SPUG: Perl PR

[Chris Sutton]

OK, time to "unlurk".  I work for Smooth Corporation who owns/runs/develops ifloor.com, cornerhardware.com and several other flooring type sites.  We do everything in perl.  All our sites are dynmically generated using mod_perl and Mysql (though we are rapidly moving everything to Postgresql).  Besides the visible "public" sides of the sites, there are lots of back end sales and fulfillment systems all developed in house using perl.

I think one of the misconceptions with perl is the bad rap that it gets via traditional CGI performance and that it's slow.  Most of our systems were CGI's when I got there over a year ago but since then almost all our systems are native mod_perl and the performance bottlenecks are no longer code, but in the database.  The PR that we should all try and spread is that performace wise (at least for webapps), perl (via mod_perl) is no slouch.  I have heard it is on par with Java based stuff but have never seen any benchmarks.

On a side note, I have started to learn java, (to compete in the robocode site, http://robocode.alphaworks.ibm.com ) and personally after coding in perl for several years not, trying to create a program that does what I want in java is bugging the crap out of me.  How the hell do you create a simple hash data structure in java, let alone a complete data structure like you can on the fly in perl, grrrr, (yes I know it's all about objects...).

On Fri, 14 Jun 2002, Don Shanks wrote:

> I think it's the PR or maybe the lack of examples. I write a site that
> uses almost all PERL. It's not tweaked as much as it could be because I
> run an academic site, not e-commerce. My site is all XML using XSL and
> XSP. It works great. I don't see a lot of other practical sites up
> touting the abilities of PERL. I have worked in the commercial sector,
> and contract out there now, and I will be working with an old friend in
> building a complete e-Commerce site in PERL and XML.  I don't know why
> others have missed it, but PERL works great on strings, XML is strings,
> Hmmmmmm. There seems to be a correlation here.
> 
> In the end it means this: BRAG, BRAG, BRAG. If you got it running in
> PERL let others know, stretch the boundaries, if you are in there, use
> it. My current position did not originally call for PERL knowledge, but
> through practical application, all future job specs will. I think we
> need more practical applications in the commercial realm. PERL has been
> relegated to reading log files for too long.
> 
> I'm mad as hell and I ain't gonna take it no more.
> 
> Sorry, got a little on the SOAP box. I'll be quiet now.
> 
> Ramblings of PERLunatic mind.
> 
> -Don
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-spug-list at pm.org [mailto:owner-spug-list at pm.org] On Behalf
> Of Chris Kohout
> Sent: Friday, 14 June, 2002 17:19
> To: spug-list at pm.org
> Subject: SPUG: Perl PR
> 
> 
> Like others in this list, I've not found much Perl work in the 
> Seattle area.  .NET and Java seem to be dominating the field.  I've 
> been wondering why. Obviously, it's a Microsoft town, so the rise of 
> .NET and ASP make sense.  But why has Java so eclipsed Perl here?
> 
> Is this due to a lack of good PR for Perl?  Seems like the only time 
> I hear about Perl here is when some company is switching their old 
> Perl code for a new <fill in the blank> system.
> 
> Despite the obvious technical goodness of Perl, maybe it's not being 
> sold enough to corporate management?
> 
> Chris
> 
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