Perl: the Markov chain saw | |
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Re: Are monks hibernating?by jdporter (Paladin) |
on Feb 22, 2007 at 15:33 UTC ( [id://601575]=note: print w/replies, xml ) | Need Help?? |
Well, I was doubtful of this. It's very easy to see trends when there really aren't any. So I decided to do some research. I looked at the rate of posting of root SoPW nodes since the beginning of the (PM) epoch. Here is what I found. First, the rate of posting has been very consistent throughout almost the entire history of PerlMonks. This in itself is interesting, because it could mean that interest in Perl has been flat, in the aggregate, despite developments in the product and the advancing competition. (Perhaps those factors balance out.) Second, there are at least two cycles visible in the rate of activity, one weekly and the other annual. This should come as no surprise. Third, beginning in March of last year, there has been a steady decline in the rate of SoPW postings. Just eyeballing the graph, trying to smooth out the various cycles, it looks like the current rate of SoPW postings is about one half of what it has been historically. I didn't do any analysis of the last 2 to 3 months specifically, but the trend has been fairly smooth, and we're now at the lowest level of SoPW activity since about January of 2001. I don't pretend to know what any of this signifies.
A word spoken in Mind will reach its own level, in the objective world, by its own weight
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