I need to write a simple Windows application to extract metadata from audio files of various formats. I d normally use Perl to accomplish this- but need a lightweight- stand-alone application which rules Perl out. The program will need two browse buttons to select directories and an OK button for batch processing- as well as being able to include whatever extra libraries may be necessary to read the metadata. What will be easiest for me to learn for this simple task? I know Perl- Javascript- and very- very limited C++. Please help with any *practical* answers or information you can.

perl and php support both procedural and oo. Are Java and .Net all OO or do they also allow for procedural programming?

BTW: i was never a big fan of object - oriented :-)
because i just couldn t wrap my head around it :-)

So I wanted to upload my website to the web. I need a .com domain name- PHP 5- multiple MySQL databases- PHPMyAdmin- Apache- CGI and Perl support and the likes. Who do you recommend for a good price. It s alright if I have to sign up with a different company for the domain

I already know Java and basic of PHP and JavaScript.

I started with Perl a couple of years ago- and found it really simple to learn - but had a few problems with images. Firstly I got hold of the GIF standard and wrote a simple program to create small black and white GIFs- then got hold of the Perl implementation of ImageMagick and installed on my test server (ie my pc) and taught myself ImageMagick.

The problem is that ImageMagick is not widely supported on commercial servers (unless you get a VPS and install it yourself).

I m considering phasing out Perl programming and teaching myself PHP instead. since it has SQL access- GD- SOAP etc as standard on most installations.

The question is- is it worth it- or should I stick to what I already know inside-out. How long will it take to become up-to-par with PHP? How similar is it to Perl?

I ve also heard that PHP is the hacker s choice since it is supposedly easily to poison SQL- and that it is insecure since you don t chmod the php scripts. Is this true or is it fiction?