In any field of endeavour, and computer science and, specifically, perl are no different, there are three types of people:
- Those who don't know what they're doing, and know they don't,
- Those who don't know what they're doing, yet think they do, and
- Those who know what they're doing, and know they do.
It's that middle group that gives the first and last all the trouble: by misleading the first, and annoying the living $#!+ out of the last.
No one, I would imagine, jumps directly from the first to the last - pretty much everyone is in the middle group for anything that they get into the last group for. The ones to watch out for are the ones who stay in the middle group. I know some people like that. In fact, I know a lot of people like that... ;-)