{...} without any of the hassle of mod_perl (like conflicting name spaces, my variable hassle, working out exactly when mod_perl will reload your code etc...)
Uh, those are all the hassles about
Apache::Registry, just one of the many
ways to use
mod_perl, and in fact one of the most primitive and kludgy.
Once you get out
of babystep mode, and start using real tools like
HTML::Mason or
HTML::EmbPerl, you'll find that using these higher level tools makes
mod_perl pretty much as easy to use as PHP, and you won't top out
in what you're able to do with it.
As I've said before here... PHP is "training wheels without the bicycle". Use
it if mod_perl isn't available, but if you have a choice, learn something
with power rather than scaffolding.
-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker