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>I don’t understand why Perl 5 and 6 are still tied together as if they are the same language.

A lot of people seem to have forgotten, or maybe they weren't around for it, but when Larry anounced Perl 6 it wasn't for a totally different language. It was the next version of Perl. Just as Perl 5 was to Perl 4, and 4 was to 3 and so on. This idea that it's a completely different language and has no relation with 5 is something people started saying when it was clear that Perl 6 wasn't just around the corner.




> when Larry anounced Perl 6 ...

... he very clearly emphasized that it was NOT just the next version of Perl, in contrast with his approach with earlier Perls.

> This idea that it's a completely different language and has no relation with 5 is something people started saying when it was clear that Perl 6 wasn't just around the corner.

I think it's just a chinese whispers effect.

To folk who paid attention to what Larry said on day one, it was obvious that P5 and P6 were (are) not the same and are not totally different either and are related.

Around a decade ago some folk began repeating the mantra that P5 and P6 were different languages in the same family. The hope was that this would help.

But some folk don't like nuance so they arrived at clearly made up and extreme views like "completely different language ... no relation with 5".


Almost. Perl 6 was always meant to be a step beyond Perl 5 rather than just an extension or evolution, but initially, Perl 5 was supposed to be a supported syntax. It would be one of many supported by the runtime, and the primary syntax people meant when they said "Perl 6" was going to be a clean break from the past — which excited many people such as myself who despised Perl 5 while envying its terseness — but the underlying engine was supposed to support Perl 5 with seamless interop from Perl 6.

When they gave that up, they needed to work out a completely new plan for maintaining interest and driving adoption, but instead of reassessing they seem to have decided "who cares, it's gonna be so awesome that it won't matter." It might work, but I'm not holding my breath.




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