I don't think the lack of explanation as to why someone would want to perform a particular perl application is a problem unique to perl. It happens in all programming languages. I've taken a couple of C++ classes and I've never seen a good example of why I'd want to create a binary tree or a doubly link list template.

It sounds like you must have taken a formal perl course if you had to memorize operator precedence. The best way to learn perl is not by taking a course, but by programming. Through trial and error you'll learn operator precedence and that kind of stuff, not by memorizing it for some test.

I totally agree with you about seeing more complete programs shown as examples. That is something I did not like about the Llama and Camel books. For that, I really like Perl How to Program by H. M. Deitel, et al - I don't think this book gets enough credit in the perl world.

I think this perl glossary sounds like a good project for you to develop and hone your perl programming skills!