I started the noble art of coding when I as eight or so with javascript and playing around with variations of basic, *COUGH* batch programming, and anyting else I could find a interpreter/compiler for. I am now twelve and have been working with the far nobler art of perl for what will be a year now in november. I would reccommend that you let him use the parser but don't let him grow to dependent on it force him to try to port some of his parser scripts over to normal perl. oh well thats the end of my little rant. It looks like my title of youngest monk will soon be challenged :-)

"Sanity is the playground of the unimaginative" -Unknown