Question: Does anyone know if there is an extension or plugin for Visual Studio ( any version ) that will recognize Perl syntax highlighting? I want to edit the Perl files in my vs projects, but it gets hard to read sometimes. Thanks.

Answer: 
A work-in-progress Visual Studio [extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=scriplit.perl6-lsp) for Perl6 (not the Perl5 asked by the OP) is incrementally more full-featured. It is released under the [MIT License](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items/scriplit.perl6-lsp/license) and its [repository](https://github.com/scriplit/vscode-languageserver-perl6) is on GitHub. As a prerequisite, Perl6 (e.g., [Rakudo](https://rakudo.perl6.org/downloads/rakudo)) needs to already be installed.
A workaround for Visual Studio desktop version is to use C++ syntax highlighting.

* Go to Options -> Text Editor -> File Extension
* Enter extension "pl" (no dot)
* Assign it to "Microsoft Visual C++"
* Click "Add"

If necessary, repeat the same steps for "cgi" extension.