[em-bee]

it's not about stats but simply that the space between simple shell scripts and complex systems that required "big" language, which used to be filled by perl has shrunk a lot because it is filled with many other languages that are better suited for larger systems than perl is. for most uses of perl today there are a dozen other suitable languages, including some that are older than perl but were not freely available at the time.

stats wise i am sure there are still a lot of perl users. it has its fans, and there is a lot of existing systems, but it is now a choice among many, and not usually the best choice.

[fuzztester]

>for most uses of perl today there are a dozen other suitable languages, including some that are older than perl but were not freely available at the time.

Can you name some? I'm guessing Rexx is one of those you mean.

[em-bee]

i am talking about the popular classics that have also been mentioned in other comments here, python, ruby, php, and several others that came after them.

with the older ones i mean languages like lisp and smalltalk which didn't become available for free or even usable on PCs until the 90s

i am not saying that they are all replacing perl, but that perl was used in areas where they are better suited, and with their appearance perl is no longer needed in those areas, hence the usage space for perl shrunk a lot.