This kind of question comes up a lot, not just about Perl, but about Ruby, Cobol, PHP, Java, Haskell, etc. Unfortunately, it doesn't really have an answer for t

This kind of question comes up a lot, not just about Perl, but about Ruby, Cobol, PHP, Java, Haskell, etc. Unfortunately, it doesn't really have an answer for two reasons. Firstly, the popularity of a language in no way predicts your potential future earnings if you learn that language. PHP is probably the world's most widely used language, yet the average salary for a PHP developer is lower. I found learning VBA immensely useful, but it was a frustrating language to use. I love using Ruby and Python, but PHP work is much easier to find. Ruby taught me a lot about programming, so it was definitely worth learning. Secondly, developers are not good or bad because of the language they use, but because of the value they provide. You could be a shockingly bad developer, but excellent at explaining difficult concepts in VisualBasic to the rich and powerful - you'll probably get rich. Essentially, you need to reframe your question, and then answer it yourself. What are you hoping to get out of programming? Do you want to be rich? Do you enjoy solving problems? Are you happy to work every hour of the day, or do you want to get out at 5pm every night? Which areas of programming make you feel most comfortable - writing CRUD apps or complex algorithms? Do you have any types of company you would refuse to work for (say gambling or finance)? Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you prefer to work in a small company or a large corporate? These kinds of questions will narrow your choices and help you to choose a career path. So... you might learn Perl, which causes you to get a job you end up hating but introduces you to somebody that recommends you learn Haskell, which gets you the job you love for gazillions per year. In other words, how the $%&# should we know?