Perl
n. programming language intended for processing and handling text (Computers); female first name; family name | ||||
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Perl definition was found in categories: Computer & Internet(10) Science & Technology(2) Language, Idioms & Slang(1) Business & Finance(1) Encyclopedia(1)
Perl Definition from Computer & Internet Dictionaries & Glossaries
| FOLDOC |
Perl
There's More Than One Way To Do It
<language, tool> A high-level programming language, started by Larry Wall in 1987 and developed as an open source project. It has an eclectic heritage, deriving from the ubiquitous C programming language and to a lesser extent from sed, awk, various Unix shell languages, Lisp, and at least a dozen other tools and languages. Originally developed for Unix, it is now available for many platforms.
Perl's elaborate support for regular expression matching and substitution has made it the language of choice for tasks involving string manipulation, whether for text or binary data. It is particularly popular for writing CGI scripts.
The language's highly flexible syntax and concise regular expression operators, make densely written Perl code indecipherable to the uninitiated. The syntax is, however, really quite simple and powerful and, once the basics have been mastered, a joy to write.
Perl's only primitive data type is the "scalar", which can hold a number, a string, the undefined value, or a typed reference. Perl's aggregate data types are arrays, which are ordered lists of scalars indexed by natural numbers, and hashes (or "associative arrays") which are unordered lists of scalars indexed by strings. A reference can point to a scalar, array, hash, function, or filehandle. Objects are implemented as references "blessed" with a class name. Strings in Perl are eight-bit clean, including nulls, and so can contain binary data.
Unlike C but like most Lisp dialects, Perl internally and dynamically handles all memory allocation, garbage collection, and type coercion.
Perl supports closures, recursive functions, symbols with either lexical scope or dynamic scope, nested data structures of arbitrary content and complexity (as lists or hashes of references), and packages (which can serve as classes, optionally inheriting methods from one or more other classes). There is ongoing work on threads, Unicode, exceptions, and backtracking. Perl program files can contain embedded documentation in POD (Plain Old Documentation), a simple markup language.
The normal Perl distribution contains documentation for the language, as well as over a hundred modules (program libraries). Hundreds more are available from The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network. Modules are themselves generally written in Perl, but can be implemented as interfaces to code in other languages, typically compiled C.
The free availability of modules for almost any conceivable task, as well as the fact that Perl offers direct access to almost all system calls and places no arbitrary limits on data structure size or complexity, has led some to describe Perl, in a parody of a famous remark about lex, as the "Swiss Army chainsaw" of programming.
The use of Perl has grown significantly since its adoption as the language of choice of many World-Wide Web developers. CGI interfaces and libraries for Perl exist for several platforms and Perl's speed and flexibility make it well suited for form processing and on-the-fly web page creation.
Perl programs are generally stored as text source files, which are compiled into virtual machine code at run time; this, in combination with its rich variety of data types and its common use as a glue language, makes Perl somewhat hard to classify as either a "scripting language" or an "applications language" -- see Ousterhout's dichotomy. Perl programs are usually called "Perl scripts", if only for historical reasons.
Version 5 was a major rewrite and enhancement of version 4, released sometime before November 1993. It added real data structures by way of "references", un-adorned subroutine calls, and method inheritance.
The spelling "Perl" is preferred over the older "PERL" (even though some explain the language's name as originating in the acronym for "Practical Extraction and Report Language"). The program that interprets/compiles Perl code is called "perl", typically "/usr/local/bin/perl" or "/usr/bin/perl".
Current version: 5.005_03 stable, 5.005_62 in development, as of 1999-12-04.
Home.
Usenet newsgroups: news:comp.lang.perl.announce, news:comp.lang.perl.misc.
["Programming Perl", Larry Wall and Randal L. Schwartz, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. Sebastopol, CA. ISBN 0-93715-64-1].
["Learning Perl" by Randal L. Schwartz, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., Sebastopol, CA].
[Jargon File]
(1999-12-04)
There's More Than One Way To Do It
<language, tool> A high-level programming language, started by Larry Wall in 1987 and developed as an open source project. It has an eclectic heritage, deriving from the ubiquitous C programming language and to a lesser extent from sed, awk, various Unix shell languages, Lisp, and at least a dozen other tools and languages. Originally developed for Unix, it is now available for many platforms.
Perl's elaborate support for regular expression matching and substitution has made it the language of choice for tasks involving string manipulation, whether for text or binary data. It is particularly popular for writing CGI scripts.
The language's highly flexible syntax and concise regular expression operators, make densely written Perl code indecipherable to the uninitiated. The syntax is, however, really quite simple and powerful and, once the basics have been mastered, a joy to write.
Perl's only primitive data type is the "scalar", which can hold a number, a string, the undefined value, or a typed reference. Perl's aggregate data types are arrays, which are ordered lists of scalars indexed by natural numbers, and hashes (or "associative arrays") which are unordered lists of scalars indexed by strings. A reference can point to a scalar, array, hash, function, or filehandle. Objects are implemented as references "blessed" with a class name. Strings in Perl are eight-bit clean, including nulls, and so can contain binary data.
Unlike C but like most Lisp dialects, Perl internally and dynamically handles all memory allocation, garbage collection, and type coercion.
Perl supports closures, recursive functions, symbols with either lexical scope or dynamic scope, nested data structures of arbitrary content and complexity (as lists or hashes of references), and packages (which can serve as classes, optionally inheriting methods from one or more other classes). There is ongoing work on threads, Unicode, exceptions, and backtracking. Perl program files can contain embedded documentation in POD (Plain Old Documentation), a simple markup language.
The normal Perl distribution contains documentation for the language, as well as over a hundred modules (program libraries). Hundreds more are available from The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network. Modules are themselves generally written in Perl, but can be implemented as interfaces to code in other languages, typically compiled C.
The free availability of modules for almost any conceivable task, as well as the fact that Perl offers direct access to almost all system calls and places no arbitrary limits on data structure size or complexity, has led some to describe Perl, in a parody of a famous remark about lex, as the "Swiss Army chainsaw" of programming.
The use of Perl has grown significantly since its adoption as the language of choice of many World-Wide Web developers. CGI interfaces and libraries for Perl exist for several platforms and Perl's speed and flexibility make it well suited for form processing and on-the-fly web page creation.
Perl programs are generally stored as text source files, which are compiled into virtual machine code at run time; this, in combination with its rich variety of data types and its common use as a glue language, makes Perl somewhat hard to classify as either a "scripting language" or an "applications language" -- see Ousterhout's dichotomy. Perl programs are usually called "Perl scripts", if only for historical reasons.
Version 5 was a major rewrite and enhancement of version 4, released sometime before November 1993. It added real data structures by way of "references", un-adorned subroutine calls, and method inheritance.
The spelling "Perl" is preferred over the older "PERL" (even though some explain the language's name as originating in the acronym for "Practical Extraction and Report Language"). The program that interprets/compiles Perl code is called "perl", typically "/usr/local/bin/perl" or "/usr/bin/perl".
Current version: 5.005_03 stable, 5.005_62 in development, as of 1999-12-04.
Home.
Usenet newsgroups: news:comp.lang.perl.announce, news:comp.lang.perl.misc.
["Programming Perl", Larry Wall and Randal L. Schwartz, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. Sebastopol, CA. ISBN 0-93715-64-1].
["Learning Perl" by Randal L. Schwartz, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., Sebastopol, CA].
[Jargon File]
(1999-12-04)
| Jargon File |
Perl
/perl/ n. [Practical Extraction and Report Language, a.k.a. Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister] An interpreted language developed by Larry Wall (<larry@wall.org>, author of
/perl/ n. [Practical Extraction and Report Language, a.k.a. Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister] An interpreted language developed by Larry Wall (<larry@wall.org>, author of
patch(1) and rn(1)) and distributed over Usenet. Superficially resembles awk, but is much hairier, including many facilities reminiscent of sed(1) and shells and a comprehensive Unix system-call interface. Unix sysadmins, who are almost always incorrigible hackers, generally consider it one of the languages of choice, and it is by far the most widely used tool for making `live' web pages via CGI. Perl has been described, in a parody of a famous remark about lex(1), as the "Swiss-Army chainsaw" of Unix programming. Though Perl is very useful, it would be a stretch to describe it as pretty or elegant; people who like clean, spare design generally prefer Python. See also Camel Book, TMTOWTDI.
| Computer Abbreviations v1.5 |
PERL
Practical Extraction and Report Language [Unix]
Practical Extraction and Report Language [Unix]
| 9300+ Computer Acronyms |
PERL
Practical Extraction Report Language
Practical Extraction Report Language
| Uri's File.*Xten.c.ons* |
PERL
Practical Extraction and Report Language [Unix]
Practical Extraction and Report Language [Unix]
| A Glossary of Internet & PC Terminology |
Perl
Practical Extraction & Report Language originally developed by Larry Wall for his personal use. It is now one of the most popular Internet tools. Perl is most often met in the context of the World Wide Web where its basic function is in the manipulating of files , text & producing Reports. The basic concepts of Hypertext Markup Language are greatly extended by being able to run ancillary programs achieved using the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) . This allows programs to be called in response to actions by the Web Client user i.e. something done by use on your PC on a particular Web Page . Almost any Programming Language can be used with Perl being the Most popular. The Perl program sits in between the Web Server & other software such as Databases
Practical Extraction & Report Language originally developed by Larry Wall for his personal use. It is now one of the most popular Internet tools. Perl is most often met in the context of the World Wide Web where its basic function is in the manipulating of files , text & producing Reports. The basic concepts of Hypertext Markup Language are greatly extended by being able to run ancillary programs achieved using the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) . This allows programs to be called in response to actions by the Web Client user i.e. something done by use on your PC on a particular Web Page . Almost any Programming Language can be used with Perl being the Most popular. The Perl program sits in between the Web Server & other software such as Databases
| WebGuest Web Glossary |
Perl - Practical Extraction and Report Language
Perl is a powerful computer language, especially used for writing CGI scripts which handle input/output actions on Web pages.
Perl is a powerful computer language, especially used for writing CGI scripts which handle input/output actions on Web pages.
| Jensen's Technology Glossary |
| Internet Glossary |
PERL
Practical Extraction and Report Language. The most common scripting language for processing Form data.
Practical Extraction and Report Language. The most common scripting language for processing Form data.
| Website design & Internet terms |
Perl Definition from Science & Technology Dictionaries & Glossaries
| Technical English by wpv |
PERL
The Practical Extraction and Report Language. An interpreted language for CGI scripts.
The Practical Extraction and Report Language. An interpreted language for CGI scripts.
| U.F.O. Related Terminology and Acronyms |
Perl
Practical extraction and report language
Practical extraction and report language
Perl Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries
| hEnglish - advanced version |
perl
perl
a high-level programming language, started by larry wall in 1987 and developed as an open source project. it has an eclectic heritage, deriving from the ubiquitous c programming language and to a lesser extent from sed, awk, various unix shell languages, lisp, and at least a dozen other tools and languages. originally developed for unix, it is now available for many platforms.
similar words(1)
comprehensive perl archive network
perl
a high-level programming language, started by larry wall in 1987 and developed as an open source project. it has an eclectic heritage, deriving from the ubiquitous c programming language and to a lesser extent from sed, awk, various unix shell languages, lisp, and at least a dozen other tools and languages. originally developed for unix, it is now available for many platforms.
similar words(1)
comprehensive perl archive network
Perl Definition from Business & Finance Dictionaries & Glossaries
| Company Info: Ticker, Name, Description |
PERL
Perle Systems Limited
Exchange: Nasdaq
Holding company with subsidiaries which design, manufacture and sell remote network and workstation controllers, protocol converters and lan remote access servers for the computer networking industry.
Perle Systems Limited
Exchange: Nasdaq
Holding company with subsidiaries which design, manufacture and sell remote network and workstation controllers, protocol converters and lan remote access servers for the computer networking industry.
Perl Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
| Wikipedia English - The Free Encyclopedia |
Perl
Perl is a dynamic programming language created by Larry Wall and first released in 1987. Perl borrows features from a variety of other languages including C, shell scripting (sh), AWK, sed and Lisp.
Structurally, Perl is based on the brace-delimited block style of AWK and C, and was widely adopted for its strengths in string processing and lack of the arbitrary limitations of many scripting languages at the time.
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