After having invested in some of the books mentioned above, read them and start coding away.

Nobody but yourself can tell you if you are coding "correctly": the only proof is whether it gets the job done "on time, on schedule".

Step by step you will find ways to improve your coding (making your code more maintainable, more efficient, less dependant on wheels you have re-invented).

Does this mean that you were coding incorrectly before? Not at all, just that you have evolved.

Everyone makes errors and this is the way to learn. The important thing is to code, code, code. Soon you will see Perl-code written everywhere (only a few days ago I was thinking how nice it would be if the GPS in my car could be programmed in Perl -- everyone is allowed to daydream!).

"Your mileage may vary" as they say, but just try to collect a lot of miles first.