Wow,

If that doesn't sound like a homework question then I've never heard a homework question.

But I'll tell you what I find neat about perl:-
1. I like that there are loads of ways of tackling a problem. I am often worried if I have chosen the "best" way to do something (and that isn't always the shortest or smoothest way) ... but I have consoled myself with the fact that should some-one show me a better way to do one thing, I may in time be able to show them another approach for a problem they may be experiencing and on top of that I will have learnt another solution.
2. I believe that there is strength in the fact that there are people who are willing to share their code for something they have already poured their head over. I just don't have the time to spend writing my own command-line argument parser ala Getopt::Long etc.
3. The perl community is made up of really cool people. :)
I don't think I have answered any of your questions, but if you are serious about learning the perl language perhaps my ramblings will help a little.
Oh and by the way... it's not PERL. Its Perl or perl.
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Of all the things I've lost in my life, its my mind I miss the most.