Re: What is it about perl that makes perl so cool?

I may be restating what other people have said here, but hey, you asked :)

My reasons for loving Perl are as follows:

Community - This to me is an absolutely HUGE part of Perl, and why I love the language. The wealth of Perl knowledge flowing around on the net is amazing. Compared to the development tool I use at work, Powerbuilder, the differences here are staggering. Interestingly enough, I think I've learned the most about programming from Perl programmers! Forums like this one, clpm, and #perl have taught me a lot about the way programmers think.
Awesome books - Okay...I guess I could have phrased this "Good Documentation", but let's be realistic, don't you wish EVERY language had it's own Cookbook? Learning Perl, Programming Perl, and The Perl Cookbook are quite possibly the coolest "technical" (that makes them sound boring :) books in existence.
Sex Appeal - heh :) Perl is nice to look at. It's quite unlike any other language out there and beautiful to read.
Power - Duuuuuh :) Perl's ability to manipulate data is second to none (okay, no flame wars please, if you think differently I'll agree in advance with you).
FUN - Which is really a combination of all the previous points.

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