Matthew's Journal

FWIW I learned Perl a few years back and with hindsight wish I'd invested the effort in Python instead.

I learned from the Camel Book. The Perl I subsequently produced was well received by experts who viewed it, so I must have been doing something right as a result.

Other bits of advice: it sounds like your motivating problem is actually database schema specification more than coding; there's famously more than one way to do it, but choose carefully because most involve polymorphing into a millipede then running off several clips from an automatic weapon without bothering to take aim.