Perl, the first postmodern computer language (1999)

Re:Perl, the first postmodern computer language (1999) by fps_doug on Wednesday May 04, 2022 @09:40AM (#31260228)

I'm more than two decades away from being gen-z, and I still agree with that sentiment. There might be that theoretical wise and disciplined Perl programmer writing well structured and readable code, but wherever I interfaced with people writing/maintaining Perl code, it was the most hastily thrown together crap that once was a small tool that "just worked" and then slowly grew completely out of hands over the years. You can have that in any language, but for some reason Perl always excelled at that discipline.

Also, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jK0ytvjv-E

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Re:Perl, the first postmodern computer language (1999) by doomvox on Wednesday May 04, 2022 @08:05PM (#31267586)

"... but wherever I interfaced with people writing/maintaining Perl code, it was the most hastily thrown together crap"

The badly written stuff needs more "maintenance", and the people who need to work on it are more likely to complain (and I think you're stuck on confirmation bias).

In the late-90s, the early web gold rush was on, and a lot of amateurs started writing perl in a hurry as their first language. The fact that they could do anything at all is actually pretty amazing, and I'd say that's a point in perl's favor.

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Re:Perl, the first postmodern computer language (1999) by fps_doug on Thursday May 05, 2022 @04:37AM (#31270999)

I think my comment kinda agrees with this, maybe I didn't make it clear enough though. You can write good or bad code in any language. But because of this, a low barrier to entry is both a blessing and a curse. And as time passes, and the more people touch the code, the higher the chances you end up with something cursed.

So my aversion to Perl could be considered a pragmatic solution to that problem. :-)

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Re:Perl, the first postmodern computer language (1999) by collyw on Friday May 06, 2022 @04:19AM (#31282707)

I don't think that the problem is unique to Perl, but Perl syntax can make the problem so much worse.

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Re:Perl, the first postmodern computer language (1999) by the_only_law on Wednesday May 04, 2022 @01:56PM (#31263723)

> I'm more than two decades away from being gen-z, and I still agree with that sentiment.

Can’t really be a comment without a aside-from-the-point slurring

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Re:Perl, the first postmodern computer language (1999) by chasd00 on Wednesday May 04, 2022 @12:12PM (#31262443)

iirc Perl was always described as the "duct tape of the internet" which encompasses the good and bad sides of Perl.

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Re:Perl, the first postmodern computer language (1999) by collyw on Friday May 06, 2022 @04:23AM (#31282742)

https://xkcd.com/224/

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Re:Perl, the first postmodern computer language (1999) by cestith on Wednesday May 04, 2022 @02:36PM (#31264195)

Be sure to blame the saw and the hammer, as it can't be the fault of the carpenter.

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