I think (but I am just guessing) the negative rep of Re: Can I determine if the value of a variable is the same as an arrays name? is due to people's concern that the code has some problems in terms of safety and usability. As such it is not a good idea to advocate it's use.

XP is a game, still, getting your nodes downvoted stings. If you've stated something in error or advocated doing something dangerous, the best thing to do is to update your node with a note that others have pointed out problems, but leave the original text intact. Here's an example of me making a fool of myself and retracting my comment. You can find many other examples around the monastery. Leaving your mistakes for future readers is a good thing, because it may help others to avoid the mistakes you made. Doing this will generally spare you any more downvotes, as people see that you have learned the error of your ways.

Nearly everyone here offers constructive criticism. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish this from personal attacks, especially when the written word is the only medium of exchange (and it is doubly difficult if one or more correspondents is not a native English speaker). This criticism may come in the form of a response, or a downvote.

Posting your answer in Q&A was ok, but I think you should have said something like, "I am still learning perl, but I came up with this method," at the start of the node. Otherwise, you could have posted to SoPW, saying "I found this Q&A that seemed like a good challenge. I came up with this solution, please critique it for me." Either approach would have got a better response. Of course the only way to know that is to hang around and read this site for a while.

This node will be voted into the basement because it's generally considered to be in bad taste to complain about being downvoted.

I suggest you chalk this up as a learning experience and keep posting and learning. You really are welcome here and we are willing to help you.

If jesuashok can turn himself around, then you've got nothing to worry about. Look at the amount of patience people invested trying to really answer questions from Kevin_Raymer. Perlmonks is the friendliest and most open technical community that I know of online.

I hope to see you around.

Update: Fixed bad link, thanks to N-Wing.

Or better yet the second highest ranking Monk who still likes to get into verbal sparring matches! :-)

The Monastery is overall a very forgiving place, especially if you show a willingness to listen and learn. In your case the negative votes likely were applied before you updated your node acknowledging the problems with your code.

Most of us who post on here have some nodes with negative reputation. Just don't let it get to you. I'm sure if you stick around you will do fine.