is Perl useful?

[hulkMAD]

what would a non-system administrator (me) use Perl for? heck, what would a real sys-admin use it for? just wondering...

[golfcart]

You name it

We extensively use Perl when coding a large number of our Internet applications for both TechIMO and ResellerRatings.

Perl has applications in both personal and commercial settings, and can be used for anything from simple local file operations to building entire Internet content management systems.

[brandon184]

I prefer PHP.

Seems to me to be a lot more robust, and a lot less bulky.

- Brandon

Yes, PHP is more robust and performance-oriented than Perl. We overhauled the entire code base of PhotoPost to PHP shortly after release of our Perl versions due to great user demand. We have never looked back.

Even when compared to PHP, ASP, and other platforms; Perl still has its uses and selling points. The most noticable are the clean coding conventions and ease of use for learning developers.