Every time you modify this program you ask the board to tell you how to make the modification. You will never learn Perl if you never write Perl.

Take a look at the Network Programming tutorials. read the CPAN documentation, look at the qualified Q&A. Then, write a sample program. You'll make mistakes, you'll learn from your mistakes. If you can't resolve the problem you encounter, then you can post the code and ask for help in resolving it.