in reply to XML/Perl integration and experience?
I recommend it a lot, but Apache::PageKit may be what you are looking for.
Also, if you are into XSLT instead of HTML::Template, look into Apache::AxKit.
Both these modules use mod_perl to create a framework. Into this framework, you toss your templates, your data sources and your components (perl code). You should never have to deal with CGI again or any of that stuff.
Good luck.
In Section
Meditations