... trying something wrong is at least as useful as getting the right one from the start.

I often see questions on this site in the form "What happens if I do X?" and the answer I am often tempted to give is "Well, what happened when you did X?" Unfortunately, this answer is usually a bit too brusque to offer a novice and one tends to be more circumspect. I agree that play is always valuable for learning, and Perl makes playful interaction fairly easy.

BTW: I didn't mean by my reply to offer you instruction for I do not suppose you need it, but only to offer a general explanation.