I had really wanted to stay out of the recent commentary on CGI. I really did. I was going to be able to until a recent article was published in which the authors try to step in on the side of CGI. I believe the authors to be talented perl developers posting in good faith, but the result really pushed me to reply. The application developed as a case for CGI and preventing “overkill” is a perfect example of why a framework is needed.

In a recent post, our own Buddy Burden expounds on the relative merits of readability vs flexibility (in the guise of Python vs Perl respectively). While he does not completely concede the point that Python is more readable than Perl, I will go so far as to negate it. In fact, I would say that the prettiness of Python can even mask some real readability issues.

I have been a Perl programmer for several years, but early this summer took a job writing Python. I’m glad I’ve learned it, there are several things that I would love to see added to Perl, most notably a set type and a proper in operator (~~ got close). That said I will absolutely not concede that Python is easier to read than Perl, as all too often is taken as the axiom that many believe it is.

And I have examples.