Perl preaches there's more than one way to do it ... but that's completely the wrong way to do it.

Go to "Start" -> "Run" and enter 'cmd' (without the quotes) and press the "OK" button

Get familiar with Command Prompt (DOS) commands like 'cd' to change directory into the directory where your Perl script is. From there, type:

C:\> perl myscript.pl
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where 'myscript.pl' is the name of your Perl script.

Alternatively, add the line:

system "pause";
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as the very last line in your Perl script. That's the "poor man's way" of keeping the Command Prompt open when you double-click a Perl script to run versus running it from the command line.

I think I figured out the problem. BTW, lol, I was alive in the DOS days. I was even alive in the Apple 2E days. (age give away) So yes, I do know how to get into to and work with the cmd line. But here is what I figured out. Apparently when naming your files you should not use spaces. When I changed the file name and removed my spaces it ran. Now I know for sure I'll never be a programmer because I have LOTS of errors:-) Thank you for your help!

1) It looks as though it may have run the program but the cmd window flashed on the screen and then disappears (no it's not in the task bar)

what happens when you type "perl .....file.pl"?

2) cmd window stays on my screen but I have to drag it into the window several times to get it to run.

uh oh, "cmd window" and "the window"? that is weird, dragging windows to run a program is not normal operation -- what are you talking about?

When I typed perl and the file name the first time nothing happened. The second time i did it (right below the first time in the cmd window) it told me my code had errors (no surprise). So... the second time it ran obviously. It is a very weird problem I know. Even the teacher couldn't figure it out. Re: cmd window stays on my screen but I have to drag it into the window several times to get it to run. You must be a Mac user? This is a unique feature on the windows version of Perl. In the windows version you can have the folder open were the .pl file is and the cmd window open and drag the file from the it's location into the cmd window, press enter and have it execute it.

So... the second time it ran obviously.

Maybe it also ran the first time, but the program is written in such a way to not print stuff to stdout

You can try http://live.sysinternals.com/procexp.exe to see if the program really ran

Or even try using depends.exe like this   depends.exe /c /f:1 /pb /ot:temp.txt ...perl.exe foo.pl ... to see if the program really ran the first time

It is a very weird problem I know. Even the teacher couldn't figure it out.

Doesn't sound too weird , just sounds like both you and the teacher are tired/confused/new

Maybe your perl-installation is crippled. Long ago I downloaded a portable strawberryperl on WindowsVista(?) and windows wouldn't let me unzip it because of some malware protection feature ... or some UAC ...

so maybe your user account isn't getting a UAC prompt on first run, but its running with lower privileges on the second run

or maybe you got some kind of anti-malware/anti-spyware/or something that is interfering (unlikely but you can never tell)

You must be a Mac user?

I'm on windows. The things that show up in folders are called icons/files, they're not called windows ... now if you had said file-window it might be more obvious what you're talking about

remember I'm not peeking over your shoulder at your monitor, so "the window" doesn't tell me what it is