A question for users of PERL and Python.

[JeffGoldblum]

If you have real experience with PERL and Python, here is a question:
For general purpose use, do you find PERL to be a waste of time to learn compared to Python? I'm not asking if it's easier to learn, write, or maintain. I'm wondering: if you have real experience with both, do you find Python to be much better than PERL for general use? I've read Eric Raymond's opinion.

[b2bwild]

It does not matter what you like more girl or soccer
both are fun..
Perl is complicated and confusing like girls. (so deal with it only when necessary)
but Python is a real joy. easy and smooth..

but with Perl you can reduce the number of lines in source for sure..

[JeffGoldblum]

I like PERL ... but from what I've read it seems like Python may be the better of the two, generally. I know enough PERL to get me by, but before really drilling it into my head I thought maybe I'd be happier if I learned a lot about Python. Right now, I'm reading C in a Nutshell. I know enough C to make the book very easy to follow, but it has many details and examples that I have not had the opportunity to read about or try. It's a very good book.

[Cabhan]

The word "better" is always difficult. For instance, a lot of people find the syntax and strange variables in Perl very difficult to learn and remember, whereas I love the compactness and fun things you can do.

I don't see why you need to say if one is better than the other. Perl is probably more popular overall, due to its power with CGI, but you should learn both and use each whenever you feel it's more appropriate.

[cgrebeld]

In my professional experience, Python is much more common than Perl. But I am mostly a c/c++ dev, so perhaps it's different in web/sys admin realms.

[JeffGoldblum]

What I've read online seems to show Python being quite a bit more popular than PERL ...

[coopstah13]

I prefer python, i've used perl and find it highly obfuscated, but python is very easy to read, write, and maintain. I can't go back to a perl script and remember what I'm doing unless every line has a comment for the most part. Python is gaining popularity and ever increasing libraries, which still doesn't compare to CPAN, but it is getting close, and I imagine will surpass that soon.

[Cabhan]

A lot of my experience has been in web development, and while there is a big shift now to MVC frameworks (think Ruby on Rails), which is good, you still see a lot of Perl in that field. Perl has also been historically very popular due to CPAN, a repository of libraries.

However, I'm still not sure how to answer your question. Neither Perl nor Python is better, and any company you ever work for may be using one, the other, or something else entirely.