This has never been a problem for me. I wonder whether that is because I didn't take CS at university.

I taught myself programming from books, long before I had access to a computer. When I came to writing programs for a living, again I was teaching myself and learning from those around me, but because it was always in a commercial context the focus was always oriented around getting the job done.

As time passed, I learnt a bit about algorithms and about data structures, not in a theoretical manner but because they were necessary to achieve a particular task.

My main languages for work (and therefore also at home) had been assembler and C. When I eventually discovered the internet, the new languages I found such as TCL and Perl were a revelation - so much more bang for your buck, and the source code too. :)

So I used them as I had used other languages, to get the job done, and continue to do so.

These days I write OO code in Perl, and scoff at those who say there is no such thing. I admire things that work, and work well, and Perl does just that - that's "real" enough a language for me.

Hugo