What I usually do is take out a pencil and paper, go out on the porch, and write down what I want, why, and how. I then go back to my machine, sit down, collect myself, and then churn out little bits, debug, and continue. I find that debugging as you go along is very helpful because you can isolate errors easier that way. Also, writing down what you want before you begin is wise because you minimize the chance of locking yourself into a piece of code that you will have a hard time adding or taking away functionality from.

As for the docs, I first go to Programming Perl, and then to perldoc, and then to the Net, but any way that you deem fit is the Right Way for you.

Another thing is that there is no magical thing that you can do to become a guru. It is just a matter of time and persistence. Hope this helps.

redmist
redmist.dyndns.org
email::redmist

---

---

• Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
• Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:

  <code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>

• Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
• Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.