Hello, all. I am a programmer with considerable experience in HTML, CSS, Javascript, VBscript, ASP, XML and SQL on the one hand and C/Unix on the other. But absolutely no experience in Perl. I have just been hired to work on a project where I will have to build HTML pages with Perl. I would be very grateful for any information on the following topics. Please note that I tend to not understand "short-hand" explanations. I usually require a very simple, simplistic approach. 1. Can you explain in a nutshell what Perl is about? Since my background is HTML/ASP, it would be very helpful to compare/contrast Perl with ASP. 2. How do I find, download and run free Perl development software, in order to create a development environment on my computer? 3. In the "Hello, World" spirit, can someone tell me what precise steps I would take to create a Perl file which builds a very simple HTML page? a. What would the actual content of the file be? b. What would the file name be? What would the ending be? (i.e. .html, .asp, .xml, so what is it for Perl?) c. Does one have to set the permissions of the file? d. Where on the server does the file go? Any related information to get me up and running would be most welcome. Cheers and thanks.

Check out www.perl.org if you haven't already.