Vincent Vercauteren

Perl 6 is now fast nearing completion. While the people involved do not make accurate predictions about when an alpha version will be publicly available, it’s probably for somewhere in 2009.

Other languages seem to have progressed quite a bit faster, like Python, for instance.
And yes, the nine year wait will have been incredibly long - long enough for the project to lose credibility in the eyes of many.

But make no mistake: Perl 6 will offer a lot more than any other common programming language in use today. They took the time to do it right, in the Larry Wall sense of the word, that is.

Just have a look at The Long Perl 6 Super-Feature List, but make sure you sit down first - it’s daunting!

The implementation of the Perl 6 specification that will run on top of the Parrot VM is called Rakudo (Perl), by the way.

When it’s finished, fasten your seat belts!