Perl | Perl Classes | Perl FAQ

Perl

Perl is an interpreted high-level programming language developed by Larry Wall. According to Larry, he included in Perl all the cool features found in other languages and left out those features that weren't so cool.

Perl has become the premier scripting language of the Web, as most CGI programs are written in Perl. However, Perl is widely used as a rapid prototyping language and a "glue" language that makes it possible for different systems to work well together. Perl is popular with system administrators who use it for an infinite number of automation tasks.

Perl's roots are in UNIX but you will find Perl on a wide range of computing platforms. Because Perl is an interpreted language, Perl programs are highly portable across systems.

Finally, Perl is more than a programming language. It is a part of the Internet culture. It is a very creative way of thinking about almost anything.

If you're technical, start with the documentation to learn more about perl and how to write Perl programs. If you want to get a sense of Perl, start with any of Larry's talks, such as Perl, the first postmodern language.

A Windows Version of Perl

ActivePerl is the long-awaited "merge" of the two popular Perl ports. ActivePerl includes Perl for Win32, PerlScript and Perl Package Manager.

CGI Scripts

The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is the standard way to write Web-based applications. Perl is the most popular language for writing CGI programs, which are invoked by the Web server when a user makes a request. A typical CGI program might process the contents of a form submitted to the server, and generate a customized reply.

CGI.pm is the module most developers use to build Web applications with Perl. It's written by Lincoln Stein and you can retrieve the module from CPAN or directly from Lincoln's site. The current documentation is also available at the CGI.PM page.

Perl Support

Typical of many successful software development projects that can be classified as Open Source, the answer is that the community itself supports Perl development. At the core of this community is the Perl Porters group who collaborate to maintain and improve the core Perl Language. A recent achievement of this group was to establish a single unified code base for the Windows and UNIX versions of Perl. In addition to the Perl Porters, there are numerous individuals who contribute modules (self-contained, reuseable code) to CPAN that enhance Perl in many ways. Finally, Perl developers can be found on newsgroups and mailing lists, and most are quite willing to answer questions.

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