Diving for Perl

Languages come and go. A few have the right stuff to rise to the
top—and fewer stay there. Perl had a spectacular rise, a quiet
slump, and has now found its place in the world of programming.


Perl seemed destined to rule the web. Michael Stevenson and Mike
Bursell describe how Perl’s design made it ideal for the early
web. We hear from Conor Myhrvold about its motto: “There is more
than one way to do it.” Elizabeth Mattijsen shares how—despite
Perl’s strength—a long development cycle slowed Perl’s growth.
And although it’s not the top web language anymore, John Siracusa
points out that Perl lives on as a niche tool.


If you want to dive deeper into the story of Perl, head on over
to redhat.com/commandlineheroes.


Guest John Siracusa also co-hosts three podcasts. Check out
Accidental Tech Podcast, Reconcilable Differences, and Robot or
Not?