R (Canon) on May 26, 2015 at 19:22 UTC
Very very interesting, indeed, a very good answer to the OP's question, and many many other very interesting points. Many thanks, CountZero, for sharing it.	[reply]
Re: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by hippo (Bishop) on May 26, 2015 at 16:19 UTC
No, it is not a "must". Perl6 is quite a different thing and not necessarily an "update" to Perl5 (in a slightly similar fashion to how C++ is not an "update" to C) and it will depend on your usage of Perl how you proceed. For an interesting and atypically low-flame discussion see Perl 6 and performance I am very happy with Perl5 and currently have no plans to migrate to Perl6. YMMV. Update: In 2019 Perl6 was finally renamed to Raku thus ending almost 2 decades of naming confusion.	[reply]
Re^2: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by Muskovitz (Scribe) on May 26, 2015 at 16:26 UTC
Thanks for replying hippo you've just cleared anything bothering on my mind! But yes maybe i'll cheers with you i'll stay to Perl 5. But do you think Larry Wall supported developing perl 6?	[reply]
Re^3: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by dasgar (Priest) on May 26, 2015 at 17:04 UTC
Admittedly I have not kept up with what's happening with Perl 6, but Larry is definitely involved with the Perl 6 development. https://fosdem.org/2015/interviews/2015-larry-wall/ http://www.infoworld.com/article/2882300/perl/perl-creator-larry-wall-rethought-version-6-due-this-year.html	[reply]
Re^3: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by hippo (Bishop) on May 26, 2015 at 16:31 UTC
But do you think Larry Wall supported developing perl 6? State of the Onion 2000	[reply]
Re: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by Laurent_R (Canon) on May 26, 2015 at 16:58 UTC
Perl 6 is not yet a mature product and is certainly not production ready. And, as hippo said, it is not really the successor or an update of Perl 5: it is a fairly different language (although sharing to a large extent the same spirit) and there will be new versions of Perl 5 (current rate is one major stable version per year) for probably quite a number of years to come. As a matter of personal interest, I am looking at Perl 6 and I am slowly learning the language and experimenting with it, but the only Perl version that I am using to earn my living at my job is Perl 5.	[reply]
Re: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by jfroebe (Parson) on May 26, 2015 at 16:53 UTC
No. Perl 5 and Perl 6 are two separate languages. Yeah, Perl 6 should have been called something other than Perl Jason L. Froebe Blog, Tech Blog	[reply]
Re^2: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by stevieb (Canon) on May 26, 2015 at 17:06 UTC
Like "Python with sigils"? ;) -stevieb	[reply]
Re^2: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by RonW (Parson) on May 27, 2015 at 18:11 UTC
Some people I know who actually use Perl 6 call it "Rakudo" or "Pugs" depending on which compiler they are using. Most people I work with, call Perl 5 just Perl.	[reply]
Re^3: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by jdporter (Paladin) on May 28, 2015 at 13:38 UTC
Even Wirth had the good sense to name his Pascal successor something other than "Pascal-2", and his Modula-2 successor something other than Modula-3.	[reply]
Re: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by stevieb (Canon) on May 26, 2015 at 19:06 UTC
Although I'm sure there are plenty of them out there, I wrote up a document a few years ago that describes and details some of the more obvious changes between Perl5 and Perl6... Welcome changes in Perl6. -stevieb	[reply]
Re^2: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by Laurent_R (Canon) on May 26, 2015 at 20:54 UTC
Interesting cheat list for moving from Perl 5 to Perl 6++. I have translated/adapted into French about 2/3 of Moritz's tutorial on the subject, and intend to complete it sometime hopefully soon (not right now, though, I have a talk, maybe two, to prepare for the next French Perl Mongers YAPC conference at the end of June). I was thinking about adding a summary cheat list on some of the most prominent changes, your document gives some clues about how to go with this.	[reply]
Re^3: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by stevieb (Canon) on May 26, 2015 at 22:44 UTC
That's great, I'm glad it's useful!	[reply]
Re: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by sundialsvc4 (Abbot) on May 26, 2015 at 17:48 UTC
You’re right: it is “another language,” and “Perl in name only.” (There are actually several names for several projects, such as ‘Rakudo.’) It is not an upward-compatible language, and it does not use the same runtime engine. Truly, a different beast. Therefore, I recommend that you treat it as you would any other language that you might or might not encounter in-the-field, and that you may or may not use on an upcoming project. If someone wants you to work on a Perl-6 app, “get up to speed on it, double-quick.” If someone has a Perl-5 app and wonders where to take it, I’d suggest that you keep it where it is now. If you are evaluating a new project, treat it on its own merits as “one of several candidate languages” that you should objectively weigh and consider.
Re: Do i need really to update perl 5 to perl 6? by FreeBeerReekingMonk (Deacon) on May 29, 2015 at 13:51 UTC
At work we still use some Perl4 (a hardened and custom compiled version) to do some things. It has a smaller memory print. The only thing I miss are the hashes (which are unsupported in perl4)	[reply]
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