I've been programming for a long time, but I have never encountered a programming language that combined both the depth and the simplicity of Perl. Once you get past the context-sensitive nature of the syntax, and you grok its basic data structures and functions, the world just opens up for you. For the longest time it bothered me that if I create an array like this:

@array = ("here","are","some","array","values");

I would then have to index into the array this way:

$b = $array[2]

I didn't get why @array has to be referenced as $array[2] until I realized: $array[2] is a scalar, and as such the dollar sign in place of the at sign at the start of the array name is perfectly reasonable.

No language can handle string manipulation quite like Perl. Only a few languages are interpreted rather than compiled; interpreted languages are easier to write. Perl's string handling and fast development cycle make it ideal for creating web pages on the fly. But really, I think I must be preaching to the choir here. Sorry, it's late.

When I'm not programming in Perl, I'm either (a) working on web pages or on graphics for web pages; (b) editing digital audio; (c) creating electronic music; (d) eating/sleeping etc or (e) hanging out with my girlfriend.

I wish you all the best of luck in all your Perl endeavors.