If you've got to go for speed of implementation (as opposed to speed of running), perl is the best language, as all the data structures (lists, hashes, functions returning multiple values, etc) are built in.
In your shoes: I'd present the basic algorithm, and write a main(). Assume lots of functionality. Jasonp's 1500 lines will take at least 3-4 days to write, assuming you are a top-level coder. And plan further ahead in the future! There's no way you have time to learn perl.
Stop writing code in 24 hours, and write power-pointless, since that is what your audience will see.
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