In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Jesse Erlbaum) wrote:
> > In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Nathan Torkington) wrote: > > http://web.archive.org/web/19990501151656/www.perl.org/advocac > > y/tech.html > > this turned into > > http://www.perl.org/phbs/reduce-risks.html > I would be *very* interested in working with someone to update this > document. Perl needs strong advocacy which is readily available to every > developer who has ever been asked: i'm the person. send additions. > * Is Perl as good as Java? this is a red herring. they both have their places. it's like comparing apples and oranges, which does neither of the languages any good. besides, i don't think Perl would come out that far ahead, if it did at all. Perl is good. Java is good. the real question is "Does Perl solve my problems?". pretending that Perl beats all comers hands down is not convincing -- it's marketing hype, which most people can recognize fairly easily. > * Impossible! Perl doesn't have <buzz-feature de jour> -- it can't > possibly be used for serious projects! How can it? the O'Reilly success stories are the best thing for this. no one in their right mind or performing due diligence is going to believe anything a web site says. real world examples and successes are the only thing that ar really convincing. > * You can't write mission critical code without strong typing -- can you? i certainly wouldn't use perl to control nuclear reactors, medical equipment, or air traffic control. :) > * What serious projects have used Perl? see the O'Reilly success stories. > * How popular is Perl? O'Reilly has a real market study that i've seen, but it's not available to the public. the only way you can answer this question is to get one of the big research firms to get the answer. > * Are schools even teaching Perl programming? if you want to collect a list, and maintain it... that's a lot of work though. even then, if a school teaches Perl that doesn't mean that the people taking the course are any good at Perl programming, or programming in general. Schools teach C++, but that doesn't make C++ good, or the students who take it worthy candidates for employment. if you are concerned about the availability of candidates for employment, i suggest that it's not a problem in the current economic climate. :) > * Why should we take a risk and use Perl instead of [C++|Java|VB]? (It's > a risk, isn't it?) language wars should be avoided. if Perl can't stand on its merits, then there is no sense advocating it. even then, you need to choose a problem domain and show that Perl is better for that then another language. i don't think you are going to convince anyone that Perl is better than VB for rapid-prototyping on Windows, that Perl has better XML support than Java, or that... well, C++ just sucks :) > To go ever further: Perl also needs some sort of community "certification" > for developers. TIMTOWTDI notwithstanding, there is a HUGE(!) gap between > the best Perl coders and the worst. certification won't help that. there is a big gap between people with certifications too. certification is not going to get rid of all of the bad programmers, or the people wanting to cut costs by hiring cheap workers. > I would like to see a database of programmers and organizations which have > passed some sort of "Perl Software Engineering" certification. TPI and Perl Mongers both considered this question at length, and rejected it. if you want to do something your greatest problem will be convincing people that your certification means anything, and then getting a respectable number of people to have the certification. i, for one, will not be certified. i imagine many other really good programmers will not take the time to be certified. the trick with certifications is that there is a legal liability associated with it. a certification is a statement of quality by the certifying body. the certifying body has to be ready to legally back up the certification if someone decides that a particular certification constitutes fraud. to avoid that sort of thing, the certifying body has to control and proctor the testing so that they can demonstrate due diligence in the certification process. Microsoft, for instance, uses independent testing organizations to administer their certification tests. once you've done that, you need to know how to de-certify someone. do the exams have a lifetime? does a person certified for Perl 5.004 remain certified for Perl 5.005? what happens if you, as the certifying body, receive many reports, credible or otherwise, that the person's skills do not match the certification? what happens when the person you decertified wants to appeal, or fight, your action? that's just the two minute version why this is not a good idea. the costs far outweight the benefits. besides, Nat will give anyone a certification for $3. -- brian d foy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - Perl services for hire CGI Meta FAQ - http://www.perl.org/CGI_MetaFAQ.html Troubleshooting CGI scripts - http://www.perl.org/troubleshooting_CGI.html
