I choose Perl for CPAN, both as a consumer and as a producer. No other language has a resource that even approaches CPAN in raw utility or ease of access. And when CPAN falls short, contributing is easy and fruitful. The chances of a useful and well documented module failing to find users on CPAN is next to nonexistent. With users come bug reports, new ideas for features and sometimes even code. Paradise.

Before coming to Perl I was a dedicated TCL hacker. As a technology, TCL has a lot to recommend it. Its interface to C is much simpler than Perl's and the language syntax is a breeze. However, TCL's scattered equivalents of CPAN are pathetic. There's no standard for package installation and documentation so everyone does it differently. My experience releasing TCL code was entirely unfullfilling.

Without CPAN, Perl is just one rather convenient scripting language among many competitors. With CPAN, Perl is the best environment for efficient development of software.

-sam

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