I'd be inclined to post a new question with code and questions focused on that code.

perlsyn is the place to look for control structure syntax. Don't be seduced into using C++'s for loop, use Perl's for my $element (@list) loop instead. 'next' and 'last' are 'continue' and 'break', but look at 'redo' too.

Pay special attention to the Perl operators. Mostly they look familiar to a C++ user, but there are a few extra that are worth knowing about and some of them do special magic of a mind reading nature.

If you have time take a look at map and grep. In any case you must at least skim perlretut. If you plan to stick with Perl for the long haul get a copy of the "Perl Pocket Reference". I wore my first copy out!