One of the most striking things about mod_perl is how rich with possibilities it is. Allowing one to leverage all of the power of Perl, add on capabilities from the CPAN and providing full access to the Apache API, mod_perl is the ultimate foundation on which to build web applications.There are some important and valid critiques of Perl:
- Loose requirements for structure and code
- Perl doesn't force you to instantiate objects nor express logic in a boxed in fasion. The old saying with Perl, TMTOWTDI, can often be restated as TMTTWTDI ("there's more than ten ways to do it!"). So if Perl wants to permit you enough rope to hang yourself, I don't fault the tool because someone managed to construct a noose with it!
- Bloatware
- Who uses formats anymore? How often do you use the various low level socket functions? There are a lot capabilities rolled into Perl that, in these days when XS can provide what's needed on an as needed basis, are clearly anachronistic.
- Threads
- Frankly, I haven't needed them enough to care about how the Thread development has matured in recent Perl releases. I'm sure the people who do care will work that out! Nonetheless, Python and Java both offer mature thread implementations.
- XSLT
- The Java community were early adopters of XSLT and thus Saxon, XT and Xalan are all, AFAIK, fairly complete XSLT processor implementations. The equivalent in Perl has been sorely lacking.