Re: Honest question about Perl, Python and Ruby (Comparing Programming Languages References)

[eyepopslikeamosquito]

This type of question comes up so often, I've created a list I can use next time it's asked.

Python fanatic betmatt's Questions Comparing Perl to Python

Don't want these to clutter the main list:

• Re: OT: Computer Science for (a couple steps up from) Dummies by betmatt
• Exception clauses by betmatt
• Evolution of python by betmatt
• Automatically exiting a file within a block by betmatt
• Web Scraping by betmatt
• Nesting Functions by betmatt
• Python 'is' command by betmatt

• [OT] Reflecting on SQL. Meditating on Perl. Do languages meet requirements of Agile? by betmatt (2020: do Perl and SQL support agile programming?)

Older Nodes (2001-2019)

• Perl VS Python
• Perl fan being tempted with Python
• Perl or Python?
• The REAL reason for why they choose PHP over Perl.
• Perl is dying
• DailyKos is deciding between Ruby, Python, and Perl
• Python, Java and Perl
• Defending Perl by ait
• Perl holds its own against Python Ruby et al
• Ruby Before Perl? Nah.
• CGI and mod_perl vs PHP vs ruby on rails
• Perl Vs Ruby
• Perl is sinking (TIOBE): all time low for Perl
• Need to compare same coding written by BioPerl and Biopython
• Meditating on Perl, Python and the Semantic Web
• In Defense of Perl
• perl vs python
• Next Language to Learn
• PHP or Python or other language? which is better career choice along with Perl and Java?
• Perl beats ruby and python for teh sexy
• Perl slower than java
• What's it with Perl Syntax ?!
• perl python compare
• Why do people say 'Perl' is dead?!?!
• What language should I learn?
• Ruby vs Perl vs LISP; the killer feature lacking in Ruby
• Python and Bash more useful than Perl?
• List of polyglot obfus (Re: Christmas poem since 1988)
• Should I give up Perl?
• Perl vs. Python for prime numbers
• regarding intolerance to perl which I observe
• Perl's functional features compared with Ruby
• Perl Python Partial Polyglot
• The future of Perl?
• Perl and Python
• Stop Using Perl
• Perl back in TIOBE top ten
• Honest question about Perl, Python and Ruby
• Perl vs Python revisited
• Switching from lang X to Y
• [OT] Python vs R
• Can Perl do anything Java can do?
• Curious about Perl's strengths in 2018
• Evolution of python
• Thx, St. Larry, for the Beauty of Sigils
• Language design: direct attribute access and postponed mutators (Perl Vs Python)
• Is it worth knowing Perl? Real-life examples please
• Other similar communities you use?

• What do we have to do to resuscitate micro Perl? I want Circuit Perl NOW! by ait (2018) - sick of seeing "Circuit Python" and Lua taking over the microcontroller/embedded scene
• Building a MicroPerl distro for ESP32 and similar MCUs ? by cnd (2023) - been playing with MicroPython (uPy), wants a MicroPerl (uPl)
• Some Help for a Report About Perl
• Re: Some Help for a Report About Perl (Readability vs Maintainability References) (compares and contrasts "readability" vs "maintainability")

Recent Nodes (2020-2022)

• Perl Contempt in My Workplace by rje
• Re^3: Perl Contempt in My Workplace (my three most hated programming languages)
• Is Perl still used in banking and finance? by anonymous
• Request your guidance. Please do not take it otherwise. by netizen (Does it make sense to learn Perl for work/jobs? Or Python? Or both?)
• What are people doing with Perl 5 and Raku these days? by Crosis
• Re: A short whishlist of Perl5 improvements leaping to Perl7 by Eily with responses from me, Eily and LanX (compares scoping in Perl with Python)
• How is Perl for automation? by fidodido (see especially later reply asking about job prospects)
• Why Perl in 2020 by ait (long heated thread ... especially Perl v Rakudo and Perl 6 history)
• How is the Perl job market and what skills are focused upon? by pritesh_ugrankar (asks about job prospects for Perl in automation, especially in India)
• Becoming Just Another Economically Viable Perl Hacker by Leitz (meditation: improve job prospects by marketing yourself via Josh Kaufman's "The Personal MBA")

• Re: Organizational Culture (Part II): Meta Process by hrcerq (compares Perl v Python in 2021)
• Re^2: Organizational Culture (Part II): Meta Process (BioPerl/PDL/AI/Embedded/GPGPU/Data Science References) my response to hrcerq
• Organizational Culture (Part VI): Sociology (discusses Programming Language Sociology and Evolution)

• [Semi-OT]: Perl's "popularity" versus other languages by AnomalousMonk (How to search for popularity of programming languages? e.g. TIOBE)
• What's Perl good at or better than Python. by anonymous
• What technical benfits perl offers over python + few more questions. by anonymous (should I learn/refresh Perl or Python first?)

• Google considers Perl a useful skill by reisinge (2022) - what languages are used at Google?)

• Re^3: Advice on learning Perl and graphics (Static vs Dynamic Typing and JIT References) (2022) - JIT via Java HotSpot and C++ LLVM
• XS Modules - why and when? by Bod (Dec 2023) - Perl/XS/C/C++ vs Java/C#

Quora References

• What programming language is the most used/important at Google?
• What back-end programming languages does Google use? Why?
• What language is Google Docs written in?
• What programming language is used by Google Maps?
• How does Google's internal transfer program work?

• What programming languages are used most by Microsoft?
• Which programming languages does Apple use internally?
• What programming languages are used at Amazon?
• What programming languages are used at Facebook? Where is each one used?
• What programming languages are used at Binance?

TIOBE References

• TIOBE Index
• TIOBE Index for Perl over the years (highest: #3 in May 2005, lowest #32 in Jan 2025, current: #13 in Jun 2025)

• Perl is sinking (TIOBE): all time low for Perl (2009)
• Perl back in TIOBE top ten (2015)

Related Nodes

• Re^2: What's Perl good at or better than Python (Game of Life, LLiL, Rosetta and Performance References)

• Re: Some Help for a Report About Perl (Readability vs Maintainability References) (compares and contrasts "readability" vs "maintainability")
• Re: Why so much hate? by chromatic (explains history of Perl and Javascript)
• Re: Why so much hate? by davido (Stroustrup's response to bigotry of folks who hate C++ despite never having used it)
• Why so much hate? (the 2013 thread from a computer science student that provoked the two brilliant replies by chromatic and davido above)

• Unix shell versus Perl
• Two Different Languages: Two Similar Books (PBP and CCS) (Perl and C++ programming standards)

Teamwork:

• Beware of a guy in a room
• Working Solo and in a Team
• Psychological Safety

From Green Vs Brown Programming Languages (earthly.dev blog)

It's harder to read code than to write it -- Joel Spolsky
... writing something new is cognitively less demanding (and more fun) than the hard work of understanding an existing codebase, at least initially

Scott Adams cartoon:
Developer: The project I inherited has weak code, I need to rewrite it from scratch
Boss: Will there ever be an engineer who says, the last guy did a great job, let's keep all of it?
Developer: I'm hoping the idiot you hire to replace me says that

... if you build new things in Go but have to maintain a sprawling 20-year-old C++ codebase, can you rank them fairly? I think this is actually what the survey question is measuring. Dreaded languages are likely to be used in existing brown-field projects. Loved languages are more often used in new green-field projects.