in reply to Iteration speed

At some point, it becomes more efficient to purchase another machine than it is to pay someone to improve the code. Additionally, the kind of processing you're talking about isn't going to happen very quickly, no matter what you do, on a PII-400.

A very big help here would be to see some of your code. There are a number of improvements that can be made to any code. Some of these improvements might be to drop out of Perl and into C.

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We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Then there are Damian modules.... *sigh* ... that's not about being less-lazy -- that's about being on some really good drugs -- you know, there is no spoon. - flyingmoose

I shouldn't have to say this, but any code, unless otherwise stated, is untested

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom