[cgiapp] Random thoughts from a CGI::Application newbie

[Andrew Brosnan <suppressed>]

Greetings All,

I've just started using CGI::Application the past two weeks, and I'm
excited about all the activity I see from it's community. Looks like I
picked the wrong week to quit attending YAPC. :-) 

As Owain just mentioned, I too wish that I started using
CGI::Application long ago rather than rolling my own (quite lame in
comparison) version. Recently I was hired to do some maintenance work on
a site that used CGI::Application, so I no longer had an excuse. The
code was quite well written and the CGI::Application structure made the
changes a snap! I was so impressed that I immediately rewrote the code
for a site that I maintain to use CGI::Application. I'm hooked! Thanks
to all who develop, maintain and contribute...well done!

Regarding marketing, as I mentioned I was recently hired to do some
maintenance on a CGI::Application site. I was very surprised when the
director of development told me that the site was on the list to be
redeveloped in .NET. When I asked why, the response was along the lines
of 'CGI is so passe, buzzwords...blah, blah, blah,' It was as if he was
embarrassed about the current code base. Interestingly, even though the
site was running under mod_perl, I got the feeling he assumed the site
was just running a bunch of Perl CGI scripts. It occurred to me that
this was a perfectly reasonable assumption for a less technical person
to make. After all, it's a site using *Perl* and *CGI*::Application.

I contrasted this to a framework like Mason for instance. It seems like
'Mason' is almost reaching buzzword status. I'm seeing more job postings
looking for 'Mason Developers' with hardly a mention of Perl, and
certainly not <gasp> CGI. My point is that from a marketing perspective,
the 'image' of the product is very important. This is true for potential
developers *and* less technically savvy folks (you know, the people who
often make the decisions). :-) What's in a name? Perhaps a lot.

Food for thought.

Regards,
Andrew




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