=head1 SYNOPSIS
-B<perl> S<[ B<-sTuU> ]>
- S<[ B<-hv> ] [ B<-V>[:I<configvar>] ]>
- S<[ B<-cw> ] [ B<-d>[:I<debugger>] ] [ B<-D>[I<number/list>] ]>
- S<[ B<-pna> ] [ B<-F>I<pattern> ] [ B<-l>[I<octal>] ] [ B<-0>[I<octal>] ]>
- S<[ B<-I>I<dir> ] [ B<-m>[B<->]I<module> ] [ B<-M>[B<->]I<'module...'> ]>
- S<[ B<-P> ]>
- S<[ B<-S> ]>
- S<[ B<-x>[I<dir>] ]>
- S<[ B<-i>[I<extension>] ]>
- S<[ B<-e> I<'command'> ] [ B<--> ] [ I<programfile> ] [ I<argument> ]...>
-
-For ease of access, the Perl manual has been split up into a number
-of sections:
+B<perl> S<[ B<-sTuU> ]> S<[ B<-hv> ] [ B<-V>[:I<configvar>] ]>
+ S<[ B<-cw> ] [ B<-d>[:I<debugger>] ] [ B<-D>[I<number/list>] ]>
+ S<[ B<-pna> ] [ B<-F>I<pattern> ] [ B<-l>[I<octal>] ] [ B<-0>[I<octal>] ]>
+ S<[ B<-I>I<dir> ] [ B<-m>[B<->]I<module> ] [ B<-M>[B<->]I<'module...'> ]>
+ S<[ B<-P> ]> S<[ B<-S> ]> S<[ B<-x>[I<dir>] ]>
+ S<[ B<-i>[I<extension>] ]> S<[ B<-e> I<'command'> ]
+ [ B<--> ] [ I<programfile> ] [ I<argument> ]...>
+
+If you're new to Perl, you should start with L<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.
+
+=head2 Overview
perl Perl overview (this section)
- perldelta Perl changes since previous version
- perl5005delta Perl changes in version 5.005
- perl5004delta Perl changes in version 5.004
- perlfaq Perl frequently asked questions
+ perlintro Perl introduction for beginners
perltoc Perl documentation table of contents
- perldata Perl data structures
+=head2 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
+
+ perlstyle Perl style guide
+
+ 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
+
+=head2 Reference Manual
+
perlsyn Perl syntax
+ perldata Perl data structures
perlop Perl operators and precedence
- perlre Perl regular expressions
+ 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
- perlfunc Perl builtin functions
- perlopentut Perl open() tutorial
+ perldiag Perl diagnostic messages
+ perllexwarn Perl warnings and their control
+ perldebug Perl debugging
perlvar Perl predefined variables
- perlsub Perl subroutines
- perlmod Perl modules: how they work
- perlmodlib Perl modules: how to write and use
- perlmodinstall Perl modules: how to install from CPAN
+ perlre Perl regular expressions, the rest of the story
+ perlref Perl references, the rest of the story
perlform Perl formats
- perllocale Perl locale support
-
- perlref Perl references
- perlreftut Perl references short introduction
- perldsc Perl data structures intro
- perllol Perl data structures: lists of lists
- perltoot Perl OO tutorial
perlobj Perl objects
perltie Perl objects hidden behind simple variables
- perlbot Perl OO tricks and examples
+ 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
- perldebug Perl debugging
- perldiag Perl diagnostic messages
- perlsec Perl security
- perltrap Perl traps for the unwary
perlport Perl portability guide
- perlstyle Perl style guide
+ perllocale Perl locale support
+ perluniintro Perl Unicode introduction
+ perlunicode Perl Unicode support
+ perlebcdic Considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms
- perlpod Perl plain old documentation
- perlbook Perl book information
+ 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
+
+ perlutil utilities packaged with the Perl distribution
+
+ perlcompile Perl compiler suite intro
+
+ perlfilter Perl source filters
+
+=head2 Internals and C Language Interface
perlembed Perl ways to embed perl in your C or C++ application
- perlapio Perl internal IO abstraction interface
- perlxs Perl XS application programming interface
+ 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
+ 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
+
+=head2 Miscellaneous
+
+ perlbook Perl book information
perltodo Perl things to do
- perlhist Perl history records
-(If you're intending to read these straight through for the first time,
-the suggested order will tend to reduce the number of forward references.)
+ perlhist Perl history records
+ perldelta Perl changes since previous version
+ perl572delta Perl changes in version 5.7.2
+ perl571delta Perl changes in version 5.7.1
+ 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
-By default, all of the above manpages are installed in the
+=head2 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)
+
+=head2 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
+ perlhpux Perl notes for HP-UX
+ perlhurd Perl notes for Hurd
+ perlirix Perl notes for Irix
+ perlmachten Perl notes for Power MachTen
+ perlmacos Perl notes for Mac OS (Classic)
+ perlmint Perl notes for MiNT
+ perlmpeix Perl notes for MPE/iX
+ perlnetware Perl notes for NetWare
+ perlos2 Perl notes for OS/2
+ perlos390 Perl notes for OS/390
+ perlplan9 Perl notes for Plan 9
+ perlqnx Perl notes for QNX
+ perlsolaris Perl notes for Solaris
+ 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
+
+
+By default, the manpages listed above are installed in the
F</usr/local/man/> directory.
Extensive additional documentation for Perl modules is available. The
features of C, B<sed>, B<awk>, and B<sh>, so people familiar with
those languages should have little difficulty with it. (Language
historians will also note some vestiges of B<csh>, Pascal, and even
-BASIC-PLUS.) Expression syntax corresponds quite closely to C
+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 very quickly. Although optimized for
+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 which prevents many stupid
+through a dataflow tracing mechanism that prevents many stupid
security holes.
If you have a problem that would ordinarily use B<sed> or B<awk> or
But wait, there's more...
-Perl version 5 is nearly a complete rewrite, and provides
-the following additional benefits:
+Begun in 1993 (see L<perlhist>), Perl version 5 is nearly a complete
+rewrite that provides the following additional benefits:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+modularity and reusability using innumerable modules
-=over 5
+Described in L<perlmod>, L<perlmodlib>, and L<perlmodinstall>.
-=item * Many usability enhancements
+=item *
-It is now possible to write much more readable Perl code (even within
-regular expressions). Formerly cryptic variable names can be replaced
-by mnemonic identifiers. Error messages are more informative, and the
-optional warnings will catch many of the mistakes a novice might make.
-This cannot be stressed enough. Whenever you get mysterious behavior,
-try the B<-w> switch!!! Whenever you don't get mysterious behavior,
-try using B<-w> anyway.
+embeddable and extensible
-=item * Simplified grammar
+Described in L<perlembed>, L<perlxstut>, L<perlxs>, L<perlcall>,
+L<perlguts>, and L<xsubpp>.
-The new yacc grammar is one half the size of the old one. Many of the
-arbitrary grammar rules have been regularized. The number of reserved
-words has been cut by 2/3. Despite this, nearly all old Perl scripts
-will continue to work unchanged.
+=item *
-=item * Lexical scoping
+roll-your-own magic variables (including multiple simultaneous DBM implementations)
-Perl variables may now be declared within a lexical scope, like "auto"
-variables in C. Not only is this more efficient, but it contributes
-to better privacy for "programming in the large". Anonymous
-subroutines exhibit deep binding of lexical variables (closures).
+Described in L<perltie> and L<AnyDBM_File>.
-=item * Arbitrarily nested data structures
+=item *
-Any scalar value, including any array element, may now contain a
-reference to any other variable or subroutine. You can easily create
-anonymous variables and subroutines. Perl manages your reference
-counts for you.
+subroutines can now be overridden, autoloaded, and prototyped
-=item * Modularity and reusability
+Described in L<perlsub>.
-The Perl library is now defined in terms of modules which can be easily
-shared among various packages. A package may choose to import all or a
-portion of a module's published interface. Pragmas (that is, compiler
-directives) are defined and used by the same mechanism.
+=item *
-=item * Object-oriented programming
+arbitrarily nested data structures and anonymous functions
-A package can function as a class. Dynamic multiple inheritance and
-virtual methods are supported in a straightforward manner and with very
-little new syntax. Filehandles may now be treated as objects.
+Described in L<perlreftut>, L<perlref>, L<perldsc>, and L<perllol>.
-=item * Embeddable and Extensible
+=item *
-Perl may now be embedded easily in your C or C++ application, and can
-either call or be called by your routines through a documented
-interface. The XS preprocessor is provided to make it easy to glue
-your C or C++ routines into Perl. Dynamic loading of modules is
-supported, and Perl itself can be made into a dynamic library.
+object-oriented programming
-=item * POSIX compliant
+Described in L<perlobj>, L<perlboot>, L<perltoot>, L<perltooc>,
+and L<perlbot>.
-A major new module is the POSIX module, which provides access to all
-available POSIX routines and definitions, via object classes where
-appropriate.
+=item *
-=item * Package constructors and destructors
+compilability into C code or Perl bytecode
-The new BEGIN and END blocks provide means to capture control as
-a package is being compiled, and after the program exits. As a
-degenerate case they work just like awk's BEGIN and END when you
-use the B<-p> or B<-n> switches.
+Described in L<B> and L<B::Bytecode>.
-=item * Multiple simultaneous DBM implementations
+=item *
-A Perl program may now access DBM, NDBM, SDBM, GDBM, and Berkeley DB
-files from the same script simultaneously. In fact, the old dbmopen
-interface has been generalized to allow any variable to be tied
-to an object class which defines its access methods.
+support for light-weight processes (threads)
-=item * Subroutine definitions may now be autoloaded
+Described in L<perlthrtut> and L<Thread>.
-In fact, the AUTOLOAD mechanism also allows you to define any arbitrary
-semantics for undefined subroutine calls. It's not for just autoloading.
+=item *
-=item * Regular expression enhancements
+support for internationalization, localization, and Unicode
-You can now specify nongreedy quantifiers. You can now do grouping
-without creating a backreference. You can now write regular expressions
-with embedded whitespace and comments for readability. A consistent
-extensibility mechanism has been added that is upwardly compatible with
-all old regular expressions.
+Described in L<perllocale> and L<utf8>.
-=item * Innumerable Unbundled Modules
+=item *
-The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network described in L<perlmodlib>
-contains hundreds of plug-and-play modules full of reusable code.
-See F<http://www.perl.com/CPAN> for a site near you.
+lexical scoping
-=item * Compilability
+Described in L<perlsub>.
-While not yet in full production mode, a working perl-to-C compiler
-does exist. It can generate portable byte code, simple C, or
-optimized C code.
+=item *
+
+regular expression enhancements
+
+Described in L<perlre>, with additional examples in L<perlop>.
+
+=item *
+
+enhanced debugger and interactive Perl environment,
+with integrated editor support
+
+Described in L<perldebtut>, L<perldebug> and L<perldebguts>.
+
+=item *
+
+POSIX 1003.1 compliant library
+
+Described in L<POSIX>.
=back
=head1 AVAILABILITY
-Perl is available for the vast majority of operating system platforms,
-including most Unix-like platforms. The following situation is as of
-February 1999 and Perl 5.005_03.
-
-The following platforms are able to build Perl from the standard
-source code distribution available at
-F<http://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/index.html>
-
- AIX IRIX SCO ODT/OSR
- A/UX Linux Solaris
- BeOS MachTen SunOS
- BSD/OS MPE/iX SVR4
- DG/UX NetBSD Ultrix
- Digital UNIX NextSTEP UNICOS
- DOS DJGPP 1) OpenBSD VMS
- DYNIX/ptx OpenSTEP Windows 3.1 1)
- FreeBSD OS/2 Windows 95 1) 3)
- HP-UX OS390 2) Windows 98 1) 3)
- Hurd PowerMAX Windows NT 1) 3)
- QNX VOS
-
- 1) in DOS mode either the DOS or OS/2 ports can be used
- 2) formerly known as MVS
- 3) compilers: Borland, Cygwin32, Mingw32 EGCS/GCC, VC++
-
-The following platforms have been known to build Perl from the source
-but for the Perl release 5.005_03 we haven't been able to verify them,
-either because the hardware/software platforms are rather rare or
-because we don't have an active champion on these platforms, or both.
-
- 3b1 FPS Plan 9
- AmigaOS GENIX PowerUX
- ConvexOS Greenhills RISC/os
- CX/UX ISC Stellar
- DC/OSx MachTen 68k SVR2
- DDE SMES MiNT TI1500
- DomainOS MPC TitanOS
- DOS EMX NEWS-OS UNICOS/mk
- Dynix Opus Unisys Dynix
- EP/IX Unixware
- ESIX
-
-The following platforms are planned to be supported in the standard
-source code distribution of the Perl release 5.006 but are not
-supported in the Perl release 5.005_03:
-
- BS2000
- Netware
- Rhapsody
- VM/ESA
-
-The following platforms have their own source code distributions and
-binaries available via F<http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ports/index.html>.
-
- Perl release
-
- AS/400 5.003
- MacOS 5.004
- Netware 5.003_07
- Tandem Guardian 5.004
-
-The following platforms have only binaries available via
-F<http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ports/index.html>.
-
- Perl release
-
- Acorn RISCOS 5.005_02
- AOS 5.002
- LynxOS 5.004_02
+Perl is available for most operating systems, including virtually
+all Unix-like platforms. See L<perlport/"Supported Platforms">
+for a listing.
=head1 ENVIRONMENT
=head1 AUTHOR
-Larry Wall <F<larry@wall.org>>, with the help of oodles of other folks.
+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 <F<perl-thanks@perl.org>>.
+Perl developers, please write to perl-thanks@perl.org .
=head1 FILES
=head1 SEE ALSO
a2p awk to perl translator
-
s2p sed to perl translator
+ http://www.perl.com/ the Perl Home Page
+ http://www.cpan.org/ the Comprehensive Perl Archive
+ http://www.perl.org/ Perl Mongers (Perl user groups)
+
=head1 DIAGNOSTICS
-The B<-w> switch produces some lovely diagnostics.
+The C<use warnings> pragma (and the B<-w> switch) produces some
+lovely diagnostics.
See L<perldiag> for explanations of all Perl's diagnostics. The C<use
diagnostics> pragma automatically turns Perl's normally terse warnings
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 the case of a script passed to Perl via B<-e> switches, each
+(In a script passed to Perl via B<-e> switches, each
B<-e> is counted as one line.)
Setuid scripts have additional constraints that can produce error
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 C<perl -V>) to <F<perlbug@perl.com>>.
-If you've succeeded in compiling perl, the perlbug script in the utils/
-subdirectory can be used to help mail in a bug report.
+information as output by the myconfig program in the perl source
+tree, or by C<perl -V>) to perlbug@perl.org . If you've succeeded
+in compiling perl, the B<perlbug> script in the F<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.
https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blobdiff