Will Perl 6 Become the Next Fad Language?

Perl is a family of dynamic, interpreted and high level programming languages. Perl 6 is the latest addition to the family of languages. At present, the Perl family includes both Perl 5 and Perl 6. However, Perl 6 is not an updated version of Perl 5. The programming language is completely different from Perl 5 in terms of syntactic and semantic compatibility. The active community of Perl 6 developers further adds new syntactic and semantic features to make the programming language more powerful and expressive. That is why; the programming language has the potential to become the next fad language.

Features that will Make Perl 6 the Next Fad Language

1. Easy to Implement: Perl 6 is originally designed as a language specification. So any implementation can be called as Perl 6 after passing the official test suite. The implementations, however, can vary based on their level of maturity. So the developers have option to experiment with new implementations to enhance the capabilities of the new member of the Perl family of programming languages.

2. Multiple Compilers: Like other interpreted languages like C and C++, Perl 6 also has a number of compilers. The Perl Foundation has copyrighted Rakudo that runs seamlessly on Parrot virtual machine, Java Virtual Machine and MoarVM. Similar, the compiler Niecza targets the Common Language Runtime of .NET platform. In addition to optimizing code compilation, the compiler also explores the static aspects of Perl 6. Likewise, the developers also have option to use compilers like STD, Viv, Perlito and Pugs.

3. Readable and Maintainable Code: Perl 6 is also designed with a set of features to make the code more readable and maintainable. The language specification further has a rich grammar that requires distinct components to be specified with varying syntactic forms. Thus, the programmers can now define and implement the components in an unambiguous way. The feature further makes the Perl 6 code easier to read and maintain.

4. Explicit Strong Typing: Perl 6 also comes with a stronger typing system. In addition to supporting the dynamic type system of Perl 5, it also supports static types additionally. It further allows programmers to choose from a variety of typing systems. In addition to using the static typing and dynamic typing, the developers also have option to mix these two typing.

5. Multiple Parameter Passing Modes: Perl 6 allows programmers to pass parameters through three distinct modes, i.e., positional, named and slurpy. Like other programming languages, Perl 6 also uses an ordered list of parameters as positional parameters. However, the parameters can also be passed without any order while using their names. The named-only parameters must be passed by specifying their names. On the other hand, the slurpy parameters are used by Perl 6 as a tool to create variadic functions.

6. Roles: Perl 6 also supports Roles that acts just like interfaces in Java and mixins in Ruby. The programmers can use Roles in a manner similar to classes. However, Roles are completely abstract, and needs to be used with classes to perform composition. In addition to nominal types, Roles also define semantic names for collection of state or behavior. In simple words, Roles can be defined as a bundle of methods and attributes. The methods and attributes can be added to a class without using inheritance.

The developers are also working on a Perl 5 to Perl 6 translator. The translator will make it easier for programmers to covert the source code in Perl 5 into Perl 6 syntax. As Perl 6 supports Perl 5 compatibility mode, the translated code can be executed directly by the compiler. Thus, the programmers will be able to switch to Perl 6 without putting any extra effort. If you are planning to hire service of Perl Web Development companies, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently agile or not!

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