Just one feature....those who have tinkered with regex (it is even called Perl5 style regular expressions) would know what can be accomplished in Perl. So much so I used it to create a tool to convert any text to XML.
Perl allows you to mix OO and non-OO, unlike Java. If you want to do something quick (I know it usually grows into something significant!) Perl is there to help. System programming, network programming, gluing different platforms...Perl has a cornucopia of code available from CPAN. These days, I search CPAN, download, glue and implement.
I also want to investigate REXX. Any quick tutorial anywhere?
I have a semi-autographed copy of Phil Smith and Gabe Goldberg's REXX book (but not in front of me, so I can't get you the ISBN), which is a great read-it-on-the-plane book. It has a lot of idioms that'd take me years to figure out.
But the index is a little rough. So for everyday reference, I use:
http://www.kilowattsoftware.com/tutorial/rexx/
- Alex
