=head2 How can I use Perl interactively?
The typical approach uses the Perl debugger, described in the
-perldebug(1) manpage, on an "empty" program, like this:
+C<perldebug(1)> manpage, on an "empty" program, like this:
perl -de 42
=head2 Is there a Perl shell?
-The psh (Perl sh) is currently at version 1.8. The Perl Shell is a shell
+The C<psh> (Perl sh) is currently at version 1.8. The Perl Shell is a shell
that combines the interactive nature of a Unix shell with the power of
-Perl. The goal is a full featured shell that behaves as expected for
+Perl. The goal is a full-featured shell that behaves as expected for
normal shell activity and uses Perl syntax and functionality for
-control-flow statements and other things. You can get psh at
+control-flow statements and other things. You can get C<psh> at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/psh/ .
-Zoidberg is a similar project and provides a shell written in perl,
+C<Zoidberg> is a similar project and provides a shell written in perl,
configured in perl and operated in perl. It is intended as a login shell
and development environment. It can be found at
http://pardus-larus.student.utwente.nl/~pardus/projects/zoidberg/
or your local CPAN mirror.
-The Shell.pm module (distributed with Perl) makes Perl try commands
-which aren't part of the Perl language as shell commands. perlsh from
+The C<Shell.pm> module (distributed with Perl) makes Perl try commands
+which aren't part of the Perl language as shell commands. C<perlsh> from
the source distribution is simplistic and uninteresting, but may still
be what you want.
$ cpan -l
You can also use C<cpan>'s C<-a> switch to create an autobundle file
-that C<CPAN.pm> understands and cna use to re-install every module:
+that C<CPAN.pm> understands and can use to re-install every module:
$ cpan -a
-Inside a Perl program, you can use the ExtUtils::Installed module to
+Inside a Perl program, you can use the C<ExtUtils::Installed> module to
show all installed distributions, although it can take awhile to do
its magic. The standard library which comes with Perl just shows up
-as "Perl" (although you can get those with Module::CoreList).
+as "Perl" (although you can get those with C<Module::CoreList>).
use ExtUtils::Installed;
my @modules = $inst->modules();
If you want a list of all of the Perl module filenames, you
-can use File::Find::Rule.
+can use C<File::Find::Rule>:
use File::Find::Rule;
;
If you do not have that module, you can do the same thing
-with File::Find which is part of the standard library.
+with C<File::Find> which is part of the standard library:
use File::Find;
my @files;
print join "\n", @files;
-If you simply need to quickly check to see if a module is
+If you simply need to check quickly to see if a module is
available, you can check for its documentation. If you can
read the documentation the module is most likely installed.
If you cannot read the documentation, the module might not
-have any (in rare cases).
+have any (in rare cases):
$ perldoc Module::Name
You can also try to include the module in a one-liner to see if
-perl finds it.
+perl finds it:
$ perl -MModule::Name -e1
Perl comes with an interactive debugger, which you can start with the
C<-d> switch. It's fully explained in L<perldebug>.
-If you'd like a graphical user interface and you have Tk, you can use
+If you'd like a graphical user interface and you have C<Tk>, you can use
C<ptkdb>. It's on CPAN and available for free.
If you need something much more sophisticated and controllable, Leon
-Brocard's Devel::ebug (which you can call with the -D switch as -Debug)
+Brocard's C<Devel::ebug> (which you can call with the C<-D> switch as C<-Debug>)
gives you the programmatic hooks into everything you need to write your
own (without too much pain and suffering).
dprofpp
You can also do the profiling and reporting in one step with the C<-p>
-switch to <dprofpp>:
+switch to C<dprofpp>:
dprofpp -p program.pl
=head2 How do I cross-reference my Perl programs?
-The B::Xref module can be used to generate cross-reference reports
+The C<B::Xref> module can be used to generate cross-reference reports
for Perl programs.
perl -MO=Xref[,OPTIONS] scriptname.plx
=head2 Is there a pretty-printer (formatter) for Perl?
-Perltidy is a Perl script which indents and reformats Perl scripts
+C<Perltidy> is a Perl script which indents and reformats Perl scripts
to make them easier to read by trying to follow the rules of the
L<perlstyle>. If you write Perl scripts, or spend much time reading
them, you will probably find it useful. It is available at
-http://perltidy.sourceforge.net
+http://perltidy.sourceforge.net .
Of course, if you simply follow the guidelines in L<perlstyle>,
you shouldn't need to reformat. The habit of formatting your code
help you with this. The perl-mode or newer cperl-mode for emacs
can provide remarkable amounts of help with most (but not all)
code, and even less programmable editors can provide significant
-assistance. Tom Christiansen and many other VI users swear by
+assistance. Tom Christiansen and many other VI users swear by
the following settings in vi and its clones:
set ai sw=4
popular editors support ctags for several different languages,
including Perl.
-Exuberent ctags supports Perl: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/
+Exuberant ctags supports Perl: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/
You might also try pltags: http://www.mscha.com/pltags.zip
Perl programs are just plain text, so any editor will do.
-If you're on Unix, you already have an IDE--Unix itself. The UNIX
+If you're on Unix, you already have an IDE--Unix itself. The Unix
philosophy is the philosophy of several small tools that each do one
thing and do it well. It's like a carpenter's toolbox.
and Solaris), multi-language IDE has Perl support, including a regular expression
debugger and remote debugging.
+=item Notepad++
+
+http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/
+
=item Open Perl IDE
http://open-perl-ide.sourceforge.net/
http://www.optiperl.com/
OptiPerl is a Windows IDE with simulated CGI environment, including
-debugger and syntax highlighting editor.
+debugger and syntax-highlighting editor.
=item Padre
http://padre.perlide.org/
-Padre is cross-platform IDE for Perl written in Perl using the the wxWidgets
-to provide a native look and feel. It's open source under the Artistic
-License.
+Padre is cross-platform IDE for Perl written in Perl using wxWidgets to provide
+a native look and feel. It's open source under the Artistic License.
=item PerlBuilder
http://www.zeusedit.com/lookmain.html
Zeus for Window is another Win32 multi-language editor/IDE
-that comes with support for Perl:
+that comes with support for Perl.
=back
perhaps the best available Perl editing mode in any editor.
If you are using Windows, you can use any editor that lets you work
-with plain text, such as NotePad or WordPad. Word processors, such as
+with plain text, such as NotePad or WordPad. Word processors, such as
Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, typically do not work since they insert
all sorts of behind-the-scenes information, although some allow you to
save files as "Text Only". You can also download text editors designed
http://www.textpad.com/ ) and UltraEdit ( http://www.ultraedit.com/ ),
among others.
-If you are using MacOS, the same concerns apply. MacPerl (for Classic
+If you are using MacOS, the same concerns apply. MacPerl (for Classic
environments) comes with a simple editor. Popular external editors are
BBEdit ( http://www.bbedit.com/ ) or Alpha (
http://www.his.com/~jguyer/Alpha/Alpha8.html ). MacOS X users can use
nvi ( http://www.bostic.com/vi/ , available from CPAN in src/misc/) is
yet another vi clone, unfortunately not available for Windows, but in
-UNIX platforms you might be interested in trying it out, firstly because
+Unix platforms you might be interested in trying it out, firstly because
strictly speaking it is not a vi clone, it is the real vi, or the new
incarnation of it, and secondly because you can embed Perl inside it
to use Perl as the scripting language. nvi is not alone in this,
There is also a toyedit Text widget based editor written in Perl
that is distributed with the Tk module on CPAN. The ptkdb
-( http://ptkdb.sourceforge.net/ ) is a Perl/tk based debugger that
+( http://ptkdb.sourceforge.net/ ) is a Perl/Tk-based debugger that
acts as a development environment of sorts. Perl Composer
( http://perlcomposer.sourceforge.net/ ) is an IDE for Perl/Tk
GUI creation.
research purposes), Cygwin is covered by the GNU General Public
License (but that shouldn't matter for Perl use). The Cygwin, MKS,
and U/WIN all contain (in addition to the shells) a comprehensive set
-of standard UNIX toolkit utilities.
+of standard Unix toolkit utilities.
If you're transferring text files between Unix and Windows using FTP
be sure to transfer them in ASCII mode so the ends of lines are
=item Alpha
is an editor, written and extensible in Tcl, that nonetheless has
-built in support for several popular markup and programming languages
+built-in support for several popular markup and programming languages,
including Perl and HTML ( http://www.his.com/~jguyer/Alpha/Alpha8.html ).
=item BBEdit and BBEdit Lite
are text editors for Mac OS that have a Perl sensitivity mode
( http://web.barebones.com/ ).
-
=back
=head2 Where can I get Perl macros for vi?
the current version of vi out of Berkeley, which incidentally can be built
with an embedded Perl interpreter--see http://www.cpan.org/src/misc/ .
-=head2 Where can I get perl-mode for emacs?
+=head2 Where can I get perl-mode or cperl-mode for emacs?
+X<emacs>
Since Emacs version 19 patchlevel 22 or so, there have been both a
perl-mode.el and support for the Perl debugger built in. These should
come with the standard Emacs 19 distribution.
-In the Perl source directory, you'll find a directory called "emacs",
-which contains a cperl-mode that color-codes keywords, provides
-context-sensitive help, and other nifty things.
-
Note that the perl-mode of emacs will have fits with C<"main'foo">
(single quote), and mess up the indentation and highlighting. You
are probably using C<"main::foo"> in new Perl code anyway, so this
shouldn't be an issue.
+For CPerlMode, see http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/CPerlMode
+
=head2 How can I use curses with Perl?
The Curses module from CPAN provides a dynamically loadable object
interface changed significantly between versions 1 and 2 so they have
separate Perl modules. It runs under Unix, Win32 and Mac OS X (currently
it requires an X server on Mac OS, but a 'native' port is underway), and
-the widgets look the same on every plaform: i.e., they don't match the
+the widgets look the same on every platform: i.e., they don't match the
native widgets. As with Wx, the Perl bindings follow the C API closely,
and the documentation requires you to read the C documentation to
understand it.
Ditto for stringifying large arrays:
- {
- local $, = "\n";
- print @big_array;
- }
+ {
+ local $, = "\n";
+ print @big_array;
+ }
is much more memory-efficient than either
- print join "\n", @big_array;
+ print join "\n", @big_array;
or
- {
- local $" = "\n";
- print "@big_array";
- }
+ {
+ local $" = "\n";
+ print "@big_array";
+ }
=item * Pass by reference
back to the original data. If you really want to mangle (er, modify) a
copy, you'll have to sacrifice the memory needed to make one.
-=item * Tie large variables to disk.
+=item * Tie large variables to disk
For "big" data stores (i.e. ones that exceed available memory) consider
using one of the DB modules to store it on disk instead of in RAM. This
and on the way you write your CGI programs, so investigate them with
care.
-See http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-category/15_World_Wide_Web_HTML_HTTP_CGI/ .
+See also
+http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-category/15_World_Wide_Web_HTML_HTTP_CGI/ .
=head2 How can I hide the source for my Perl program?
Perl2Exe ( http://www.indigostar.com/perl2exe.htm ) is a command line
program for converting perl scripts to executable files. It targets both
-Windows and unix platforms.
+Windows and Unix platforms.
=head2 How can I get C<#!perl> to work on [MS-DOS,NT,...]?
The C<ExtUtils::MakeMaker> module, better known simply as "MakeMaker",
turns a Perl script, typically called C<Makefile.PL>, into a Makefile.
-The unix tool C<make> uses this file to manage dependencies and actions
+The Unix tool C<make> uses this file to manage dependencies and actions
to process and install a Perl distribution.
-=head1 REVISION
-
-Revision: $Revision$
-
-Date: $Date$
-
-See L<perlfaq> for source control details and availability.
-
=head1 AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT
-Copyright (c) 1997-2009 Tom Christiansen, Nathan Torkington, and
+Copyright (c) 1997-2010 Tom Christiansen, Nathan Torkington, and
other authors as noted. All rights reserved.
This documentation is free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blobdiff