Hi, fellow monks!

I'm a returning Perl programmer, stuck in a vortex of bad management and poor quality code at my regular job in modern IT sweatshops in Italy.

At the start of my career, I worked few years doing software/hardware monitoring in Perl, and I loved it. I am a self-taught 42-years-old programmer, with no CS/maths education. I'd like to take some time to explore my possibilities in my spare time, for fun and growth. A lot of the sexier technologies are out of my reach, because I cannot afford years of mentally and financially taxing college level studies. Also, I have a very practical mindset, more keen on simple, concise solutions to well-defined problems. I'm thinking on the lines of things like Domain Specific Languages, APIs, focused libraries.

Could you provide some insights into niche but deep domains I can tackle with Perl, without having to resort to learn advanced college stuff or crazy architectural patterns? I'm aware I can do couple Web projects, but it would feel like being at work again, and I've also become weary of Web Development/CRUD apps/Scrum gimmicks/you name it. I'd love to find concrete domains that I can tackle with a somewhat scripting mindset for my leisure and enrichment in the next couple years. I hope I make sense, and I wait to be enlightened by your comments!

In reply to Niche programming by maurocavendish

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