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Billpoint – Company Overview

Application Engineering with Perl: Stability and Speed July 25, 2001 Jason May – Co-founder and CTO, Billpoint. Billpoint – Company Overview. Founded September 1998 Acquired by eBay in May 1999 Minority owned by Wells Fargo Provides person-to-person payment services to eBay sellers

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Billpoint – Company Overview

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  1. Application Engineering with Perl:Stability and SpeedJuly 25, 2001Jason May – Co-founder and CTO, Billpoint

  2. Billpoint – Company Overview • Founded September 1998 • Acquired by eBay in May 1999 • Minority owned by Wells Fargo • Provides person-to-person payment services to eBay sellers • Financial transaction processing • http://www.billpoint.com/

  3. Billpoint Technology Platform • Application 100% Perl • CPAN modules: DBI (Oracle), XML:Simple, Crypt, Digest::SHA1, Text:Merge, others • Other open source software: Apache, CVS • Commercial software: Tibco Rendezvous

  4. Common Wisdom Perl is good for… • CGI scripting • Text processing, data munging • System administration • Utilities

  5. Unrecognized Virtues Perl is also great for business applications • Complex functionality requirements • (elaborate UI, many business rules) • Reliable, 24x7, stable • Transaction-processing • High-volume • Rapidly-changing, fuzzy requirements

  6. Are you crazy? • “It’s slower than Java or C++” • “Doesn’t scale” • “No tools” • “Can’t find anyone who knows it”

  7. Perl is stable • Well-tested and reliable code base • GC memory management • Rapid access to support if needed

  8. Perl is plenty fast • Performance for most IT and web applications is driven by database and user-interface factors • Language differences between Perl and {Java, C++, etc.} are minimal

  9. Perl accelerates delivery • No compile cycle • Loose typing • Loose coupling • CPAN

  10. Real Challenges • Perl vs. “architecture frameworks”: • Java/JSP/EJB/Weblogic/JDBC • C++/STL/Tuxedo/e-SQL • ASP/Microsoft • Lack of robust Open Source middleware • Emerging: Mico, xmlBlaster, Open3, others

  11. Real Challenges • Cowboy culture • Perl provides plenty of rope to hang yourself with • Sophisticated development processes are unfamiliar to most Perl programmers • Finding Staff • Perl not seen as a critical skill for desirable tech positions

  12. Real Challenges • Perl community is poor at self-promotion • Compare vs. the Microsoft and Java camps • Growth of Linux mindshare != penetration of Perl or other Open Source • Convince vendors to provide & support Perl interfaces to their products • Public success stories

  13. Final Thoughts • What would it take to ‘mainstream’ Perl? • What role could the Perl community play? • Is Perl doomed to remain a niche platform? • Why encourage others to learn Perl?

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