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Perl is an interpreted language (not compiled, like Java) which is ideally suited for CGI programming. It has its roots in Unix system administration and offers several features like regular expressions and file manipulation which make it extremely powerful. It's learning curve has been described as long and shallow. It is very easy to pick up at first, especially if you are at all familiar with Unix. However, it does take quite a bit of time to become familiar with all the little nuances of the language. For most CGI work, however, these little nuances aren't really necessary.