I learned Perl4 in grad school and it was a life changing tool to automate my analysis workflow. With it I was able to script complex solutions that drove stepper drivers and CCD cameras on a microscope for data and image collection.

I stayed through the Perl5 change over and thought it was good. Then I tried OO programming. And cried. And read that Perl 6 would make it better. But I needed something now, on a windows box, and free. That was 2003.

I tried Python and loved it.

Higher Order Perl made me appreciate what Perl could do, but the state of Perl 6 and lack of progress kept me away, as the features I most wanted were always fixes coming real soon now.

I STILL program python. Perl had me and lost me. Perl might not be dead, but it is dead to me.