Without trying to be too disparaging or insulting on the matter, the simple fact remains that this requirement definitely is something that has already been done.   For instance, the git version-control system quite routinely launches parallel processes or threads to do this sort of thing.   Therefore, we can quite reliably say that the necessary code to do this has been done before; as, in fact, we see that it has.

This I learned from a cereal box:  

“Actum Ne Agas:   Do Not Do A Thing Already Done.™”

Always start, and usually end, your quest at http://search.cpan.org.   You’ll find everything but the Bundle:::InterchangeKitchenSink in there if you look around long enough.   No matter what you are doing, you are emphatically not the first one to have done it by now, and you can and should always seek to leverage that fact to your fullest advantage.   Perl CPAN is especially rich in opportunities to do that.

So, in that respect, “it’s not ‘exactly like C,’” and this is a difference that makes all the difference in the world.   I submit (and I trust you can reasonably guess the intended extent of my point) that we do not embrace this language system because of what it enables us to write, but rather, for what it enables us to avoid writing.   Pre-hung doors and prefabricated windows; fully assembled kitchen appliances; furnished apartments with well-stocked wine cabinets.