Help: practical and moral support

JamesBrummel has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Thanks in advance for any help So I did extensive PERL dev from 2004-2007, haven't done much since. For a job I have to take a computer based PERL test. I need to get back up to speed fast. I have been reading and getting all sorts of cheat sheets, best practices etc. when I look at the code I wrote 4+ years ago it's like someone else wrote it. So any pointers on how to refresh those all those dormant synapses? I think I need a task-- write an app that does X. I used it 99% for ETL, data stuff.

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Re: Help: practical and moral support by ww (Archbishop) on Dec 10, 2011 at 18:47 UTC
Pick a SOPW (with an eye to challenging yourself on some topic where your rust is showing. Code an answer (but don't post, unless you get stuck and have a specific question not readily answers in the docs, etc). Rinse, repeat.	[reply]
Re: Help: practical and moral support by keszler (Priest) on Dec 10, 2011 at 18:56 UTC
Modern Perl by chromatic may be helpful, especially if the test is up-to-date	[reply]
Re: Help: practical and moral support by ruzam (Curate) on Dec 10, 2011 at 20:42 UTC
I took a computer based Perl training course some time back. It was a 'request' from my manager that we all take advantage of the 'new expensive online training package' that the company just paid for. I chose a Perl course just to get me off his watch list. The course had a number of 'fill in the rest' type code examples. Perl being what it is, there are often many ways to 'fill in the rest', but the course only accepted one possible answer with very specific syntax. I tried my best to follow the 'style' of the training course, but quite often my answers were marked wrong regardless due to some combination of line ordering or spacing or indentation. In many cases the 'correct' answer was what I would consider to be very bad Perl practice. By the end I was quite disgusted with the quality of the 'new expensive online training package'. I hope your experience goes better.	[reply]
Re: Help: practical and moral support by TJPride (Pilgrim) on Dec 10, 2011 at 22:54 UTC
Find out what's on the test. Practice solving those problems. Browse Perlmonks for people asking about algorithmic sorts of things and do the same. Compare what you came up with to the solutions other people post. Cry. Rinse and repeat.	[reply]