---
title: Perl, 1994-2011
date: "2024-09-28T16:51:14Z"
lastmod: "2024-09-28T16:51:31Z"
categories:
  - coding
wp_id: 3632
description: "This is a personal homage to Perl as the language that shaped the author’s early technical life, even though Python eventually replaced it in practice."
keywords: [Perl, programming history, career, Python, homage, software nostalgia]
---

In 1994, I learnt [Perl](https://www.perl.org/). It was fantastic. I used it to:

1. 1995: Build CCChat - the unofficial IITM [email system](/blog/bets-and-pranks/lee-in-the-cc/) and software repository
2. 1999: Build [my entire blog](https://s-anand.net/) from scratch
3. 2000: Author my 2nd year thesis on the [**Behavioural Aspects of Financial Analysts**](https://archive.org/download/final-report_20240928/Final_Report.doc) by analyzing 600MB of IBES data
4. 2002: Analyze where to place the [central processing hubs](/blog/visualisation-locating-hubs/) for a bank
5. 2004: Analyze the interest durations of public sector banks
6. 2005: Creating [music quizzes](/blog/matching-misspelt-tamil-movie-names/)
7. 2006: Create my own [music search engine](/blog/hindi-songs-online/) (which earned me about $100 a month in Google Ad revenue for a while)
8. 2006: Automated [resume filtering](/blog/automated-resume-filtering/)
9. 2007: Create custom search engines
10. 2008: [Build application launchers](/blog/launching-applications/)

In 2006, I was convinced [I should stick to Perl](/blog/python-vs-perl/) over Python.

In 2008, Google launched AppEngine and it provided free hosting (which was a **big deal**!) but had only 2 runtimes: Java and Python. The choice was clear. I'd rather learn Python than code in Java.

By 2011, I [stopped installing Perl](/blog/software-for-my-new-laptop-2/) on my laptop.

Though most people know me mainly as a Python developer, I've programmed in Perl for about as long as I have in Python. I have fond memories of it. But I can't read any of my code, nor write in it anymore.

When I watched The Perl Conference (now called The Perl and Raku Conference -- Perl 6 is called Raku), I was surprised to hear how much the language had declined.

<div class="video-embed"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BgjV8A10peI" title="YouTube video" loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgjV8A10peI&amp;t=533s">![](/blog/assets/perl-conference-attendees.webp)</a>

There were fewer than 100 attendees - and for 2025, they've [decided to go smaller](https://blogs.perl.org/users/makoto_nozaki/2024/09/things-ive-learned-serving-on-the-board-of-the-perl-foundation.html) and book a tiny hotel, so as to break-even even if only 20 people show up.

Few languages have had as much of an impact on my life and thinking. My knowledge of modern programming comes from [The Camel Book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_Perl), functional programming from [Higher Order Perl](https://hop.perl.plover.com/), Windows programming from [Learning Perl on Win32 Systems](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86631.Learning_Perl_on_Win32_Systems), and so on. Even my philosophy of coding was shaped by Larry Wall's the [three great virtues of a programmer](https://thethreevirtues.com/).

This is my homage to the language that shaped me. Bless you, Perl!