Perl 5.14 Released
chromatic writes "Pumpking Jesse Vincent has just released Perl 5.14, the latest stable version of the venerable Perl 5 programming language. The list of changes in Perl 5.14 includes several enhancements, including performance tuning, Unicode improvements, and updates to the core libraries and documentation. Perl 5.16 is on track for a release next April."
I agree completely. As a UNIX sysadmin I frequently write scripts. For short and simple things, shell is preferred. But if I anticipate any complexity, I reach for Perl. I've had the experience of getting deeply into a shell script and thinking "I should have used Perl". Perl has never let me down, although I confess at times the programs have that write-only, line-noise appearance. But that's just because I've learned to use the idioms, and I comment on the complex stuff for the benefit of those who follow me--which could include myself six months later.
I'd write Ruby if I could. The syntax is cleaner, and objects are built-in, not bolted on. But Ruby is just not available where I need it. Does anybody know of an AIX LPP package for Ruby?
Also, I've been deeply disappointed at the progress of Perl 6--but Perl 5 does everything I need, so I really don't miss it. Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these--it might have been.