OK, fair enough, I was indulging in a bit of hyperbole about Java (and C/C++ - a competent programmer can knock out code very quickly, but I can't). Having had overnight to think about it (I really ought to get a life), the point is better made as:

The sainted Larry designed perl along the lines of a natural language (see 'Perl as natural language' on the wall shrine). Just like a natural language, someone with a limited command of perl can still make themselves understood. Like a child saying 'want biscuit', rather than 'would you mind passing me a biscuit?'.

This makes perl incredibly easy and naturalistic to learn, and much less discouraging than spending weeks writing variants on 'hello world' - you can get on and do something useful (make yourself understood) almost straight away.

As you progress with perl you learn new techniques, tricks, shortcuts etc, just like gradually learning the structure (and slang) of a spoken language.

So non-programmers can learn perl easily as a quick and useful tool, while programmers can write full blown applications using the same language. I don't think thats ever been seen in a programming language before, and that may be a reason for some of the variety in the perl community.

This is a great thing because it makes perl (or something similarly designed) the ideal choice as a language for an ever increasingly computer literate society - you can learn as little or as much as you need.

charles.