I am a chemist working in the atmospheric chemistry field. One of my goals is to learn to code in Perl. I need to to it to complete some tasks at work. Honestly, I am struggling to understand what it is to write a program that does more than sort a list of numbers or prints something trivial. I have read "perl for dummies" and "teach yourself perl in 21 days" but my base of knowledge is still lacking. I have never programed before and therefore I have some gaps in my understanding of what tools will do what tasks...I am having trouble puttin it all together....I think I can do this....but I may need some help....from the perl monks. thank you, charles