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One part of Perl, that still largely makes sense, is that Perl is almost always one of the smallest choices for toy program tests. https://benchmarksgame-team.

• stouset 2y ago
  Ruby is nearly as good as Perl in this regard, is a significantly more useful skill to learn, and code written in it is immeasurably more readable.
  • binary132 2y ago
    Ok, but if you’re comfortable using it, Perl is really fun, pleasant, and easy to quickly express ideas in. One of its conscious design decisions is to be flexible enough to rapidly bang out some quick hack you’ll never look at again in absolute incomprehensible gibberish shorthand, or to use in a very methodical, disciplined, and structured way — so if you write something unmaintainable, that’s because you chose to. I haven’t turned to it as my first choice in years, but it still has a place in my back pocket for if I ever need a quick and dirty text munging Swiss Army knife.
    • stouset 2y ago
      Any language you already know is going to have the advantage over languages you don’t. If you already know Perl, you already know if it’s right for you. If you don’t, you’re probably better off learning Ruby instead.
      • binary132 2y ago
        It’s not like you have to pick. Both are facile to pick up over a weekend. :)