I decided to learn perl in 2016 on my own at home thru the internet. I searched for free perl tutorials, and the internet is full of them! So, it was easy. I've spent about 2 weeks reading and learning. I already knew BASIC, C and JavaScript, so it was nice to see that Perl was similar in some ways to all three.

Before I began to learn Perl, I did a research to find out what language would be best for me to learn in order to develop back-end scripts. I've carefully considered Java, PHP, Ruby, ASP.NET, and NodeJS. Eventually I settled with Perl, because it's not just a scripting language. If I learn Perl, that means I will be able to write programs that run on Linux, Windows, and DOS.

PHP was difficult to learn. I learn by writing my own little experimental programs. And when I made the tiniest modification to my php program, I had to upload it to the server to test it, to see if it works. I had to do this many times, and it took a lot of time. I can test my perl program on *MY* computer. I don't have to upload my perl script to a server to run it, to see if it works. Same thing is true about ASP.NET and Node.Js. In order to test my programs, I had to upload them to the server. I first started learning ASP.NET and then Node.Js, but I ran into difficulties. I was unable to create the simplest program in either of these languages, and the tutorials were inaccurate and not detailed enough. I needed help and just couldn't find it (not for free).

I also started learning Java, and I liked it, but eventually I settled with perl, because you can do a lot more with less typing in perl! Also, when I was looking for web hosting, I noticed that almost every one of them was offering PERL support. That is included in the basic package. But if you want NodeJS or ASP.NET or Java, those languages are not supported by most web hosts. But perl is very popular. It's installed on every linux server.

I also like that perl has been around for a long time, so there are tons of websites about perl. There are tons of free tutorials and books online. Then there's PerlMonks website. This is such a helpful place. I know that if I ever run into a problem, people here are quick to help.

A programming language isn't "cool" just because the code looks neat and it's easy to learn. I like when you can find lots of free tutorials, books, and there are lots of people to help. I like when a programming language is versatile. Many of these scripting languages like PHP can only be used for one thing--back-end development. But perl has many uses. And it can run on many platforms. So, that's why I like it a lot.