I use php for my web pages, perl for my cron jobs and java I use VERY sparingly. Really in two cases.
Case 1) I need the user to do something like select part of an image, or click on some squares in a grid.

Case 2) I need a page to be modified via a live connection to the database and can't wait for a page refresh.

    Well, I'm only curious if people use much PERL. For some reason I thought it was a fading language but it seems to be shining brighter lately (and in some pretty popular tools as well).

    I'm not interested in Java for the web at all - I'm interested in Java for producing print projects (offset press type). Creating a machine to create art has always been a dream of mine. I guess that's why I wanted a copy machine when I was 6 years old. I'm beginning to see this as a possibility now.

      Hi Vaaaska

      I don't think Perl has faded much. Perl as CGI has been superseded by PHP/ASP/JSP in many, but not all cases. However, these languages aren't any good for system-level programming or for automating local tasks which need done regularly, e.g. back up, cron jobs etc.

      PHP/ASP/JSP are firmly designed for web programming. Perl is a jack of all trades.

      Norm

        Originally posted by Norman Graham
        Hi Vaaaska

        I don't think Perl has faded much. Perl as CGI has been superseded by PHP/ASP/JSP in many, but not all cases. However, these languages aren't any good for system-level programming or for automating local tasks which need done regularly, e.g. back up, cron jobs etc.

        PHP/ASP/JSP are firmly designed for web programming. Perl is a jack of all trades.

        Norm

        Of course, PHP might be quite happy to move in somewhat on the "jack of all trades" thing. With its popularity and the decision to build the CLI automatically on *nix platforms, I see no reason it couldn't move up ... except for PERL, with its community, CPAN, longer tradition, and basic design. 😉

        Nonetheless, I prefer PHP.

        Back on topic, vaaaska, have you seen Perl Success Stories?

        Seems to me as people get a finger on it, it's showing up more and more places. I think Open Source makes a lot of sense in many ways ... looking forward to the day when companies do their own coding in house (back to the 50's, perhaps??)

          Perl - I don't use it everyday, but when I do, WOW!

          Creating Excel files is one thing. Reading an Excel file on a *nix platform is another. I don't believe PHP can natively do this very easily (not saying its impossible, but back in the day I hadn't seen any off the shelf libraries). Perl has a module available to it which makes reading from an Excel file easy.

          Another time I found Perl useful was its web robot module. That thing does a lot of dirty work for you allowing you to create web bots without trying to figure out all the rules a bot is to follow (the module does this work for you). Very handy stuff.

          I was using Perl for shell scripting, but I'm comfy in PHP now and use that instead.

            Originally posted by AstroTeg
            Perl - I don't use it everyday, but when I do, WOW!

            Creating Excel files is one thing. Reading an Excel file on a *nix platform is another. I don't believe PHP can natively do this very easily (not saying its impossible, but back in the day I hadn't seen any off the shelf libraries). Perl has a module available to it which makes reading from an Excel file easy.

            Another time I found Perl useful was its web robot module. That thing does a lot of dirty work for you allowing you to create web bots without trying to figure out all the rules a bot is to follow (the module does this work for you). Very handy stuff.

            I was using Perl for shell scripting, but I'm comfy in PHP now and use that instead.

            I wonder how difficult or easy it would be to translate these two things (the Excel reader and the robot module) into PHP?

              Originally posted by Weedpacket
              I wonder how difficult or easy it would be to translate these two things (the Excel reader and the robot module) into PHP?

              I had looked around to see if:

              • Somone had converted these to PHP
              • If there was a way PHP could make direct use of these same modules (even though they're for Perl).

              I didn't find anything at the time. I don't see anything stopping PHP from having modules/functionality like these 2 modules had.

                The excel module wouldn't be too terrible on a windows box, and the COM extension.

                (yes i consider that cheating too)

                  Make it work on *nix and you have a winner. I've done the COM trick on Windows. But you gotta work with what ya got...

                    10 days later

                    I'm learning C right now. Partly for the fun of it and partly so I if my son's school asks me to teach it next year I will not be caught totally flat footed. I've programmed in lots of languagues, but kind of missed C and C++ raising babies. I started with Fortran, then COBOL, then a baby, then Pascal, then another baby, then more Pascal, then graduation, the a looonnnngggg stint at home (17 years total, I quit work after the first baby) then jump right into learning html and javascript. When I went back to work, the first programming language I learned was Perl, then brushed up on my Javascript, then learned PHP. I've done a bit of ASP, but after PHP, who could stand to do ASP??? I only do websites, so I feel like using Perl is kind of like trying to kill a gnat with a sledge hammer 😉

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