although you CAN create a database w/ perl, it'd be dbms-specific, and is generally not a good idea. the whole concept of a single 'database' instance varies among dbms, as does the creation procedure. like blakem demonstrated, you could create a mysql database w/ relative ease. an oracle instance would involve a svrmgrl spawn, tnsnames/listener configuration, ad nauseum.

in summary, i can appreciate your desire to automate as much as possible, but IMO, you need to draw the line somewhere. if you're only deploying to mysql, then you're relatively safe. if you intend to port to other dbms, make having an existing instance/db a prerequisite. now auto-creating schema... that's a different story ;)

btw, the dbi questions are perfectly legit..

cheers