=head1 NAME
-perl - Practical Extraction and Report Language
+perl - The Perl language interpreter
=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> ]...>
+B<perl> S<[ B<-sTtuUWX> ]>
+ S<[ B<-hv> ] [ B<-V>[:I<configvar>] ]>
+ S<[ B<-cw> ] [ B<-d>[B<t>][:I<debugger>] ] [ B<-D>[I<number/list>] ]>
+ S<[ B<-pna> ] [ B<-F>I<pattern> ] [ B<-l>[I<octal>] ] [ B<-0>[I<octal/hexadecimal>] ]>
+ S<[ B<-I>I<dir> ] [ B<-m>[B<->]I<module> ] [ B<-M>[B<->]I<'module...'> ] [ B<-f> ]>
+ S<[ B<-C [I<number/list>] >]>
+ S<[ B<-S> ]>
+ S<[ B<-x>[I<dir>] ]>
+ S<[ B<-i>[I<extension>] ]>
+ S<[ [B<-e>|B<-E>] I<'command'> ] [ B<--> ] [ I<programfile> ] [ I<argument> ]...>
-For ease of access, the Perl manual has been split up into several sections:
+=head1 GETTING HELP
+
+The F<perldoc> program gives you access to all the documentation that comes
+with Perl. You can get more documentation, tutorials and community support
+online at L<http://www.perl.org/>.
+
+If you're new to Perl, you should start by running C<perldoc perlintro>,
+which is a general intro for beginners and provides some background to help
+you navigate the rest of Perl's extensive documentation. Run C<perldoc
+perldoc> to learn more things you can do with F<perldoc>.
+
+For ease of access, the Perl manual has been split up into several sections.
+
+=head2 Overview
perl Perl overview (this section)
- perlfaq Perl frequently asked questions
+ perlintro Perl introduction for beginners
perltoc Perl documentation table of contents
- perlbook Perl book information
- perlsyn Perl syntax
- perldata Perl data structures
- perlop Perl operators and precedence
- perlsub Perl subroutines
- perlfunc Perl builtin functions
+=head2 Tutorials
+
perlreftut Perl references short introduction
perldsc Perl data structures intro
- perlrequick Perl regular expressions quick start
- perlpod Perl plain old documentation
+ 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
+
+=head2 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
+ perlpodstyle Perl POD style guide
perlrun Perl execution and options
perldiag Perl diagnostic messages
- perllexwarn Perl warnings and their control
- perldebtut Perl debugging tutorial
+ perllexwarn Perl warnings and their control
perldebug Perl debugging
-
perlvar Perl predefined variables
- perllol Perl data structures: arrays of arrays
- perlopentut Perl open() tutorial
- perlretut Perl regular expressions tutorial
-
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
-
- perlboot Perl OO tutorial for beginners
- perltoot Perl OO tutorial, part 1
- perltootc Perl OO tutorial, part 2
perlobj Perl objects
- perlbot Perl OO tricks and examples
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
perlport Perl portability guide
perllocale Perl locale support
- perlunicode Perl unicode support
+ perluniintro Perl Unicode introduction
+ perlunicode Perl Unicode support
+ perlunifaq Perl Unicode FAQ
+ perluniprops Index of Unicode Version 5.2.0 properties in Perl
+ 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
- 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
+ perlfilter Perl source filters
+
+ perlglossary Perl Glossary
- perlcompile Perl compiler suite intro
+=head2 Internals and C Language Interface
perlembed Perl ways to embed perl in your C or C++ application
- perldebguts Perl debugging guts and tips
+ 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
- perlutil utilities packaged with the Perl distribution
- perlfilter Perl source filters
- perldbmfilter Perl DBM filters
+ 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
- perltodo Perl things to do
+
perlhack Perl hackers guide
+ perlpolicy Perl development policies
+ perlrepository Perl source repository
+
+=head2 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
+ perl5136delta Perl changes in version 5.13.6
+ perl5135delta Perl changes in version 5.13.5
+ perl5134delta Perl changes in version 5.13.4
+ perl5133delta Perl changes in version 5.13.3
+ perl5132delta Perl changes in version 5.13.2
+ perl5131delta Perl changes in version 5.13.1
+ perl5130delta Perl changes in version 5.13.0
+ perl5122delta Perl changes in version 5.12.2
+ perl5121delta Perl changes in version 5.12.1
+ perl5120delta Perl changes in version 5.12.0
+ perl5115delta Perl changes in version 5.11.5
+ perl5114delta Perl changes in version 5.11.4
+ perl5113delta Perl changes in version 5.11.3
+ perl5112delta Perl changes in version 5.11.2
+ perl5111delta Perl changes in version 5.11.1
+ perl5110delta Perl changes in version 5.11.0
+ perl5101delta Perl changes in version 5.10.1
+ 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
+ perl589delta Perl changes in version 5.8.9
+ perl588delta Perl changes in version 5.8.8
+ 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
perl570delta Perl changes in version 5.7.0
- perl56delta Perl changes in version 5.6
+ 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
+
+=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
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
- perlmachten Perl notes for Power MachTen
+ perlirix Perl notes for Irix
+ perllinux Perl notes for Linux
perlmacos Perl notes for Mac OS (Classic)
- perlmint Perl notes for MiNT
+ perlmacosx Perl notes for Mac OS X
perlmpeix Perl notes for MPE/iX
- perlnetware Perl notes for NetWare
+ 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
+ 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
-(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.)
-
-By default, the manpages listed above are installed in the
-F</usr/local/man/> directory.
-
-Extensive additional documentation for Perl modules is available. The
-default configuration for perl will place this additional documentation
-in the F</usr/local/lib/perl5/man> directory (or else in the F<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:
+On a Unix-like system, these documentation files will usually also be
+available as manpages for use with the F<man> program.
- perl -V:man.dir
-
-If the directories have a common stem, such as F</usr/local/man/man1>
-and F</usr/local/man/man3>, you need only to add that stem
-(F</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 F<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 B<-w> switch first. It
-will often point out exactly where the trouble is.
+In general, if something strange has gone wrong with your program and you're
+not sure where you should look for help, try the B<-w> switch first. It will
+often point out exactly where the trouble is.
=head1 DESCRIPTION
+Perl officially stands for Practical Extraction and Report Language,
+except when it doesn't.
+
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
=item *
-roll-your-own magic variables (including multiple simultaneous DBM implementations)
+roll-your-own magic variables (including multiple simultaneous DBM
+implementations)
Described in L<perltie> and L<AnyDBM_File>.
object-oriented programming
-Described in L<perlobj>, L<perltoot>, and L<perlbot>.
-
-=item *
-
-compilability into C code or Perl bytecode
-
-Described in L<B> and L<B::Bytecode>.
+Described in L<perlobj>, L<perlboot>, L<perltoot>, L<perltooc>,
+and L<perlbot>.
=item *
support for light-weight processes (threads)
-Described in L<perlthrtut> and L<Thread>.
+Described in L<perlthrtut> and L<threads>.
=item *
-support for internationalization, localization, and Unicode
+support for Unicode, internationalization, and localization
-Described in L<perllocale> and L<utf8>.
+Described in L<perluniintro>, L<perllocale> and L<Locale::Maketext>.
=item *
enhanced debugger and interactive Perl environment,
with integrated editor support
-Described in L<perldebug>.
+Described in L<perldebtut>, L<perldebug> and L<perldebguts>.
=item *
a2p awk to perl translator
s2p sed to perl translator
- http://www.perl.com/ the Perl Home Page
- http://www.perl.com/CPAN the Comprehensive Perl Archive
+ 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
=head1 DIAGNOSTICS
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 perlbug@perl.org . If you've succeeded
-in compiling perl, the
B<perlbug> script in the F<utils/> subdirectory
+in compiling perl, the
L<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
https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blobdiff