my( %pid );

pipe( CHILD, PARENT );  # not PARENT, CHILD!

foreach my $num ( "01" .. "25" )
{
  # if max processes, wait for one to finish
  if( keys( %pid ) >= 10 ) { &reap() }
  
  if( my $pid = fork() )  # parent
  {
    $pid{$pid} = $num;
  }
  else                    # child
  {
    &child( $num );
    exit 0;
  }
}

# reap remaining processes
while( %pid ) { &reap() }


# read child messages
close( PARENT );
while( my $child = <CHILD> )
{
  print "> " . $child;
}
close( CHILD );

exit 0;


sub reap
{
  my( $pid ) = wait();
  
  if( $pid == -1  ) { die( "no more kids to reap!\n" ) }
  if(! $pid{$pid} ) { die( "why did I see $pid?\n"   ) }
  
  delete( $pid{$pid} );
}


sub child
{
  my( $num ) = $_[0];
  close( CHILD );
  print "child $num spawned\n";
  print PARENT "child $num says hi\n";
}
[download]

- ><iper

my JAPH:
  print"Just another Perl hacker\n";
  #    ^ look, no space! pretty tricky huh?
[download]