Since early last year, I have been giving some informal workshops as an introduction to Perl at the college I attended. It's my way of giving back to the alumni and building a bit on my presentation skills. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not a 'guru'. I just love programming with Perl and want to show others how useful it can be.

I have seen many people out there (in the 'real' world) who have expressed a keen interest in learning to program but have no idea where to start.In response to this apparent need, I have begun writing (since December, 2000) a book that addresses computer programming for the non-programmer. Perl will, of course, be the implementation language here because of its power, flexibility, and ease of use.

My plan is to create a book without all of the assumptions that experienced programmers have and work from the ground up. Before even touching Perl, I am demonstrating what programming is and the importance of planning before you even write your first bit of code for a particular project. I have decided that I will have to describe such things as data objects and what a scalar really is.

(Do you know how difficult it is to describe to someone what a scalar is when they don't have anything to compare it to?) chuckle :-)

One assumption I am making here is that the reader of the book will be using WIN32 as their OS because most desktops (I hate to say) run windows. Larger audience. :-)

Now for the juicy stuff... I want to ensure that all bases are covered and would like to solicit your input about what kind of assumptions we make with respect to programming and Perl when talking about it with others.

Is there anything that others miss out on through our assumptions? How do you describe what you do (for a living) to those without any technical background?