Re^5: The current state of Perl 6

[moritz]

So, people are using perl6 code at this time?

Yes.

And, if so what are the results?

Some people like it, others don't.

am wondering are the people who upgrade perl 5 working on perl 6 as well?

Most developers either work on Perl 5 or Perl 6 - both take up tremendous amounts of time, and since the code bases don't overlap all that much, there's no good reason for developers to work on both.

It just seems it is taking an extremely long time 10 plus years to come out with a production usable version.

It is. Because Perl 6 has extremely high demands on compiler writers.

Second, it seems there has been every excuse in the world on the site as to reasons why this version or a delay occurs every month.

I've mostly seen reasons, not excuses.

Let me make this perfectly clear: There's no reason why any Perl 6 developer should excuse himself or herself for not having finished something you'd like to see - we're all volunteers. And nobody wants to see Perl 6 "done" more than those people actually working on it.

Maybe some other open source people should assist with finishing up a production version of perl6?

I'd really love to see that. But attracting contributors isn't as easy as saying "maybe somebody else should assist".

If you have any idea how that might be accomplished, I'm eager to hear.

[igelkott]

In such a generally unpleasant and contentious thread, it sure was nice to read your patient and informative reply to some of the main questions. Along with a few other serious replies, I feel that I've gotten a little better sense of what's going on ... without the effort of following the actual work. Thanks.

[Anonymous Monk]

do share your conclusion

[igelkott]

do share your conclusion

My main point was just to show appreciation for one of the nice posts in this thread. Loosely implied is also an admiration of the work that has been done on this huge, volunteer project.

But, in answer to your (anonymous) question, I sort of felt that Perl 6 had quietly faded away several years ago. I'd see references to it now and then but nothing to suggest it would ever fully materialize. The 6-ish stuff released (Moose, etc) could possibly spur greater interest or actually steal the thunder. Would a full Perl 6 be worth the added effort?

The feeling I have now is that Perl 6 has gathered momentum and will indeed break through. It will certainly have some rough edges and compatibility issues but should be interesting and usable.

I don't know if I'll completely embrace the new paradigm or just stay in my safe world of Perl 5. Of course, I managed to tear myself away from Perl 4 when I thought that it was the pinnacle of evolution (compared to C, sh and awk).

[Anonymous Monk]

It is. Because Perl 6 has extremely high demands on compiler writers.

Maybe it has too high demands ? I'm not kidding.

[moritz]

Maybe it has. But you can't know from just looking at the time frame. TimToady usually says he'd rather like Perl 6 to take longer than finishing on time, and being crap. I agree.

Still we are well aware that some things are very hard to achieve, which is why occasionallly features are removed from the spec. See S01 for more thoughts.

[Anonymous Monk]

Every body agrees with that!! The question is how much longer????