I'd like to learn how to use Perl to do Windows programming

That's a very open question. What is your ultimate goal?

Which is more important? Learning perl or learning to program windows?

For example. If your goal is learning perl but you are currently restricted to using a windows box, but you antisipate wanting to write gui apps that are portable to other platforms then using a cross-platform gui library like Tk or Wx would be paramount.

Conversely, if your aim is to learn more about programming Win323, and your use of perl is just a vehicle for that learning, then you might want to look at Win32::GUI.

Theoretically, anything you could do from C/C++ or .NET or VB is possible to do from perl, but actually doing it is a different matter. The currently available libraries like Win32::API and Win32::APi::Prototype make it possible to access the native APIs, but doing so for anything other than simple queries is still complicated and messy.

Some of the more often used APis have be encapsulated in perl modules Win32::* that simplify and perlify the underlying APIs, but the Win32 API set is vast, and grows with every release, and it is unlikely that there will ever be enough demand on many parts of it to warrent the time to construct perlish interfaces to them.

So, without a clearer picture of what your goals are, it's difficult to advise on the best way for you to go.

Examine what is said, not who speaks.
"Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." -Richard Buckminster Fuller
If I understand your problem, I can solve it! Of course, the same can be said for you.

In reply to Re: Windows programming by BrowserUk
in thread Windows programming by Anonymous Monk

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