Re^2: Perl 6 Fundamentals

Perl 6 is no joke. For many years (2005-2015), I thought it would end up as vapourware or at least unimplementable, so I stopped following the project. But suddenly (or so it feels), there's a working compiler and one or two virtual machines that actually work. The language specification and the implementation are converging. Inline::Perl5 is genuinely cool and useful, even if neither it nor the compiler are "production quality". Now I feel the project will eventually succeed, even if it takes another 5-10 years to a full, optimised, mature implementation.

When it comes to books about Perl 6, the biggest difference to Perl 5 is that you can write a book based on the specification and it will remain valid and up to date for many years, even if the implementation changes. You can hardly say the same of Perl 5, which only has one implementation and no specification. I look forward to reading more Perl 6 books. I can't recommend it for production use at work, and I likely won't use it much in the next five years, but it contains so much that is new, interesting and Perl that I'll eventually make the switch. Just not yet.

Comment on Re^2: Perl 6 Fundamentals

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Re^3: Perl 6 Fundamentals by zentara (Archbishop) on May 09, 2017 at 15:52 UTC
I'm with you, vrk, Perl6 is definitely starting to shine with promise. I'm waiting for them to finish work on the JVM, (java virtual machine) backend, and then see some useful modules arrive. In the spirit of "free as in beer", there is an open-source book at Perl_6_Programming. I would hope that a book like that would be improved, bit by bit, just like Perl6. :-) I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. ..... an animated JAPH	[reply]
Re^3: Perl 6 Fundamentals by Discipulus (Canon) on May 09, 2017 at 20:20 UTC
Thanks for this and below posts vrk, they really sounds of something said because of your experience; not prejudice nor fanatism. I always looked to Perl6 as something fashinating that I 've no time to explore: I'm a strictly perl only, and I need to still improve a lot at it. Perl6 can be a door to perl future, we have not to close it. L* There are no rules, there are no thumbs.. Reinvent the wheel, then learn The Wheel; may be one day you reinvent one of THE WHEELS.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: Perl 6 Fundamentals by Anonymous Monk on May 09, 2017 at 16:31 UTC
you can write a book based on the specification and it will remain valid and up to date for many years, even if the implementation changes. You can hardly say the same of Perl 5 Have you read Modern Perl or Ovid's Beginning Perl?	[reply]
Re^4: Perl 6 Fundamentals by vrk (Chaplain) on May 09, 2017 at 19:53 UTC
Modern Perl is great. It's also updated every year or two, which shows that Perl 5 keeps evolving (a good thing) and that features are both added and removed from the language in almost every point release (see also: no fixed specification). I haven't read Beginning Perl, but I did buy a copy of the 4th edition (2012) of the Camel Book recently. The difference to the 3rd edition (2000), i.e. between idiomatic Perl 5.6 and 5.14, is enormous. If there is ever a 5th edition, it will no doubt be as big a change from 5.14 -- who knows, maybe it will feel like Perl 6 at this rate.	[reply]
Re^5: Perl 6 Fundamentals by Anonymous Monk on May 10, 2017 at 05:09 UTC
I'm not sure you know what the word "specification" means then.	[reply]
Re^3: Perl 6 Fundamentals by Anonymous Monk on May 09, 2017 at 17:35 UTC
"You can hardly say the same of Perl 5, which only has one implementation and no specification." Yet Perl5 is production ready and Perl6 barely compiles and runs like garbage.	[reply]
Re^4: Perl 6 Fundamentals by vrk (Chaplain) on May 09, 2017 at 20:06 UTC
Not sure this is worth replying to, but let's see: Perl 5 Idea about what Perl 5 should be, based on Perl 4: 1990-1991? (Perl 4.000 released in 1991) First working, usable compiler: Oct 1994 (5.000) "Classic" Perl, robust and mature implementation: Mar 2000 (5.6, Camel Book 3rd ed) Major revival, Modern Perl: May 2011 (5.14, Camel Book 4th ed) Perl 6 Idea about what Perl 6 should be, based on Perl 5: ~2000 Proof of concept prototypes for compilers: 2005-2010 First working, usable compiler: Dec 2015 (Rakudo 1.0/spec v6.c) Robust and mature implementation: ??? (whoops, we're not there yet; it took Perl 5 almost six years)	[reply]


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