Perl is the 'mixed drink' in the world of alcohol...

[derek3000]

I know, it sounds weird. I was thinking about this in a meeting today. My workplace (local government) is going online with it's jury selection system, and if you're selected, you can log in to a site and fill out the questionairre they normally give to you in the mail.

Anyway, this project is being coded in Java, which accesses an Oracle Dbase which really points to a bunch of records on a Clearpath Mainframe. Anyway, we have these meetings to sit through were we watch the developer code every nuance of the thing, and while he's busy messing with stupid little things like converting numbers to strings, then back again, I get this kind of correlation, which is admittedly biased and coming from a guy's perspective (so ladies, C and Java programmers, don't be offended).

If programming languages were like alcohol, C would be regular, good old domestic(US) beer. It doesn't exactly taste good (at first, anyway), but it's manly (the bragging rights that come with low-level programming) and it get's the job done.

Java is the import beer. This is for the techie who wants to be slightly more 'with it', as object-oriented is a buzz word and Java is 100% object-oriented. A couple of bells and whistles are thrown in so it isn't just normal beer. But what would happen if we switched these programmers' Java with C++? We set up a hidden camera to find out...

Now comes Perl, the mixed drink. It's electric blue, comes in a huge cup with peices of fruit and an umbrella in it. Looks pretty girly, huh? Well, it's easy going down (easy to work with), packs a mean punch that you wouldn't suspect, and only those comfortable with their masculinity (or programming skill) would dare drink one at a crowded club. Did I mention that people at work make fun of Perl?

So there you have it. I hope this doesn't get flamed...

Cheers,
Derek

[holygrail]

I like the idea...

Assembler is the water. It's drinkable, but that's it. You won't get drunk
So COBOL must be beer that people drank in the dark ages...No taste at all, but better than water
...

Who knows more...?
--HolyGrail

[Sherlock]

Careful before you underestimate the power of assembly. If I ever need to be baffled about what one can accomplish through assembly code, I go to Steve Gibson's site. Somehow, I've just never found a way to argue with a full-GUI, 52K application with no installer/uninstaller that can scan for "click-of-death." ;)

You see, you can do neat stuff with assembler. Now if someone could just make it run a little faster... *chuckle*

- Sherlock

Skepticism is the source of knowledge as much as knowledge is the source of skepticism.

[holygrail]

I never meant to underestimate the power of assembly! I've done some stuff with it, but as a programmer it's hardly any fun to write in assembly!

--HolyGrail

[Anonymous Monk]

Assembler is not the water. Assembler is pure grain alcohol.

[Beatnik]

I'll consider Import beer being the US ones, since I live in EU :) and we ofcourse have the best beer in the world :)
Perl being the Sangria of programming languages :)

Greetz
Beatnik
... Quidquid perl dictum sit, altum viditur.

[jeffa]

I think your node represents the sad state of affairs that is now this site called Perlmonks. If you had posted this 5 years ago, you would have been flamed into the worst nodes of the week, if not the month. You basically just came in here, proclaimed that Perl is a girl drink and that C and Java are for those techies who are "good old domestic" or "slightly more 'with it'."

"Did I mention that people at work make fun of Perl?"

No, but you sure did imply that you do with this node. Thanks for walking into the Monastery and taking a big dump on our floor. Thanks to the people who refuse to stick up for Perl and let this kind of crap slide past them.

UPDATE: HA! the joke is on me! This node IS 6 years old. Still, i am shocked at it's current node rep. I still think that this analogy is pure 100% crap, but i should have done more investigation into this before i pulled out my flame thrower and flipped the switch to incinerate.

[Anonymous Monk]

Java is not 100% object-oriented.

[Anonymous Monk]

And which drink corresponds to the Forth programming language?