Mailing-List: contact modperl-help@perl.apache.org; run by ezmlm
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Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 02:55:55 -0500 (CDT)
From: Dave Rolsky <autarch@urth.org>
To: Todd Cranston-Cuebas <Todd.Cranston-Cuebas@Ticketmaster.com>
cc: Modperl List <modperl@perl.apache.org>
Subject: RE: mod_perl presence at OSCON (and other CONs) is at danger
In-Reply-To: <71D28C8451BFD5119B2B00508BE26E6407986364@pasmail3.office.tmcs>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.58.0406130249310.1883@urth.org>
References: <71D28C8451BFD5119B2B00508BE26E6407986364@pasmail3.office.tmcs>
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On Wed, 9 Jun 2004, Todd Cranston-Cuebas wrote:

> programmer. However, I do recruit a lot of perl programmers! What isn't
> really being discussed is that fact that new programmers often work with
> whatever technology allows them to cheaply get sites up and running on the
> web. Do a Yahoo search on "PHP web hosting" and you get 15.9 million links.
> Do the same search for "mod_perl web hosting" and you get 374,000. Still a
> lot, but you get the point. Until people can pick a cheap, reliable, and
> well-known hosting service where mod_perl is one of the main options, you
> limit your ability to attract new programmers. Go after the hosting
> companies with a complete mod_perl "package" that will be attractive to
> their clients. You might convince people if they had mod_perl as an easy
> choice (??). Perhaps I'm being a bit too simplistic, but I really like to
> recruit the young, talented, and eager people. I find they often use the
> tools that present themselves to them at the right time in their growing
> career.

  Dear Todd,

  I'd like to work at TickerM4st3r because I am a really experiunced PERL
  programmer.  I used mod_perl with my hosting company and wrote a great
  program that takes a form and mails it to me.  I also wrote a wicked cool
  hit counte.r  I bet you could use that sort of stuff over at TicketM4st3r,
  right?  Also, I know sysadmin stuff like how to use FTP!


You get my point ;)  Places like TicketMaster, which are working on _real_
apps, are not hiring people whose last experience was throwing together a
few scripts for their personal web page.  You want people who actually
know lots of stuff, and have done interesting work.

While mod_perl is harder to get started with, even when using Mason or TT,
the effort required to get those things running forces you to actually
learn something.  Learning is a good thing, and makes you a better
programmer.

Yes, PHP is out there a lot, but there is still plenty of _serious_
mod_perl work being done, and that's the kind of stuff I'm interested in.

If people want to get started with mod_perl, I'd recommend the following
steps:

- Learn Perl & write some plain vanilla CGI stuff with Perl.  Maybe learn
to use Mason or TT or some other templating system via CGI.

- Use Perl to write some non-CGI stuff, so you're not just a one area
programmer.

- Learn a bit about setting up Apache on your platform of choice.  Set it
up.

- Get mod_perl installed.

- Now go read about Apache::Registry and get some of your vanilla CGI to
run under it.

- Now read the mod_perl Cookbook, Stas & Eric's book (or the online
guide), etc.


Yes, there are many steps here, but each one actually gives you _useful_
knowledge.


-dave

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