I really like Perl, but lately everywhere I seem to go and talk to say I shouldn't be learning Perl as it's old and Python is better.
My Good Lord, where have you been? Python is _already_ old news. Ruby, baby! :-)
I am on the right path?
The right path is probably to learn them all, and pick whichever satisfies you the most. Or use the right tool for the right job.
I know not everybody have the time to learn new programming languages every few months. But frankly I think that's the best advice I can give you. Learning new programming languages will make you a better programmer, and it will asnwer your own question on whether you should continue using language X, use both X and Y, or move on to Y completely.
Here's my own experience, hopefully it can help you. I know Perl since 1997. It has taught me _a lot_ (about programming, about the hacking culture, about other languages). Then I started to be interested in Python around 2000. Despite 1-2 years trying to familiarize and use Python, it never really got to me. I guess I never enjoy programming in that language. Nowadays I very rarely use Python at all. I install Python mostly just to run BitTorrent.
Then I started to be interested in Ruby in 2001. This I like. But despite promising myself to replace Perl with Ruby, today I still program like 50% : 50% in Ruby : Perl. There are just some things that I can write much faster and more convenient using Perl. Especially when writing one liners or when I can just use one or two CPAN modules and get the job done.
And then there's PHP. I use (or have to use it) since 1999. Despite swearing several times never to use PHP again, and cursing every time I have to code many lines in it, today I am still stuck with PHP at times.
I found that, once you learn enough Perl, you just can't let it go completely. Perl and CPAN are too damn useful :-)
-- dave
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