I've always liked Learning Perl. The latest edition just came out. I usually get started and then have to give up to go do other things and forget enough by the time I get back to it.

Thanks I would love to start with python but at my current job they want me to write a scrip in perl and its taking me ages I don't have clue where to start and get it sorted.

ok thanks for the resources now to get cracking with it !!

That's the 2nd time today I heard about that "Coding for Penetration Tester" book.  Is it good for an absolute programming beginner?  I keep debating whether or not to learn Python as my first language or Perl.  I heard Python is much more popular/beneficial in the hacking world (more tools/exploits written in it) but at work, we only use Perl and SQL for programming languages.

For those who read french there is a great website on every language :
http://www.siteduzero.com/

Have you thought about Ruby?

I am from a vbscript & perl background, then evolved into powershell & perl. I work mainly in Ruby know, it's pretty easy & powerful, and is generally agnostic about OS.

PowerShell is pretty sweet, the Stop-Process cmdlet is the first thing I've seen from MSFT that actually operates the way kill would in *nix.

 I guess I'd suggest just focusing on a few items that need to be scripted, plotting out the logic, then writing them in a different language until you find one you really feel comes naturally to you. Taking that first step into programming/scripting is scary if from a non-dev background but after a few months of doing it you'll look back and be like wtf took me so long