Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Heads up --> Opinion Ahead

A buddy from work and I were talking this morning regarding a project that they are wanting to build. He came right out and asked me about Perl's capabilities. I guess that the project that they have to build would be for system management and notifications to distribution lists. It would be databased and they would like a gui for it as well.

"Ok", I said, so what is the issue? I guess that one of his colleagues make the comment that Perl just isn't the way to go for such an application. And I quote: "The database interface is "eh" and the graphical capabilities are not that good either. Perl is really only good for text modifications."

I somewhat choked. Sure, text is what Perl was designed for, but to make a statement so completely confounded without first seeing what has changed with the language is just lame!

It seems that this guy hadn't touched ANY Perl in well over 10 years. Ok, 'nuff said. That means that:

#1. He really hasn't seen Perl lately
#2. He really hasn't seen Perl lately
#3. Perl 10+ years ago and Perl today are two completely different beasts.

Yes, I know #1 and #2 are the same, that was completely on purpose. I listened to the list of requirements for the application and they sound totally feasible for Perl. I cannot divulge them here as it is work related ( I am sure you understand), but believe me, Perl wouldn't have many, if any, issues. Granted, the coding would be a little intense, haveing to use TK, DBI and other assorted modules, but aside from that, it sounds like it would be a sweet application.

The big plus for Perl is that it is a language approved and used inside the organization, so no having to get approval for it. That should make them lean in the right direction.

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