Paradoxically, the way in which Perl helps you the most has almost nothing to do with Perl itself, and everything to do with the people who use Perl. While people start using Perl because they need it, they continue using Perl because they love it.

The result is that the Perl community is one of the most helpful in the world, with CPAN—the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network—as one example. When Perl programmers aren’t writing their own programs, they spend their time helping others write theirs. They discuss common problems and help devise solutions. They develop utilities and modules for Perl and give them away to the world at large.