For
"Tired of Perl Is Dead FUD",
I generated a
simple chart
of Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby job listings. It generated a lot more interest
than I expected.
One of the common comments went something like, "Yeah, but
there's no Perl jobs in my backyard".
Which aggravated a chronic itch I've had since first
releasing DBD::Chart/
DBIx::Chart
several years ago: how to support some kind of GIS
visualizations. I've occasionally had users ask about
GIS support, but it seemed like such a huge challenge that
I've always begged off.
All the online mapping services are about "geo-location";
I'm interested in "geo-intelligence".
So when people asked "yeah, but where are those jobs ?", I decided
to scratch that itch.
I found GD::Map,
but its interface and rendering weren't quite what I wanted.
So I've created
GD::Map::Mercator.
(Alas, I still haven't figured out how to integrate it into
DBIx::Chart, but the experience helped me better understand the issues)
With that, and a Javascript widget I've been working on for
another project, and a bit more detailed screenscraping, I've
whipped up a
Dynamic Language Jobs Map that provides some relative indicators
of where those jobs are, along with a drill-down breakout of the Javascript,
Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby job counts. (Sorry, USA only; free/open,
current detail GIS data for other locations is hard to find)
Note that I've added Javascript to the list, because
its become increasingly important to me personally,
and I suspect it either already is, or soon will be, important to
other dynamic language users.
The cosmetics are still a bit rough in spots (despite minor intervention
with Microsoft Paint), but hopefully its a bit more insightful. I'd hoped
to get a deeper drill down using area code GIS data, but I've been unable
to locate a free/open source for the data (if anyone knows of a source of
such data, I'd be grateful if you passed along the info).
I'll try to update the data every couple of weeks; I've imposed on DICE's
hospitatilty a bit more than I should; hopefully they'll continue
to be gracious about my occasional scraping.