While I suppose it's technically possible to translate Basic to perl, it's just not a good idea. Perl has optimizations that didn't exist back in the day, and data structures that probably weren't available for Basic. Finally, you probably have vastly more memory and CPU cycles available to you now than the original author did when the original code was written.

In the Real World, it's rare to be able to re-write something from the ground up. What a great opportunity! When you finish, you'll be the company perl expert, with all the honor and respect that is your due.

And yes, the Monastary will be here to answer the inevitable questions.

-Logan
"What do I want? I'm an American. I want more."