Perl is Dead

Perl is dead, Long live Perl Moe

"When you don't create things, you become defined by your tastes rather
    than ability. Your tastes only narrow & exclude people. So create."
    --Why the Lucky Stiff

Last weekend I sat and watched [Stevan Little's (https://metacpan.org/author/STEVAN) presentation at Perl Oasis and how he bemoaned that Perl may be dead. Stevan outlined the sad fact that development of Perl, particularly Perl version 5, is essentially deadlocked when it comes to new much needed and maybe radical features. As I was watching this I was asking myself these same questions. Has the Perl community become so stale that they are indeed defined by their tastes? And even personally, have I been defined by my preference for Perl than by my abilities as a programmer? Perhaps? I'm actually not sure, I mean I'm still learning new things in Perl. But I have to admit this is a fear of mine as I watch the job postings seeking rock stars and wizards for the latest cool non blocking language or framework. If someone like Stevan, a trusted and admired leader in the Perl community, is saying such sobering things, this is a bit concerning. I have to admit Perl is quirky and that is probably why I love it so much, and sadly it seems most younger programmers don't share these sensibilities. So what was Stevan's answer to this disturbing issue? Fork the code and call it Moe. In other words, learn and explore.

Time to learn

So I ask the question, what am I doing to make sure I'm not defined by my tastes? Am I seeking knowledge on a daily basis? In the meantime I'll be reading a hard white paper on PFOR-DELTA, exploring Pegex, and maybe taking a crack at learning Scala. So I'll watch Moe and maybe I'll commit something, and hopefully in the process learn and appreciate new and interesting things. So keep pushing those bits to Github and in the process Perl will win a few new young hearts again.