Perl 6 - Your Thoughts?

Whilst no 100% Perl 6 implementation is in place (Well, hardly any implementation of any language is 100%, but you get the idea), certain implementations offer its features and what not.

So, a rehash of a dead, cryptic language, same pig with different makeup, or a elegant, flexible, concise language brought right up to date?

I don't want a flame war erupting (Unless it contains, truthful, quality flames.) I just want to know if it will be the big hit people say it will be, or a long-way past due on a dated foundation.

I ask, because I learned the absolute Perl 5 basics for the sole reason that every UNIX/UNIX-like machine has it, nearly without exception. I didn't really like it, but it was useful. I do prefer Python 3 and Ruby, but will Perl 6 really bring back its fame?

I personally find the {}, ;, variable prefixes, multiple way, slightly inconsistent syntax a little harsh on my eyes, and a little to much work for a scripting language. But I also admired its elegance sometimes, as well as its flexibility.

Not sure how it'll make a come back in a world with Ruby and Python though... And this is what I'm wondering.

I love Perl and have used it since the early 90s however I believe they have missed the boat. I hope I'm wrong. Some of my fondest memories were waiting on Larry's State of the Onion papers which detailed the direction for Perl 6. It all sounded great. I still use Perl most every other day for mundane tasks and will continue to do so. There will always be a place for Perl but I don't see it having a resurgence.

What happened to Parrot? Anyone?

Apperently, quite a complete Perl 6 Parrot VM impementation -
http://github.com/rakudo/rakudo/tree/master

So, it's plausible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by myrtle1908

I believe they have missed the boat.

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What boat is that?

Perl 6 is not meant to one-up anything, or gain market share. We're not out to "beat" Python or Ruby, whatever that might mean. It's an overhaul and massive improvement of a language that many love and rely on every day.

Something I wrote some time ago:
http://bcacm.org/~slavik/

yes ... it's wordpress :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by petdance

What boat is that?

Perl 6 is not meant to one-up anything, or gain market share. We're not out to "beat" Python or Ruby, whatever that might mean. It's an overhaul and massive improvement of a language that many love and rely on every day.

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Read the original post, then re-read my response.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by myrtle1908

What happened to Parrot? Anyone?

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Parrot is alive and well, take a look at http://parrot.org. The released 1.0 in March of this year. As for Perl 6, Rakudo (an implementation of Perl 6) is usable today. Take a look at http://rakudo.org. Rakudo will be having its first official release in Spring of next year.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by myrtle1908

I love Perl and have used it since the early 90s however I believe they have missed the boat. I hope I'm wrong. Some of my fondest memories were waiting on Larry's State of the Onion papers which detailed the direction for Perl 6. It all sounded great. I still use Perl most every other day for mundane tasks and will continue to do so. There will always be a place for Perl but I don't see it having a resurgence.

What happened to Parrot? Anyone?

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How about spending a few seconds doing a frickin' Google search?

Actually, I also believe Perl 6 will not be as popular with the masses as Perl 5. Perl 5 was accidentally chosen as the language of the Web in the middle and late '90s due to lack of alternatives at the time. Webmasters around the world were literally forced to learn a bit of Perl for CGI scripts, even though they hated it, due to the fact that Perl syntax was weird and cryptic to them. Perl has never been a language for everyone anyway, even for programmers.

Now we have PHP, Ruby, Python, Scala, and a bunch other languages competing for popularity in Web usage. I think Perl 6 will not become a dominant player as Perl 5 was.

But then, Perl 6 is still a very interesting and cool language. It is not just a Perl 5 + OO + a few syntax touch-ups. It is MUCH MUCH more. It has been (and is still) designed to be a language for the next 20+ years. If you read the synopses, you will see for yourself the breadth and depth of the language design. It is MUCH MUCH more ambitious than Ruby or Python. That is also perhaps why it takes so long for the implementation to catch up.

But then, with Parrot coming along, it might not matter whether Perl 6 will be popular or not, because we will be able to reuse other languages' libraries.

Please don't feed the trolls.

This guy starts with an inflammatory message and then claims he's not starting a flame war. I asked the moderators to shut this thread down but until they do:

Please don't feed the trolls.

Moved to Recurring Discussions.