I like to learn languages by example. “Use The Source, Luke!” And you can find plenty of source just by looking through the CPAN package libraries that are already installed on your computer.
The discipline of writing software is very much a thing that is learned by doing. Over the course of several years it will actually become language-agnostic: you will see the common threads among every language that you have ever used. (I find myself to be a student of languages, genuinely fascinated by their role as tools for solving problems, and the author of more than one.) But I also genuinely enjoy to this day the work that I do ... making “a very stupid, albeit very fast machine” do useful things for people. I still find that to be challenging and engaging.
