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I am teaching myself C++ after this, I want to learn a scripting language. I think I will go for Perl, I want something like Perl because I feel(I don't know),

I am teaching myself C++ after this, I want to learn a scripting language. I think I will go for Perl, I want something like Perl because I feel(I don't know), that Perl will not be changing drastically in the following years, that the current userbase and available OSS code is huge and that this will not change any time soon. I also like OpenBSD and it has Perl by default. Anything I should be aware of?

danssig 15y ago
If you want a scripting language you'll save yourself a lot of pain by starting with Python. It's also on OpenBSD isn't it? If not, I'm sure it's trivial to install it there.
- kemayo 15y ago
  That does run into his "will not be changing drastically in the following years" criteria a bit, though. He can either learn Python 2, in which case he'll have to adjust to Python 3 when it takes off... or he can learn Python 3 and not (yet) have widespread library support. Learning 2 and then moving to 3 whenever it takes off isn't really that much work, but I can totally understand it having a chilling effect on prospective learners.
  - cageface 15y ago
    Python 3 is hardly drastically different from Python 2. The only real pain point is library incompatibilities. Most of the big changes in Python 3 have been backported to 2 now. Perl is worth studying for any language afficionado but if a friend asked me today which language to begin with I'd strongly recommend Python over Perl.
- protomyth 15y ago
  Python is in the ports / packages for OpenBSD.
phaylon 15y ago
If you want to experience a modern Perl, you can use perlbrew[1] to install it for your user only (e.g. you won't need to muck with the system's Perl), cpanm[2] is a modern and easy (and zero-configuration) tool for install modules from CPAN. MetaCPAN[3] is a modern browser for the CPAN archive. Task-*[4] collections are good for finding modules in the ecosystem related to a subcommunity or project. I think Task-Kensho[5] is a good collection of modern Perl modules to start out and try the language. To me, the most influential projects right now are Plack[6]/PSGI[7] and Moose[8]. Community-wise I'd keep an eye on the IronMan aggregator[9] and blogs.perl.org[10]. [1] https://metacpan.org/release/App-perlbrew https://metacpan.org/release/App-perlbrew [2] https://metacpan.org/release/App-cpanminus https://metacpan.org/release/App-cpanminus [3] https://metacpan.org/ https://metacpan.org/ [4] http://cpan.uwinnipeg.ca/search?query=Task-&mode=dist http://cpan.uwinnipeg.ca/search?query=Task-&mode=dist [5] https://metacpan.org/release/Task-Kensho https://metacpan.org/release/Task-Kensho [6] https://metacpan.org/release/Plack https://metacpan.org/release/Plack [7] https://metacpan.org/release/PSGI https://metacpan.org/release/PSGI [8] https://metacpan.org/release/Moose https://metacpan.org/release/Moose [9] http://ironman.enlightenedperl.org/ http://ironman.enlightenedperl.org/ [10] http://blogs.perl.org/ http://blogs.perl.org/
Mithaldu 15y ago
IMO the most important thing to be aware of is that There Is More Than One Way To Learn It: http://perl-tutorial.org http://perl-tutorial.org

danssig 15y ago

If you want a scripting language you'll save yourself a lot of pain by starting with Python. It's also on OpenBSD isn't it? If not, I'm sure it's trivial to install it there.

kemayo 15y ago
That does run into his "will not be changing drastically in the following years" criteria a bit, though. He can either learn Python 2, in which case he'll have to adjust to Python 3 when it takes off... or he can learn Python 3 and not (yet) have widespread library support. Learning 2 and then moving to 3 whenever it takes off isn't really that much work, but I can totally understand it having a chilling effect on prospective learners.
- cageface 15y ago
  Python 3 is hardly drastically different from Python 2. The only real pain point is library incompatibilities. Most of the big changes in Python 3 have been backported to 2 now. Perl is worth studying for any language afficionado but if a friend asked me today which language to begin with I'd strongly recommend Python over Perl.
protomyth 15y ago
Python is in the ports / packages for OpenBSD.

phaylon 15y ago

If you want to experience a modern Perl, you can use perlbrew[1] to install it for your user only (e.g. you won't need to muck with the system's Perl), cpanm[2] is a modern and easy (and zero-configuration) tool for install modules from CPAN. MetaCPAN[3] is a modern browser for the CPAN archive. Task-*[4] collections are good for finding modules in the ecosystem related to a subcommunity or project. I think Task-Kensho[5] is a good collection of modern Perl modules to start out and try the language. To me, the most influential projects right now are Plack[6]/PSGI[7] and Moose[8]. Community-wise I'd keep an eye on the IronMan aggregator[9] and blogs.perl.org[10]. [1] https://metacpan.org/release/App-perlbrew https://metacpan.org/release/App-perlbrew [2] https://metacpan.org/release/App-cpanminus https://metacpan.org/release/App-cpanminus [3] https://metacpan.org/ https://metacpan.org/ [4] http://cpan.uwinnipeg.ca/search?query=Task-&mode=dist http://cpan.uwinnipeg.ca/search?query=Task-&mode=dist [5] https://metacpan.org/release/Task-Kensho https://metacpan.org/release/Task-Kensho [6] https://metacpan.org/release/Plack https://metacpan.org/release/Plack [7] https://metacpan.org/release/PSGI https://metacpan.org/release/PSGI [8] https://metacpan.org/release/Moose https://metacpan.org/release/Moose [9] http://ironman.enlightenedperl.org/ http://ironman.enlightenedperl.org/ [10] http://blogs.perl.org/ http://blogs.perl.org/

Mithaldu 15y ago

IMO the most important thing to be aware of is that There Is More Than One Way To Learn It: http://perl-tutorial.org http://perl-tutorial.org