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Issue #494 - 2021-01-11 - Perl Myths
latest | archive | edited by Mohammad Sajid Anwar
This edition was made possible by the supporters of our cause.
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Hi there Welcome to my first edition of the newsletter for the year 2021. I hope you have had a great start to the year. Today I am going to share a personal experience from back in 1999. It was the year when I was first introduced to Perl and joined a start-up that was building Perl developerment team. In the team, we had two newcomers (incuding myself) and one senior developer. My first project was a web based app using MySQL as the database. I had really a hard time installing DBI on my development box and the senior dev was reluctant to help me. I approached my manager and he told me to build the project against a text file for time being. I was given a black & white monitor and was expected to build a colourful web app. Eventually, the project was completed despite all the obstacles and it was time to demo it. Guess what? I was given a colour monitor this time. As expected it didn't look professional and it embarassed me. However a few months later, I found out how to install DBI. Why am I sharing this story? Well last week, a Perl enthusiast from Indonesia contacted me on Twitter having trouble installing Calendar::Hijri. I wondered how he founnd my Twitter account as I don't include thast information in the module's pod. After a little fight, the issue was resolved and he got the colourful Hijri calendar. It is so satisfactory to be able to help a fellow hacker. Coding in Perl? What support do you need? The Perl Foundation is running a survey. It is aimed at newcomers to the language. There is a ongoing discussion on the subject for you to check out on Reddit Have you come across any Perl myths? I guess so, yes. Someone who has used Perl for years must have rebuked some Perl myths in that time. I recently came across an article titled Debunking Perl Myths by Pritesh Ugrankar. I feel so happy to see a fellow Indian being discussed widely with regard to Perl. I would recommend the article to anyone starting Perl so he/she starts with solid base. Let me ask you a question, can you list new features released with Perl v5.xx? I have had to fight for this information during the peak when I was actively contributing to CPAN modules. With time, I built up a series of notes on this. I remember Dave Cross gave talk on the similar topic at the London Perl Workshop in 2016 and I had the honour to be in the room. I still remember that was the first time I heard about the special source code token "__SUB__" introduced in Perl v5.16. If you are keen to read a detailed discussion of the features added with every new release of Perl then I would recommend the latest creation from brian d foy, entitled Perl New Features. It is published by Dave Cross's Perl School and covers releases from 5.10 to 5.32. From the little I have read so far, it looks really promising. Every Perl dev should have a copy handy. Thanks to brian d foy for the review copy. A fellow member of the Perl Programmers Facebook Group shared a video of a struggling new Perl developer. I enjoyed watching his struggle to get the right answer. I am sure there will be something to learn from his experience. Are you looking for fresh start in the year 2021? It is a fact that the demand for Perl developers is not as high as it used to be. However there is one guy, Pete Sergeant, who singlehandedly keeps us up to date with every possible opportunity across the globe. Don't forget to check out the opportunities at the end of the newsletter. Pete is not just a recruiter but he is an experienced Perl hacker. Don't believe me? Please check out his MetaCPAN profile. Last but not least, take care of yourself and your loved ones. Please enjoy rest of the newsletter. Mohammad Sajid Anwar |
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Sponsors
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If you use GitHub Actions for your CI/CD you know it doesn't treat Perl as a first class citizen. This tutorial-style post can help you learn how to deploy a prebuilt Perl environment into GitHub Actions, simplifying and speeding up your CI/CD. |
Announcements
Articles
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by Nikos Vaggalis Developers who use Perl are invited to take a survey to provide feedback on what help and guidance they would find useful. It's a Perl Foundation initiative to guide developers in their journey of learning Perl. |
CPAN
Grants
Perl Weekly Challenge
The Weekly Challenge by Mohammad Anwar will help you step out of your comfort zone. You can even win prize money of $50 Amazon vouchers by participating in the weekly challenge. We pick one winner at the end of the month from all the contributors in that month. The monthly prize is kindly sponsored by Peter Sergeant of PerlCareers.
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by Mohammad Sajid Anwar (MANWAR) Welcome to a new week with couple of fun tasks - "Palindrome Number" and "Demo Stack". If you are new to the weekly challenge then why not join us and have fun every week. For more information, please read FAQ page. |
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by Mohammad Sajid Anwar (MANWAR) Enjoy a quick recap of last week's contributions by Team PWC dealing with the "Group Anagrams" and "Binary Tree to Linked List" tasks in Perl and Raku. You will find plenty of solutions to keep you busy. |
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by Aaron Smith Aaron's solution to the second task "Binary Tree to Linked List" is so well structured and organised. Cool Raku code. |
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by Adam Russell Adam, thanks for reminding us of the "Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic". It seems I no longer know any mathematics. | 
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by Arne Sommer I look forward to Arne's blog post every week to see how creative his title is going to be. Thanks for yet another quality blog. |
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by Colin Crain Little late but worth the effort, thanks for sharing this blog post. It is always fun and a pleasure to read. |
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by Cheok-Yin Fung I like the fighting nature of Cheok-Yin. Don't give up; you are doing great. |
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by Dave Jacoby (JACOBY) Dave's blog is always inspiring and technical and keeps you engaged. Must Read. | 
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by Flavio Poletti (POLETTIX) Flavio's style of blogging is very interesting. Reading his blog is a kind of magic; it always keeps you engaged. | 
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by Flavio Poletti (POLETTIX) Flavio showing the power of code reuse and proving the point - 'Don't reinvent the wheel'. |
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by Kang-min Liu If you are looking for some Raku magic then don't forget to checkout Kang-min's blog. It is never short of cool ideas. |
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by Laurent Rosenfeld Laurent has yet another detailed descriptive blog post for both Perl and Raku. Highly Recommended. |
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by Roger Bell West (FIREDRAKE) Roger's blog post is not just limited to Perl and Raku but it also includes bonus solutions in Python, Ruby and Rust. |
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by Simon Green Simon made the Anagram Grouping task look like a schoolboy task. Incredible. |
Perl Tutorial
A section for newbies and for people who need some refreshing of their Perl knowledge. If you have questions or suggestions about the articles, let me know and I'll try to make the necessary changes. The included articles are from the Perl Maven Tutorial and are part of the Perl Maven eBook.
Videos
Rakudo
Weekly collections
The corner of Gabor
A couple of entries sneaked in by Gabor.
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by Gabor Szabo (SZABGAB) I have started to record a new course on parallel programming in Perl. I still have plenty to add to the course, but I already wanted to let you know about it and I already wanted to give you access to it. In the coming days you can use the coupon code FORK1 to get 50% discount on the course price. | 
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Events
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January 14, 2021 06:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) |
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Online shopping, socializing, working—it’s a digital world now, which is perfect for our client. As an international IT company managing millions of domains for retail and corporate customers in nearly every country in the world, they’re busier than ever—and they need a few senior Perl developers to help them continue to thrive. |
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Our client's Malta office is looking for Perl developers with a strong exposure to Modern Perl – you’ll be comfortable with Plack/PSGI, Moose, and writing tests. Surrounded by the dazzling turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea, Malta is known for its 300 days of sunshine, its comprehensive and incredibly inexpensive healthcare, its arts and culture, and the delectable cuisine. |
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Our client’s area of expertise is decidedly less icky than ol’ Frankenstein. Their unique software is used to provide genotyping information about crops, which in turn helps to develop new species of plants. Feeding the planet? Much better way to save the environment than repurposing a few arms and legs. They’re looking for a bright mind with modern Perl skills. |
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Spice up your 9-to-5 in the playground of the rich and famous! The client is a financial company whose meteoric growth over the last twenty years means that they’re a solid investment for anyone looking to make a change in location for their career. A new, exciting life in one of the most dynamic international cities is only a click away, so what are you waiting for? |
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One of the largest product and price comparison platforms in German-speaking countries is on the hunt for a Perl programmer who wants to use their skills to eradicate inflated prices. Client is willing to consider all candidates with strong Perl, but they make heavy use of PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, and Dancer, any of which would be useful to have experience with. |
