It was 1998 when I'm first introduced to a programming language, namely C++. It was OOP, and I was struck by it. From that point on, it is OOP forever. The OO design did something to my neurons; I will come to this point later again.

The second most important thing in my programming life was the Internet. First I thought I should be in it, then I said to myself, I should work in this field.

Consecutively, I met with Linux through internet. The philosophy of Open Source, the quality of Open Source, the quantity of Open Source... "OK, Linux it is" I said.

Two years had passed with no achievement on the programming front.(due to school, terrible terrible times)

I was using Linux and I had the ongoing desire to learn web programming to build e-business sites. Now the question had arisen. Which programming language for database management? C++ and MySQL, together! Sounds nice and I know the language... I had heard Perl of course. I got the Camel book, but never touched it!

At that time, I had to take a Java class at school. OOP and Java... Hmmm... My friends still don't understand why I don't use Java.

I tried php, worked OK. But...no. I can't explain it.

I had bought a book on MySQL from Oreilly. My intention was to learn the database. But as I explained, the programming language choice was very problematic.
The book covered several extensions. And there it was, Perl. In 24 hours, I was back with Java, cursing... "Final decision" I said... Then I saw the Camel book on the shelf.

Friends, call it political, call it ideological, call it weird... I wouldn't be using Perl for anything if I weren't using Linux. When I saw the Camel book, I distinctly remember that I waited for a minute, looking to the cover, as if I was making a life altering decision... Well I think I was. I decided to give Perl a try no matter what, since at that moment to me it was what Linux was... The book explained the weird Perl syntax. My neurons again was triggered. There was nothing weird about Perl. Unlike the other languages, Perl was humane. As the name suggests, Perl is practical. Very...Perl is humane; and this one sentence alone explains the reason why it is so powerful and preferable.

Today, I am doing (OO) web programming with Perl. This includes the visual design(CSS), database management, CGI applications, and SWF animations. Yes! SWF animations!
With ming-perl. I actually expanded ming-perl with Perl!!

If I don't create every bit of mark-up,animation and style sheet automatically, I can't sleep.

In short, I'm using Perl for everything I devoted my programming life for. Here and there I have distorted opinions and desires, but Perl does not get angry, on the contrary, it assists me in any way it can; never lets me down.