[tpm] Fwd: [Boston.pm] Perl community "The Rising Costs of Aging Perlers"

[Mike Stok]

On 2013-07-23, at 10:59 AM, arocker at Vex.Net wrote:

> 
>> The linked article was interesting reading for me, and seems in tune with
>> conversations I have had over the past few years.
>> 
>> Mike
>> 
> I agree with the article. I'd like to know how Python manages to attract
> new recruits, because it doesn't seem to have the same problems.

Python is a useful teaching language, so you can look at it as the Java of scripting languages where there are lots of projects (e.g. software carpentry) and many people building useful numerical libraries (e.g. numpy) which make it popular with engineers. Those add up to build its momentum, particularly among people who really don't care which language they use as long as they can solve the problem they are facing.

> I'd be happy to train new recruits, (preferably for money), but apart from
> India, where are they? (Frankly, given the current job market, it's hard
> to justify recommending anyone become a programmer.)
> 
> There's also the problem that it's better to be paid a modest salary than
> not hired at a higher one. $50,000 or so/year would look very attractive
> at the moment.

I don't think people want to be recruited to a language any more, unless they are into languages (in which case they probably want to be dabbling in many.)

Maybe one approach is to learn Python? Python's OK as a language, not earth-shatteringly well or poorly designed, and one to which most of the software engineering picked up in Perl can be used (imperative, object-oriented-ish language).

If I ever look for another Perl related job then I think I would qualify as a novice again - it has been too long since I wrote Perl at any scale day-to-day, and my Perl style is likely to seem antiquated. These days in terms of coding I am a programmer who mainly uses Ruby, and occasionally dabbles with Perl, and who is most likely to be interested in metaprogrammable languages which compile down to some popular and proven VM bytecode (JVM, BEAM).

Mike

-- 

Mike Stok <mike at stok.ca>
http://www.stok.ca/~mike/

The "`Stok' disclaimers" apply.