Another of the Java debates has begun here, it seems. Perl is a great language. I agree to that. It's quite easy to script things for use in it. It works great for web stuff and CGI. but...

Java has its own benefits. "Write once, run anywhere" isn't always true, but it is in a lot of cases. Developing enterprise scale applications for customers which require a GUI interface (yeah, and they want it pretty, too... can you imagine;) is also easier with Java (assuming you're using a good production environment and not trying to develop code using Notepad)

Understanding code written by a lazy Perl programmer is a lot harder then reading lazy Java code. Sometimes its nice to be lazy, but when somebody comes along a year or two later trying to update a 2000 line script with 15 subs, no use strict; or -w, it's takes weeks to rewrite the thing, be properly laid out, and random globals not floating between functions. (Three weeks, actually.)

Personally, I think anyone can win despite what language they're developing in. Just make sure you're using the right language for the right job.

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Love is random; fear is inevitable. -- Orson Scott Card
PerlMonks is good for Perl, but JavaJunkies is good for Java