This document provides an overview of the Perl programming language. It describes what Perl is used for, its main features, how to get and install documentation, how to run Perl programs and common commands, and where to get help or report bugs. The document acts as a starting point for learning more about Perl from its extensive documentation.
Everyone must migrate to PHP 7, take advantage of exceptional performances, cut half their hardware and enjoy the best of PHP ever. This workshop is for everyone that is still stuck with PHP 5, and wants to review his million LOC project before jumping to PHP 7.
When migrating, we need to check old code and target only the interesting issues. This session will connect the backward incompatibilities and new features to actual location in the code, relying on static analysis to process quickly large code base. Based on the accumulated experience of the tools and our own, we'll review the issues, diagnose criticality, select the best fixes and prioritize the tasks. All tools are Open Source, and ready to be integrated into your project life.
Workshop presentation given by Niels Lohmann on September 28, 2009 in Brisbane, Australia at the 4th International Workshop on Web Services and Formal Methods (WS-FM 2007).
Intermediate languages are used in compiler construction to simplify retargeting compilers to multiple machine architectures. In the implementation of \emph{domain-specific languages} (DSLs), compilers typically generate high-level source code, rather than low-level machine instructions. DSL compilers target a software platform, i.e. a programming language with a set of libraries, deployable on one or more operating systems. DSLs enable targeting \emph{multiple} software platforms if its abstractions are platform independent. While transformations from DSL to each targeted platform are often conceptually very similar, there is little reuse between transformations due to syntactic and API differences of the target platforms, making supporting multiple platforms expensive. In this paper, we discuss the design and implementation of PIL, a Platform Independent Language, an intermediate language providing a layer of abstraction between DSL and target platform code, abstracting from syntactic and API differences between platforms, thereby removing the need for platform-specific transformations. We discuss the use of PIL in an implemementation of WebDSL, a DSL for building web applications.
Everyone must migrate to PHP 7, take advantage of exceptional performances, cut half their hardware and enjoy the best of PHP ever. This workshop is for everyone that is still stuck with PHP 5, and wants to review his million LOC project before jumping to PHP 7.
When migrating, we need to check old code and target only the interesting issues. This session will connect the backward incompatibilities and new features to actual location in the code, relying on static analysis to process quickly large code base. Based on the accumulated experience of the tools and our own, we'll review the issues, diagnose criticality, select the best fixes and prioritize the tasks. All tools are Open Source, and ready to be integrated into your project life.
Workshop presentation given by Niels Lohmann on September 28, 2009 in Brisbane, Australia at the 4th International Workshop on Web Services and Formal Methods (WS-FM 2007).
Intermediate languages are used in compiler construction to simplify retargeting compilers to multiple machine architectures. In the implementation of \emph{domain-specific languages} (DSLs), compilers typically generate high-level source code, rather than low-level machine instructions. DSL compilers target a software platform, i.e. a programming language with a set of libraries, deployable on one or more operating systems. DSLs enable targeting \emph{multiple} software platforms if its abstractions are platform independent. While transformations from DSL to each targeted platform are often conceptually very similar, there is little reuse between transformations due to syntactic and API differences of the target platforms, making supporting multiple platforms expensive. In this paper, we discuss the design and implementation of PIL, a Platform Independent Language, an intermediate language providing a layer of abstraction between DSL and target platform code, abstracting from syntactic and API differences between platforms, thereby removing the need for platform-specific transformations. We discuss the use of PIL in an implemementation of WebDSL, a DSL for building web applications.
FOSE 2011: DNSSEC and the Government, Lessons LearnedNeustar, Inc.
At FOSE 2011, the panel discussion on the deployment of domain name system security extensions (DNSSEC) within government included Neustar VP and Senior Technologist, Rodney Joffe, who sat side-by-side with some of the industry’s best and discussed how federal IT managers can leverage private sector best practices to meet OMB and FISMA mandated DNSSEC requirements. Entitled “DNS-3: Private Sector Deployment in .com, .net, .org and Beyond,” the panel discussed lessons learned and how federal agencies that have yet to deploy DNSSEC can do so successfully. Visit http://www.ultradns.com for more information.
Perl is a script programming language, which has a lot of similarity in syntax to “c” language. This also includes UNIX like sed;awk;tr etc. Perl is an interpreted language which can be assembled before execution in “c” code/bytecode. Once Perl is compiled, it is as fast as any other compiled “c” program. The Perl language is often considered as the best choice for the development of CGI (i.e Common gateway interface) due to its good text manipulation feature; even though it conducts only binary files.
Perl is a sophisticated, general purpose programming language with a rich software development environment. It is platform independent, high level and easy to use, designed to make the difficult jobs easy. It is a portable and scalable language that provides better structure for large programs than any other computer language. It's simple structure, a clearly defined syntax and relatively few keywords that allows the student to pick up the language in a relatively short period of time.and Debug it easily with its built-in debugger. Perl is one of the three P’s in the LAMP stack. According to eweek.com ‘Perl is used in virtually 100 percent of the Fortune 500, in a wide range of mission-critical systems’. According to Active Perl, there are 200 Thousand ActivePerl downloads each month.
Keeping up with Perl: Development, Upgrade and Deployment Options for Perl 5.12ActiveState
With the growth in dynamic languages, Perl still rules the roost as “the duct tape of the Internet.” Now that Perl 5.12 and Perl Dev Kit 9 are available, are you ready to make the move? In this webinar for Perl developers and system administrators, join Jan Dubois, senior Perl developer at ActiveState, and Troy Topnik, technical writer at ActiveState to learn:
* What’s new in Perl 5.12
* What to do with legacy code
* Assess if you need to upgrade
* How to deploy quickly and efficiently
* How to use CPAN and Perl Package Manger (PPM) for managing 3rd party modules
* Deployment choices including web, system, desktop and utility applications
Perl was created by Larry Wall in the late 1980s while he was working as a systems administrator at NASA’s. He wanted a language that was powerful and flexible, but also easy to learn and use. And it quickly gained popularity among Unix users and, in 1990s, Perl became one of the most popular programming languages in the world.
Introduction to writing readable and maintainable PerlAlex Balhatchet
An introduction to writing readable Perl code, for people who write Perl that other people may want to read. Covers the most important lessons from Perl Best Practices, and ends by showing how to use Perl::Critic to test that you are meeting the standards set out.
Given at FOSDEM 2011
This is the first set of slightly updated slides from a Perl programming course that I held some years ago for the QA team of a big international company.
I want to share it with everyone looking for intransitive Perl-knowledge.
The updates after 1st of June 2014 are made with the kind support of Chain Solutions (http://chainsolutions.net/)
A table of content for all presentations can be found at i-can.eu.
The source code for the examples and the presentations in ODP format are on https://github.com/kberov/PerlProgrammingCourse
The last year has been a busy one in Perl land. Find out about the latest and greatest versions of Perl: Perl 5.10.1 and Perl 5.12. Find out how they have been developed, what useful new features they bring and what's coming in the future.
FOSE 2011: DNSSEC and the Government, Lessons LearnedNeustar, Inc.
At FOSE 2011, the panel discussion on the deployment of domain name system security extensions (DNSSEC) within government included Neustar VP and Senior Technologist, Rodney Joffe, who sat side-by-side with some of the industry’s best and discussed how federal IT managers can leverage private sector best practices to meet OMB and FISMA mandated DNSSEC requirements. Entitled “DNS-3: Private Sector Deployment in .com, .net, .org and Beyond,” the panel discussed lessons learned and how federal agencies that have yet to deploy DNSSEC can do so successfully. Visit http://www.ultradns.com for more information.
Perl is a script programming language, which has a lot of similarity in syntax to “c” language. This also includes UNIX like sed;awk;tr etc. Perl is an interpreted language which can be assembled before execution in “c” code/bytecode. Once Perl is compiled, it is as fast as any other compiled “c” program. The Perl language is often considered as the best choice for the development of CGI (i.e Common gateway interface) due to its good text manipulation feature; even though it conducts only binary files.
Perl is a sophisticated, general purpose programming language with a rich software development environment. It is platform independent, high level and easy to use, designed to make the difficult jobs easy. It is a portable and scalable language that provides better structure for large programs than any other computer language. It's simple structure, a clearly defined syntax and relatively few keywords that allows the student to pick up the language in a relatively short period of time.and Debug it easily with its built-in debugger. Perl is one of the three P’s in the LAMP stack. According to eweek.com ‘Perl is used in virtually 100 percent of the Fortune 500, in a wide range of mission-critical systems’. According to Active Perl, there are 200 Thousand ActivePerl downloads each month.
Keeping up with Perl: Development, Upgrade and Deployment Options for Perl 5.12ActiveState
With the growth in dynamic languages, Perl still rules the roost as “the duct tape of the Internet.” Now that Perl 5.12 and Perl Dev Kit 9 are available, are you ready to make the move? In this webinar for Perl developers and system administrators, join Jan Dubois, senior Perl developer at ActiveState, and Troy Topnik, technical writer at ActiveState to learn:
* What’s new in Perl 5.12
* What to do with legacy code
* Assess if you need to upgrade
* How to deploy quickly and efficiently
* How to use CPAN and Perl Package Manger (PPM) for managing 3rd party modules
* Deployment choices including web, system, desktop and utility applications
Perl was created by Larry Wall in the late 1980s while he was working as a systems administrator at NASA’s. He wanted a language that was powerful and flexible, but also easy to learn and use. And it quickly gained popularity among Unix users and, in 1990s, Perl became one of the most popular programming languages in the world.
Introduction to writing readable and maintainable PerlAlex Balhatchet
An introduction to writing readable Perl code, for people who write Perl that other people may want to read. Covers the most important lessons from Perl Best Practices, and ends by showing how to use Perl::Critic to test that you are meeting the standards set out.
Given at FOSDEM 2011
This is the first set of slightly updated slides from a Perl programming course that I held some years ago for the QA team of a big international company.
I want to share it with everyone looking for intransitive Perl-knowledge.
The updates after 1st of June 2014 are made with the kind support of Chain Solutions (http://chainsolutions.net/)
A table of content for all presentations can be found at i-can.eu.
The source code for the examples and the presentations in ODP format are on https://github.com/kberov/PerlProgrammingCourse
The last year has been a busy one in Perl land. Find out about the latest and greatest versions of Perl: Perl 5.10.1 and Perl 5.12. Find out how they have been developed, what useful new features they bring and what's coming in the future.
Modern Perl for the Unfrozen Paleolithic Perl ProgrammerJohn Anderson
Hello, unfrozen Paleolithic Perl programmers! Welcome to 2015!
First, let’s start with the good news: yes, we’re still programming in Perl5 in 2015 (and yes, we think that’s good news). Indeed, most of the code you wrote in the past, before that unfortunate "Big Giant Hole in Ice" incident, will likely still work just fine on the current release of Perl5 -- even if you originally wrote it against Perl 4 or even Perl 3.
Here’s the bad news: there’s been an incredible amount of innovation in not only Perl5-the-language, but also in Perl5-the-community and what the community considers to be accepted best practices and the right way to do things. It can be very frightening and confusing!
But wait, there’s more good news: if you come to this talk, you’ll get a guided tour of my (reasonably opinionated) views on what the consensus best practices are around issues such as which version of Perl5 to use, system Perl versus non-system Perl, Perl5 installation management packages, new language features and libraries to use, old language features and libraries to avoid, modern tooling, and even more!
Essentials of Automations: The Art of Triggers and Actions in FMESafe Software
In this second installment of our Essentials of Automations webinar series, we’ll explore the landscape of triggers and actions, guiding you through the nuances of authoring and adapting workspaces for seamless automations. Gain an understanding of the full spectrum of triggers and actions available in FME, empowering you to enhance your workspaces for efficient automation.
We’ll kick things off by showcasing the most commonly used event-based triggers, introducing you to various automation workflows like manual triggers, schedules, directory watchers, and more. Plus, see how these elements play out in real scenarios.
Whether you’re tweaking your current setup or building from the ground up, this session will arm you with the tools and insights needed to transform your FME usage into a powerhouse of productivity. Join us to discover effective strategies that simplify complex processes, enhancing your productivity and transforming your data management practices with FME. Let’s turn complexity into clarity and make your workspaces work wonders!
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Pushing the limits of ePRTC: 100ns holdover for 100 daysAdtran
At WSTS 2024, Alon Stern explored the topic of parametric holdover and explained how recent research findings can be implemented in real-world PNT networks to achieve 100 nanoseconds of accuracy for up to 100 days.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
Dr. Sean Tan, Head of Data Science, Changi Airport Group
Discover how Changi Airport Group (CAG) leverages graph technologies and generative AI to revolutionize their search capabilities. This session delves into the unique search needs of CAG’s diverse passengers and customers, showcasing how graph data structures enhance the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated search results, mitigating the risk of “hallucinations” and improving the overall customer journey.
Why You Should Replace Windows 11 with Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 for enhanced perfor...SOFTTECHHUB
The choice of an operating system plays a pivotal role in shaping our computing experience. For decades, Microsoft's Windows has dominated the market, offering a familiar and widely adopted platform for personal and professional use. However, as technological advancements continue to push the boundaries of innovation, alternative operating systems have emerged, challenging the status quo and offering users a fresh perspective on computing.
One such alternative that has garnered significant attention and acclaim is Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, a sleek, powerful, and user-friendly Linux distribution that promises to redefine the way we interact with our devices. With its focus on performance, security, and customization, Nitrux Linux presents a compelling case for those seeking to break free from the constraints of proprietary software and embrace the freedom and flexibility of open-source computing.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 4DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 4. In this session, we will cover Test Manager overview along with SAP heatmap.
The UiPath Test Manager overview with SAP heatmap webinar offers a concise yet comprehensive exploration of the role of a Test Manager within SAP environments, coupled with the utilization of heatmaps for effective testing strategies.
Participants will gain insights into the responsibilities, challenges, and best practices associated with test management in SAP projects. Additionally, the webinar delves into the significance of heatmaps as a visual aid for identifying testing priorities, areas of risk, and resource allocation within SAP landscapes. Through this session, attendees can expect to enhance their understanding of test management principles while learning practical approaches to optimize testing processes in SAP environments using heatmap visualization techniques
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into SAP testing best practices
2. Heatmap utilization for testing
3. Optimization of testing processes
4. Demo
Topics covered:
Execution from the test manager
Orchestrator execution result
Defect reporting
SAP heatmap example with demo
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
GridMate - End to end testing is a critical piece to ensure quality and avoid...ThomasParaiso2
End to end testing is a critical piece to ensure quality and avoid regressions. In this session, we share our journey building an E2E testing pipeline for GridMate components (LWC and Aura) using Cypress, JSForce, FakerJS…
Generative AI Deep Dive: Advancing from Proof of Concept to ProductionAggregage
Join Maher Hanafi, VP of Engineering at Betterworks, in this new session where he'll share a practical framework to transform Gen AI prototypes into impactful products! He'll delve into the complexities of data collection and management, model selection and optimization, and ensuring security, scalability, and responsible use.
Unlocking Productivity: Leveraging the Potential of Copilot in Microsoft 365, a presentation by Christoforos Vlachos, Senior Solutions Manager – Modern Workplace, Uni Systems
FIDO Alliance Osaka Seminar: The WebAuthn API and Discoverable Credentials.pdf
perl
1. Perl version 5.10.1 documentation - perl
NAME
perl - Practical Extraction and Report Language
SYNOPSIS
perl [ -sTtuUWX ] [ -hv ] [ -V[:configvar] ] [ -cw ] [ -d[t][:debugger] ] [ -D[number/list] ] [ -pna ] [ -F
pattern ] [ -l[octal] ] [ -0[octal/hexadecimal] ] [ -Idir ] [ -m[-]module ] [ -M[-]'module...' ] [ -f ] [ -C [
number/list] ] [ -P ] [ -S ] [ -x[dir] ] [ -i[extension] ] [ [-e|-E] 'command' ] [ -- ] [ programfile ] [ argument
]...
If you're new to Perl, you should start with perlintro, which is a general intro for beginners and
provides some background to help you navigate the rest of Perl's extensive documentation.
For ease of access, the Perl manual has been split up into several sections.
Overview
perl Perl overview (this section)
perlintro Perl introduction for beginners
perltoc Perl documentation table of contents
Tutorials
perlreftut Perl references short introduction
perldsc Perl data structures intro
perllol Perl data structures: arrays of arrays
perlrequick Perl regular expressions quick start
perlretut Perl regular expressions tutorial
perlboot Perl OO tutorial for beginners
perltoot Perl OO tutorial, part 1
perltooc Perl OO tutorial, part 2
perlbot Perl OO tricks and examples
perlperf Perl Performance and Optimization Techniques
perlstyle Perl style guide
perlcheat Perl cheat sheet
perltrap Perl traps for the unwary
perldebtut Perl debugging tutorial
perlfaq Perl frequently asked questions
perlfaq1 General Questions About Perl
perlfaq2 Obtaining and Learning about Perl
perlfaq3 Programming Tools
perlfaq4 Data Manipulation
perlfaq5 Files and Formats
perlfaq6 Regexes
perlfaq7 Perl Language Issues
perlfaq8 System Interaction
perlfaq9 Networking
http://perldoc.perl.org Page 1
2. Perl version 5.10.1 documentation - perl
Reference Manual
perlsyn Perl syntax
perldata Perl data structures
perlop Perl operators and precedence
perlsub Perl subroutines
perlfunc Perl built-in functions
perlopentut Perl open() tutorial
perlpacktut Perl pack() and unpack() tutorial
perlpod Perl plain old documentation
perlpodspec Perl plain old documentation format specification
perlrun Perl execution and options
perldiag Perl diagnostic messages
perllexwarn Perl warnings and their control
perldebug Perl debugging
perlvar Perl predefined variables
perlre Perl regular expressions, the rest of the story
perlrebackslash Perl regular expression backslash sequences
perlrecharclass Perl regular expression character classes
perlreref Perl regular expressions quick reference
perlref Perl references, the rest of the story
perlform Perl formats
perlobj Perl objects
perltie Perl objects hidden behind simple variables
perldbmfilter Perl DBM filters
perlipc Perl interprocess communication
perlfork Perl fork() information
perlnumber Perl number semantics
perlthrtut Perl threads tutorial
perlothrtut Old Perl threads tutorial
perlport Perl portability guide
perllocale Perl locale support
perluniintro Perl Unicode introduction
perlunicode Perl Unicode support
perlunifaq Perl Unicode FAQ
perlunitut Perl Unicode tutorial
perlebcdic Considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms
perlsec Perl security
perlmod Perl modules: how they work
perlmodlib Perl modules: how to write and use
perlmodstyle Perl modules: how to write modules with style
perlmodinstall Perl modules: how to install from CPAN
perlnewmod Perl modules: preparing a new module for distribution
perlpragma Perl modules: writing a user pragma
perlutil utilities packaged with the Perl distribution
perlcompile Perl compiler suite intro
http://perldoc.perl.org Page 2
3. Perl version 5.10.1 documentation - perl
perlfilter Perl source filters
perlglossary Perl Glossary
Internals and C Language Interface
perlembed Perl ways to embed perl in your C or C++ application
perldebguts Perl debugging guts and tips
perlxstut Perl XS tutorial
perlxs Perl XS application programming interface
perlclib Internal replacements for standard C library functions
perlguts Perl internal functions for those doing extensions
perlcall Perl calling conventions from C
perlmroapi Perl method resolution plugin interface
perlreapi Perl regular expression plugin interface
perlreguts Perl regular expression engine internals
perlapi Perl API listing (autogenerated)
perlintern Perl internal functions (autogenerated)
perliol C API for Perl's implementation of IO in Layers
perlapio Perl internal IO abstraction interface
perlhack Perl hackers guide
perlrepository Perl source repository
Miscellaneous
perlbook Perl book information
perlcommunity Perl community information
perltodo Perl things to do
perldoc Look up Perl documentation in Pod format
perlhist Perl history records
perldelta Perl changes since previous version
perl5100delta Perl changes in version 5.10.0
perl595delta Perl changes in version 5.9.5
perl594delta Perl changes in version 5.9.4
perl593delta Perl changes in version 5.9.3
perl592delta Perl changes in version 5.9.2
perl591delta Perl changes in version 5.9.1
perl590delta Perl changes in version 5.9.0
perl588delta Perl changes in version 5.8.8
perl589delta Perl changes in version 5.8.9
perl587delta Perl changes in version 5.8.7
perl586delta Perl changes in version 5.8.6
perl585delta Perl changes in version 5.8.5
perl584delta Perl changes in version 5.8.4
perl583delta Perl changes in version 5.8.3
perl582delta Perl changes in version 5.8.2
perl581delta Perl changes in version 5.8.1
perl58delta Perl changes in version 5.8.0
perl573delta Perl changes in version 5.7.3
perl572delta Perl changes in version 5.7.2
perl571delta Perl changes in version 5.7.1
http://perldoc.perl.org Page 3
4. Perl version 5.10.1 documentation - perl
perl570delta Perl changes in version 5.7.0
perl561delta Perl changes in version 5.6.1
perl56delta Perl changes in version 5.6
perl5005delta Perl changes in version 5.005
perl5004delta Perl changes in version 5.004
perlartistic Perl Artistic License
perlgpl GNU General Public License
Language-Specific
perlcn Perl for Simplified Chinese (in EUC-CN)
perljp Perl for Japanese (in EUC-JP)
perlko Perl for Korean (in EUC-KR)
perltw Perl for Traditional Chinese (in Big5)
Platform-Specific
perlaix Perl notes for AIX
perlamiga Perl notes for AmigaOS
perlapollo Perl notes for Apollo DomainOS
perlbeos Perl notes for BeOS
perlbs2000 Perl notes for POSIX-BC BS2000
perlce Perl notes for WinCE
perlcygwin Perl notes for Cygwin
perldgux Perl notes for DG/UX
perldos Perl notes for DOS
perlepoc Perl notes for EPOC
perlfreebsd Perl notes for FreeBSD
perlhaiku Perl notes for Haiku
perlhpux Perl notes for HP-UX
perlhurd Perl notes for Hurd
perlirix Perl notes for Irix
perllinux Perl notes for Linux
perlmachten Perl notes for Power MachTen
perlmacos Perl notes for Mac OS (Classic)
perlmacosx Perl notes for Mac OS X
perlmint Perl notes for MiNT
perlmpeix Perl notes for MPE/iX
perlnetware Perl notes for NetWare
perlopenbsd Perl notes for OpenBSD
perlos2 Perl notes for OS/2
perlos390 Perl notes for OS/390
perlos400 Perl notes for OS/400
perlplan9 Perl notes for Plan 9
perlqnx Perl notes for QNX
perlriscos Perl notes for RISC OS
perlsolaris Perl notes for Solaris
perlsymbian Perl notes for Symbian
perltru64 Perl notes for Tru64
perluts Perl notes for UTS
perlvmesa Perl notes for VM/ESA
perlvms Perl notes for VMS
perlvos Perl notes for Stratus VOS
perlwin32 Perl notes for Windows
http://perldoc.perl.org Page 4
5. Perl version 5.10.1 documentation - perl
By default, the manpages listed above are installed in the /usr/local/man/ directory.
Extensive additional documentation for Perl modules is available. The default configuration for perl
will place this additional documentation in the /usr/local/lib/perl5/man directory (or else in the man
subdirectory of the Perl library directory). Some of this additional documentation is distributed
standard with Perl, but you'll also find documentation for third-party modules there.
You should be able to view Perl's documentation with your man(1) program by including the proper
directories in the appropriate start-up files, or in the MANPATH environment variable. To find out
where the configuration has installed the manpages, type:
perl -V:man.dir
If the directories have a common stem, such as /usr/local/man/man1 and /usr/local/man/man3, you
need only to add that stem (/usr/local/man) to your man(1) configuration files or your MANPATH
environment variable. If they do not share a stem, you'll have to add both stems.
If that doesn't work for some reason, you can still use the supplied perldoc script to view module
information. You might also look into getting a replacement man program.
If something strange has gone wrong with your program and you're not sure where you should look
for help, try the -w switch first. It will often point out exactly where the trouble is.
DESCRIPTION
Perl is a language optimized for scanning arbitrary text files, extracting information from those text
files, and printing reports based on that information. It's also a good language for many system
management tasks. The language is intended to be practical (easy to use, efficient, complete) rather
than beautiful (tiny, elegant, minimal).
Perl combines (in the author's opinion, anyway) some of the best features of C, sed, awk, and sh, so
people familiar with those languages should have little difficulty with it. (Language historians will also
note some vestiges of csh, Pascal, and even BASIC-PLUS.) Expression syntax corresponds closely
to C expression syntax. Unlike most Unix utilities, Perl does not arbitrarily limit the size of your data--if
you've got the memory, Perl can slurp in your whole file as a single string. Recursion is of unlimited
depth. And the tables used by hashes (sometimes called "associative arrays") grow as necessary to
prevent degraded performance. Perl can use sophisticated pattern matching techniques to scan large
amounts of data quickly. Although optimized for scanning text, Perl can also deal with binary data,
and can make dbm files look like hashes. Setuid Perl scripts are safer than C programs through a
dataflow tracing mechanism that prevents many stupid security holes.
If you have a problem that would ordinarily use sed or awk or sh, but it exceeds their capabilities or
must run a little faster, and you don't want to write the silly thing in C, then Perl may be for you. There
are also translators to turn your sed and awk scripts into Perl scripts.
But wait, there's more...
Begun in 1993 (see perlhist), Perl version 5 is nearly a complete rewrite that provides the following
additional benefits:
modularity and reusability using innumerable modules
Described in perlmod, perlmodlib, and perlmodinstall.
embeddable and extensible
Described in perlembed, perlxstut, perlxs, perlcall, perlguts, and xsubpp.
roll-your-own magic variables (including multiple simultaneous DBM implementations)
Described in perltie and AnyDBM_File.
subroutines can now be overridden, autoloaded, and prototyped
http://perldoc.perl.org Page 5
6. Perl version 5.10.1 documentation - perl
Described in perlsub.
arbitrarily nested data structures and anonymous functions
Described in perlreftut, perlref, perldsc, and perllol.
object-oriented programming
Described in perlobj, perlboot, perltoot, perltooc, and perlbot.
support for light-weight processes (threads)
Described in perlthrtut and threads.
support for Unicode, internationalization, and localization
Described in perluniintro, perllocale and Locale::Maketext.
lexical scoping
Described in perlsub.
regular expression enhancements
Described in perlre, with additional examples in perlop.
enhanced debugger and interactive Perl environment, with integrated editor support
Described in perldebtut, perldebug and perldebguts.
POSIX 1003.1 compliant library
Described in POSIX.
Okay, that's definitely enough hype.
AVAILABILITY
Perl is available for most operating systems, including virtually all Unix-like platforms. See "Supported
Platforms" in perlport for a listing.
ENVIRONMENT
See perlrun.
AUTHOR
Larry Wall <larry@wall.org>, with the help of oodles of other folks.
If your Perl success stories and testimonials may be of help to others who wish to advocate the use of
Perl in their applications, or if you wish to simply express your gratitude to Larry and the Perl
developers, please write to perl-thanks@perl.org .
FILES
"@INC" locations of perl libraries
SEE ALSO
a2p awk to perl translator
s2p sed to perl translator
http://www.perl.org/ the Perl homepage
http://www.perl.com/ Perl articles (O'Reilly)
http://www.cpan.org/ the Comprehensive Perl Archive
http://www.pm.org/ the Perl Mongers
http://perldoc.perl.org Page 6
7. Perl version 5.10.1 documentation - perl
DIAGNOSTICS
The use warnings pragma (and the -w switch) produces some lovely diagnostics.
See perldiag for explanations of all Perl's diagnostics. The use diagnostics pragma automatically
turns Perl's normally terse warnings and errors into these longer forms.
Compilation errors will tell you the line number of the error, with an indication of the next token or
token type that was to be examined. (In a script passed to Perl via -e switches, each -e is counted as
one line.)
Setuid scripts have additional constraints that can produce error messages such as "Insecure
dependency". See perlsec.
Did we mention that you should definitely consider using the -w switch?
BUGS
The -w switch is not mandatory.
Perl is at the mercy of your machine's definitions of various operations such as type casting, atof(),
and floating-point output with sprintf().
If your stdio requires a seek or eof between reads and writes on a particular stream, so does Perl.
(This doesn't apply to sysread() and syswrite().)
While none of the built-in data types have any arbitrary size limits (apart from memory size), there are
still a few arbitrary limits: a given variable name may not be longer than 251 characters. Line numbers
displayed by diagnostics are internally stored as short integers, so they are limited to a maximum of
65535 (higher numbers usually being affected by wraparound).
You may mail your bug reports (be sure to include full configuration information as output by the
myconfig program in the perl source tree, or by perl -V) to perlbug@perl.org . If you've succeeded
in compiling perl, the perlbug script in the utils/ subdirectory can be used to help mail in a bug report.
Perl actually stands for Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister, but don't tell anyone I said that.
NOTES
The Perl motto is "There's more than one way to do it." Divining how many more is left as an exercise
to the reader.
The three principal virtues of a programmer are Laziness, Impatience, and Hubris. See the Camel
Book for why.
http://perldoc.perl.org Page 7