Re: What is it about perl that makes perl so cool?

One of the things that has always drawn me to Perl (I'm from a C/C++ background) is definitely the community. As with all complex communities, there are the nay-sayers who will smack down any idea that is not theirs, but I've found that there are less in the Perl Community (unless you reference another language such as Python or Java to perform a task not easily implemented in Perl). In the C/C++ and Java worlds, I've found entirely too many people who are unwilling to help anyone, but are quick to defend their pedestal.

Usually when I've had to ask questions on Perl in the past, I could find the answers relatively quickly, often on sites like this, where there are several replies documenting different methods to accomplish the problem at hand. Before I even asked the question.

Now that I'm attempting a code conversion for our Win32 systems from a specialized language (WinBatch), I'm going to be faced with a million new challenges that haven't been answered yet. But I'm at least confident that many of them will be answered much faster than if I used C/C++. And without the hype.

The other thing I love about Perl is the flexibility of the language. I can sit down and prototype the functionality quickly and make it work. Python is the only other language that I can do that with easily, and for a good portion of what I do, it's still overkill. Java, C, and C++ fall prey to a few more cycles in development for me, even though I've been using them longer (which could be part of my problem).

So, the community, and the flexibility. That's why I think Perl is cool...

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Re: What is it about perl that makes perl so cool?
by mothra (Hermit) on Dec 02, 2000 at 04:11 UTC

I may be restating what other people have said here, but hey, you asked :)

My reasons for loving Perl are as follows:

Community - This to me is an absolutely HUGE part of Perl, and why I love the language. The wealth of Perl knowledge flowing around on the net is amazing. Compared to the development tool I use at work, Powerbuilder, the differences here are staggering. Interestingly enough, I think I've learned the most about programming from Perl programmers! Forums like this one, clpm, and #perl have taught me a lot about the way programmers think.
Awesome books - Okay...I guess I could have phrased this "Good Documentation", but let's be realistic, don't you wish EVERY language had it's own Cookbook? Learning Perl, Programming Perl, and The Perl Cookbook are quite possibly the coolest "technical" (that makes them sound boring :) books in existence.
Sex Appeal - heh :) Perl is nice to look at. It's quite unlike any other language out there and beautiful to read.
Power - Duuuuuh :) Perl's ability to manipulate data is second to none (okay, no flame wars please, if you think differently I'll agree in advance with you).
FUN - Which is really a combination of all the previous points.

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