Rediscovering Perl: Why the Language Still Feels Fresh in 2025

"The joy of rediscovering Perl" – a 2025 blog post by a seasoned developer who spent a decade in the language before drifting to JavaScript.

When I was 17, a copy of Learning Perl (the third edition) was my first real introduction to programming. I was then a contributor to Mandrake Linux, and Perl was the glue that held the distribution together. The book guided me through Perl 5.6, and by the time I landed my first long‑term job, Perl had become my go‑to language for everything from scripts to production services.

In the intervening years, the landscape shifted. Node.js exploded, npm became the default package manager, and I found myself writing more and more in JavaScript. But the npm ecosystem has its own quirks: frequent breaking changes, a proliferation of dependency trees, and, as I’ve come to notice, a tendency to pull in backdoored modules from a third‑party registry.

The problem with npm – “I long for the days where I could, for the most part, install my dependencies through my distro package manager, and not pull the latest and greatest (and backdoored) version from a third‑party package registry.”

To escape that friction, I decided to build my static site generator, BoringSSG, in Perl. The result has been a joy that feels almost like a rediscovery.

A Language That Keeps Growing

Perl has evolved significantly since the days of 5.6. Some of the most impactful changes include:

• Subroutine signatures – Explicit parameter lists make functions easier to read and reduce bugs.
• Built‑in try/catch – Structured exception handling replaces the ad‑hoc eval pattern.
• State variables – Persistent local state inside subroutines eliminates the need for global variables or manual state objects.
• Experimental object system – While still in preview, it offers a modern approach to OO.
• Moo – A lightweight, declarative OO layer that feels familiar yet powerful.

These features, coupled with Perl’s longstanding emphasis on strict and warnings, create a developer experience that is both safe and expressive.

Performance Matters

Perl’s runtime speed is not the only advantage. Compile time is also fast, which is crucial for client‑side scripts where startup latency is immediately noticeable. In BoringSSG, the build process is a single pass that compiles templates and writes static files in milliseconds, even on modest hardware.

Dependency Management

Unlike npm’s monolithic registry, Perl’s ecosystem is largely distributed through the operating system’s package manager. On a Debian‑based system, installing a module is as simple as:

sudo apt-get install libjson-xs-perl

This guarantees that the module is vetted, versioned, and compatible with the rest of the system, dramatically reducing the risk of supply‑chain attacks.

The Joy of Writing

Writing in Perl feels like returning to a well‑tuned instrument. The language’s terse syntax, combined with the safety nets of strict and warnings, means that bugs are caught early. State variables let me write clean, functional‑style code without global pollution:

sub counter {
    state $count = 0;
    return ++$count;
}

Each call to counter increments an internal counter, yet the variable remains encapsulated within the subroutine.

"It’s just so nice to write. Sure, part of it is that I’m very used to writing Perl. But a lot really comes down to the various niceties that Perl offers."

A Fresh Take on an Old Favorite

The journey back to Perl has been more than nostalgia; it’s a pragmatic choice. The language’s maturity, coupled with modern features, makes it a compelling option for projects that prioritize stability and security over the hype of newer languages.

"If you’ve overlooked Perl, I recommend giving it another look. Or perhaps another language that you enjoyed a long time ago. You might feel some renewed joy in coding too."

So whether you’re building a static site generator, a data‑processing pipeline, or a microservice, consider revisiting Perl. Its blend of speed, safety, and ecosystem reliability may surprise you.

Takeaway

Perl’s evolution demonstrates that a language can stay relevant by embracing change without losing its core strengths. For developers tired of dependency hell and seeking a robust, efficient toolchain, Perl offers a path that is both familiar and forward‑looking.

Source: https://blog.zerodogg.org/2025/10/13/the-joy-of-rediscovering-perl/