Python, PHP, and Perl join the IT in crowd
Computer programming languages with open-source roots, such as Python, PHP, and Perl, have long played second fiddle in the enterprise marketplace, losing out to more commercial languages like .Net and Java.
The more open languages have long prospered in the realm of Web development, where the management environment is a bit more free-form than it is in enterprise IT departments and projects. Recently, however, there seems to be a trend towards the use of dynamic programming languages like PHP, Python, and Perl for enterprise-level projects. Trends in the skills being sought in candidates for programming jobs and projects show a clear growth pattern for the dynamic languages.
Although the current recorded and analyzed trends do not differentiate between independent Web production and enterprise programming jobs, it is clear that the largest areas of programming job growth are in Python and PHP, with trends in Java and .Net being relatively flat, and Perl lying somewhere in between, according to a CNET story. Clearly, these more dynamic languages are gaining favor with concerns that are offering programming jobs, normally the realm of larger corporations.
Bart Copeland, CEO of ActiveState, a company specializing in dynamic languages development, has the following to say one this situation: “Overall, we see use of dynamic languages as growing significantly. This is due to several large trends. First, there’s definitely a widespread growth of skills around open source programming languages. There’s also a widespread acceptance of open source in the enterprise that didn’t exist even five to six years ago. And there are various respective inherent advantages of using dynamic languages–speed, flexibility, ease of use for developers, low-cost, and community support, just to name a few–that continue to push usage trends upward.”
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the acceptance of languages like Python and PHP is being driven by a number of companies that are trying hard to bring these dynamic languages up-level, putting a corporate face on open source programming languages and therefore making them even more palatable to a corporate audience long on value but short on risk tolerance. Bringing these languages into the mainstream does a lot to legitimize Python, PHP, and Perl in the enterprise, and especially in the Web development arena in which they have so long prospered.
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