Looks like he's near enough London to qualify for London.pm ;-) - We can also be found on IRC, but don't talk about Perl much.

/J\

Many thanks for the encouraging words so far.
london.pm sounds like a clever starting point, have signed up for the mailing list.
Shame the is not a hampshire.pm as getting to london is a right ol' hike.

I shall continue to utilise the wise monks here at the Monastry, who have so far taught me far more than the shelf of books I have now on Perl.

If any kindly souls (especially in Hampshire, UK) do decide that being a mentor is for them I am still looking!

I must thank also, all the folk who have recomended "Code Complete" (in other threads) as I am finding it a good read which is broadening my more base understanding of the processes behind developing.

P.s. I have just made "MONK" and am feeling good, a happy dance might be in order!

Lance

Kia Kaha, Kia Toa, Kia Manawanui!
Be Strong, Be Brave, Be perservering!

I just wanted to update this thread as if it is come across by a noob like myself I hope it might be useful. So... The result of the post I made originally was that I made contact with more people and in fact someone offered and did give me some fantastic mentoring from Canada via emai, IM, etc. (should I name drop.... I'll leave it for now, he might be ashamed of me, or have forgotten me by mow) I attended a London.pm workshop and that was great. And I am really pleased that there is now a PM closer to me in Thames Valley (where the topic/idea of newbie mentoring has been mentioned).

Unfortunately, I don't get much time and opportunity to code in Perl, my work has me doing stuff in another well known language starting with 'P' which is popular for Personal Home Pages.

Perlmonks (of course) has been an excellent resource for learning and discovering how to write better Perl. Especially when coupled with trial and error.

The book "Perl Best Practices" has become more relevant to me as I've absorbed more. It was a bit much when in full on Newbie mode. I understand much more of it now.

Of all the above, obviously a real live person actually sitting there doing 1-1 was the best and I learnt an amazing amount really fast. Perlmonks is 'the' place to ask questions, assuming you ask good ones.

So, fellow noobs seeking help, I can recommend strongly hanging around here and picking up "Perl Best Practices" and getting involved with a Perl Mongers group. But finding a mentor is definitely my #1 tip if you want to learn "how to do it right". Your local Perl Mongers group is probably the best way to find people who A)know what they are talking about and B)might consider giving up their time to mentor you.

Anyway...
Just my two cents worth as a followup to a question that didn't destroy my XP as badly as it could/should have. :)

Lance

Kia Kaha, Kia Toa, Kia Manawanui!
Be Strong, Be Brave, Be perservering!