Perl Vs. Everything else

[matthew_heusser at mcgraw-hill.com]

Earlier, Joel Wrote:

>Honestly, what you'll probably find is that for certain kinds of work
>Java is better suited, and for others, Perl is better suited.

  I tend to agree, but the problem is convincing folks that there is more
than one way to do it.  Management is probably  more familiar with
terms like "Homogenous Assignment" than code, so I'd try explaining
that langauges are like people.

   Personally, I would try to make the argument that there is no single,
general-purpose language that works best in ALL situations.  If there
was, we'd all be using it.  Having a chief architect select a unified
architecture
might be best.    (Mythical Man Month, Robert Brooks <chapter 7?>.  If you
can get them to read one book on software engineering, it's this one.)

If switching to Java Means re-writing code, I'd check out:
   http://www.joelonsoftware.com/stories/storyReader$47

I'd also do some research in the area of learning/teaching/improving
in multiple languages is better long-term.  Trying to fence into one
language short-term to cut the budget ends up costing more and we
all know it; I'm curious if someone has proved it.

http://www.norvig.com/21-days.html



Matt H.