I work as a programmer and have used many, many languages in my various jobs: C/C++, ksh, perl, Objective C, awk, Java, PL/SQL, and on and on and on. And on.

Perl is one of the tools in my toolbox. Granted, it's my favorite tool, and often the best tool. However, it is not the best tool in every case. I like Java because it lets me write code in OS X that can be used anywhere. I like Objective C because it is what C++ should be. C and C++ are great because the compiled code will run so quickly without the source code being as grungy as assembler. Yesterday, in a shell script that I inherited, I used sed for a 's///g' in a long string of pipes.

Now, having said that, I have to emphasize that my instinct is to reach for Perl. A lot of what I do is parsing text; enough said. Oneof the nice things about Perl is that it is object oriented, but it doesn't have to be. I write a lot of quickie scripts that just need to work, so forcing OO would be like tying a school bus to the back of a horsecart.

A Perl geek may not be pushed to OO. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as a lot of us would consider it a dashed liberty if we were. However, it is there if we need it, and it can provide a good introduction to OO. To me, that is one of the beautiful things about Perl. The decision is left to the programmer, so we can adapt to the situation.

(Puts soapbox away, crawls back into hole.)

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tbone1
Ain't enough 'O's in 'stoopid' to describe that guy.
- Dave "the King" Wilson