Stas Bekman wrote:
>
> On Tue, 5 Dec 2000, brian moseley wrote:
>
> >
> > people won't use the software if you don't give them a
> > compelling reason. mod_perl and the higher layer systems
> > that use it are not as easy to configure or program as php,
> > and they have a lot less support from external software
> > vendors or relevance inside engineering shops than java. we
> > are being squeezed from both ends.
> >
> > i had lunch with doug and jon swartz not too long ago,
> > talking about the possibility of starting a web application
> > infrastructure company based on mod_perl and mason. when we
> > got down to it, the fundamental question was: why not just
> > use java? and we couldn't find any answer other than "i like
> > perl better". and that's not a reasonable business
> > justification.
> >
> > at some point we're going to run out of hobbyists and others
> > who /can/ justify using mod_perl-based technologies because
> > they like perl better.
>
> You forget about satisfaction. Do you feel happier to program in Java than
> Perl? You want your employees to enjoy they work. We spend too much time
> working, I want to enjoy most of my working hours. You want me for my
> design and architecture skills, you have to give me something in return.
> For me salary is much less important factor than satisfaction.
>
> Therefore if the same job can be done with Perl and Java, why not to have
> your staff happy? That's the main point I think.
>
> Of course if the bussiness suffers because Perl is not good enough, that's
> a different point. Given that at least the same could be done with Perl
> and Java, Perl and PHP, Perl and whatever, I want to code in Perl.
I know this goes a little off topic, so I apologize in advance.
One big sticking point with Perl I'm just starting to run into is XML.
Yes, Perl has great XML modules, and many more promising ones. But where
is the _validating_ XML parser? I'm doing some XML work where a
validating parser would be very nice, speed hit or not. I can work
around it easily (this is perl :-), but it would save me some work.
The XML & Java combination has a LOT more corporate resources (read $$$)
focused on it than Perl & XML. How many Java-based XML software
announcements have you seen lately? Now compare that to Perl-based XML
modules. The numbers don't compare very well. What can we do about this?
I can't help write a validating parser, but I would be happy to help
test it out. IMHO, more XML support would help sell perl into more
corporate settings. Java is big into buzzwords, and XML is one of the
biggest there is at the moment. And as we know PHBs like buzzwords, so
that is one more point in Java's favor.
I'm quite happy being a perl programmer, although I do plan on learning
other languages in the future. I love perl. As such, I'm definately all
for keeping my future job market as large as possible. If getting perl
more into the corporate eye helps that goal, then what do I need to do
as a "little guy"?
--
Drew Taylor
Software Engineer
OpenAir.com - Making Business a Breeze!
Open a free account today at www.openair.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
