I suppose that if I had stuck with it long enough, I would have internalized the idioms and been productive with it. Yes, and that's my gravest concern about m

I suppose that if I had stuck with it long enough, I would have internalized the idioms and been productive with it. Yes, and that's my gravest concern about most Perl tutorials. Perl's theoretical basics are sufficiently different from other Algol family languages that they should be taught explicitly. Expecting people to intuit them over time leads people to conclude that Perl is "a poorly integrated collection of features." The language does have its warts, but it's much easier to work with when you understand its underpinnings and work with them rather than against them. (I apologize for the late reply.)