There are so many ways to fall off the path to developer enlightenment. Some are obvious to all of us: the garbled USENET posting that demands a homework solution, or the suicidal lack of strictness and warnings in a program pasted from websites of dubious pedigree.

But the ways to Perl nirvana lead through complex territory and the pitfalls are not always so obvious. All of us can benefit by learning from or reminding ourselves of the essential principles of the true developer. We’ll cover:

• Attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors: What works, what doesn’t, and how to teach others
• Perl pitfalls: Assumptions, misperceptions, and myths that could be slowing down your team’s production
• Leadership by example: How did the leading lights of the Perl community get that way, and what are their touchstones for success?