in reply to Program size and effeciency.
Isn't Perl wonderful
Legacy code - let me see - yes, written two years ago still works well enough to be left in production. And in the two years that the program has been ticking over and doing its job, the Perl language has constantly improved and become more efficient.
Software and IT is a new and everchanging industry. I expect that code that I write today will one day become ineffiecent and will need to be rewritten. (hence lots of comments and documentation).
Also think about why were you hired - your job title is a Perl programmer - Your manager hired you for your Perl experience and your ability to bring on board the wealth of knowledge of the Perl community.
He must have faith in you to fix the legacy code and to make it more effecient.
All I can say is just get stuck in.
Perl has CPAN and lots of code out on the www. Also the Open Source/Sharing of code tradition which are so valuable.
I have just come across a node called
"Suggestions for working with poor code"
It has lots of excellent advice
Finally congrats on the new job !!!
:o)