Was P5 really a rewrite of P4, or did you put it in "quotes" for irony?
No irony this time
LanX. I was being deadly serious ... just as I was
last time
I got into heated arguments about the definition of "rewrite" vs "refactor" ...
seems to go with the territory. :)
Please note that Larry Wall at least seems to agree with me that Perl 5 was indeed a "rewrite" and not a "refactor".
Perl 5 was my rewrite of Perl.
I want Perl 6 to be the community's rewrite of Perl and of the community.
-- Larry Wall from Perl 6 archive
See the full Nobody Expects the Agile Imposition (Part VI): Architecture thread for gory details of many more heated arguments around the definition of rewrite vs refactor.
Update: Just noticed that tilly also agrees that Perl 5 was a rewrite of Perl 4.