Perl.com: Larry Wall on upcoming Perl 6 development, Pt. 1

Apr 05, 2001, 17:00 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Larry Wall)

"What I will be revealing in these columns will be the design of Perl 6. Or more accurately, the beginnings of that design, since the design process will certainly continue after I've had my initial say in the matter. I'm not omniscient, rumors to the contrary notwithstanding. This job of playing God is a little too big for me. Nevertheless, someone has to do it, so I'll try my best to fake it. And I'll expect all of you to help me out with the process of creating history. We all have to do our bit with free will."

"If you look at the history of Perl 6 up to this point, you will see why this column is subtitled The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good. The RFC process of last year was ugly, in a good sense. It was a brainstorming process, and that means it was deliberately ugly—not in the sense of incivility, since the RFC process was in fact surprisingly civil, but in the sense that there was little coherent design to the suggestions in the RFCs. Frankly, the RFCs are all over the map, without actually covering the map. There are contradictory RFCs, and there are missing RFCs. Many of the RFCs propose real problems but go off at funny angles in trying to propose solutions. Many of them patch symptoms without curing the underlying ailments."

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