Ive been attending school now for a few years in Video game Design and production. With a focus on writing. That being said getting some background in C/SQL etc through my education has been incredibly helpful. But for the most part 99% of what i have done scripting wise has been self taught. Theres alot of Emu thats custom to emu itself, so while having a education background in some areas has helped its really only helped in a fundamental way.
There are a lot of great resources around here and just looking at people scripts/scripts within the PEQ db can teach you ALOT. Perl is relatively simple, and i did pick up a book:
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Perl-...=learning+perl
which helped me solidify my conceptual grasp of PERL.
But really, if your looking to break into EMU deving. SIt down for a few hours a day (or week, w/e your schedule allows) and just play with it. Thats been the #1 teacher for me these last 8 months or so.