=head1 NAME
-perlfaq2 - Obtaining and Learning about Perl ($Revision: 6750 $)
+perlfaq2 - Obtaining and Learning about Perl ($Revision: 10144 $)
=head1 DESCRIPTION
=head2 How can I get a binary version of perl?
+For Windows, ActiveState provides a pre-built Perl for free:
+
+ http://www.activestate.com/
+
+Sunfreeware.com provides binaries for many utilities, including
+Perl, for Solaris on both Intel and SPARC hardware:
+
+ http://www.sunfreeware.com/
+
If you don't have a C compiler because your vendor for whatever
reasons did not include one with your system, the best thing to do is
grab a binary version of gcc from the net and use that to compile perl
Some URLs that might help you are:
- http://www.cpan.org/ports/
- http://www.perl.com/pub/language/info/software.html
+ http://www.cpan.org/ports/
+ http://www.perl.com/pub/language/info/software.html
-Someone looking for a perl for Win16 might look to Laszlo Molnar's djgpp
-port in http://www.cpan.org/ports/#msdos , which comes with clear
-installation instructions. A simple installation guide for MS-DOS using
-Ilya Zakharevich's OS/2 port is available at
-http://www.cs.ruu.nl/%7Epiet/perl5dos.html
-and similarly for Windows 3.1 at http://www.cs.ruu.nl/%7Epiet/perlwin3.html .
+Someone looking for a perl for Win16 might look to Laszlo Molnar's
+djgpp port in http://www.cpan.org/ports/#msdos , which comes with
+clear installation instructions.
=head2 I don't have a C compiler. How can I build my own Perl interpreter?
first. Consult the Usenet FAQs for your operating system for
information on where to get such a binary version.
+You might look around the net for a pre-built binary of Perl (or a
+C compiler!) that meets your needs, though:
+
+For Windows, Vanilla Perl ( http://vanillaperl.com/ ) and Strawberry Perl
+( http://strawberryperl.com/ ) come with a
+bundled C compiler. ActivePerl is a pre-compiled version of Perl
+ready-to-use.
+
+For Sun systems, SunFreeware.com provides binaries of most popular
+applications, including compilers and Perl.
+
=head2 I copied the perl binary from one machine to another, but scripts don't work.
That's probably because you forgot libraries, or library paths differ.
=head2 What modules and extensions are available for Perl? What is CPAN? What does CPAN/src/... mean?
-CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a ~1.2Gb archive
-replicated on nearly 200 machines all over the world. CPAN contains
-source code, non-native ports, documentation, scripts, and many
-third-party modules and extensions, designed for everything from
+CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a multi-gigabyte
+archive replicated on hundreds of machines all over the world. CPAN
+contains source code, non-native ports, documentation, scripts, and
+many third-party modules and extensions, designed for everything from
commercial database interfaces to keyboard/screen control to web
-walking and CGI scripts. The master web site for CPAN is
+walking and CGI scripts. The master web site for CPAN is
http://www.cpan.org/ and there is the CPAN Multiplexer at
-http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html which will choose a mirror near you
-via DNS. See http://www.perl.com/CPAN (without a slash at the
-end) for how this process works. Also, http://mirror.cpan.org/
-has a nice interface to the http://www.cpan.org/MIRRORED.BY
-mirror directory.
+http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html which will choose a mirror near you via
+DNS. See http://www.perl.com/CPAN (without a slash at the end) for
+how this process works. Also, http://mirror.cpan.org/ has a nice
+interface to the http://www.cpan.org/MIRRORED.BY mirror directory.
-See the CPAN FAQ at http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html for
-answers to the most frequently asked questions about CPAN
-including how to become a mirror.
+See the CPAN FAQ at http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html for answers
+to the most frequently asked questions about CPAN including how to
+become a mirror.
CPAN/path/... is a naming convention for files available on CPAN
sites. CPAN indicates the base directory of a CPAN mirror, and the
-rest of the path is the path from that directory to the file. For
+rest of the path is the path from that directory to the file. For
instance, if you're using ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN
as your CPAN site, the file CPAN/misc/japh is downloadable as
ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/misc/japh .
-Considering that there are close to two thousand existing modules in
-the archive, one probably exists to do nearly anything you can think of.
-Current categories under CPAN/modules/by-category/ include Perl core
-modules; development support; operating system interfaces; networking,
-devices, and interprocess communication; data type utilities; database
-interfaces; user interfaces; interfaces to other languages; filenames,
-file systems, and file locking; internationalization and locale; world
-wide web support; server and daemon utilities; archiving and
-compression; image manipulation; mail and news; control flow
-utilities; filehandle and I/O; Microsoft Windows modules; and
-miscellaneous modules.
+Considering that, as of 2006, there are over ten thousand existing
+modules in the archive, one probably exists to do nearly anything you
+can think of. Current categories under CPAN/modules/by-category/
+include Perl core modules; development support; operating system
+interfaces; networking, devices, and interprocess communication; data
+type utilities; database interfaces; user interfaces; interfaces to
+other languages; filenames, file systems, and file locking;
+internationalization and locale; world wide web support; server and
+daemon utilities; archiving and compression; image manipulation; mail
+and news; control flow utilities; filehandle and I/O; Microsoft
+Windows modules; and miscellaneous modules.
See http://www.cpan.org/modules/00modlist.long.html or
-http://search.cpan.org/ for a more complete list of modules by category.
+http://search.cpan.org/ for a more complete list of modules by
+category.
-CPAN is not affiliated with O'Reilly Media.
+CPAN is a free service and is not affiliated with O'Reilly Media.
=head2 Is there an ISO or ANSI certified version of Perl?
Intermediate Perl (the "Alpaca Book")
by Randal L. Schwartz and brian d foy, with Tom Phoenix (foreword by Damian Conway)
ISBN 0-596-10206-2 [1st edition March 2006]
- http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lrnperlorm/
+ http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/intermediateperl/
+
+ Mastering Perl
+ by brian d foy
+ ISBN 0-596-52724-1 [1st edition July 2007]
+ http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596527242/
=item Task-Oriented
ISBN 0-596-00503-2 [1st edition January 2004]
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perldebugpr/
+ Pro Perl Debugging
+ by Richard Foley with Andy Lester
+ ISBN 1-59059-454-1 [1st edition July 2005]
+ http://www.apress.com/book/view/1590594541
+
=back
=head2 Which magazines have Perl content?
I<The Perl Review> ( http://www.theperlreview.com ) focuses on Perl
almost completely (although it sometimes sneaks in an article about
-another language).
+another language). There's also I<$foo Magazin>, a german magazine
+dedicated to Perl, at ( http://www.foo-magazin.de ).
Magazines that frequently carry quality articles on Perl include I<The
Perl Review> ( http://www.theperlreview.com ), I<Unix Review> (
which maintains the web site http://www.perl.org/ as a general
advocacy site for the Perl language. It uses the domain to provide
general support services to the Perl community, including the hosting
-of mailing lists, web sites, and other services. The web site
-http://www.perl.org/ is a general advocacy site for the Perl language,
-and there are many other sub-domains for special topics, such as
+of mailing lists, web sites, and other services. There are also many
+other sub-domains for special topics like learning Perl, Perl news, jobs
+in Perl, such as:
http://learn.perl.org/
http://use.perl.org/
=head1 REVISION
-Revision: $Revision: 6750 $
+Revision: $Revision: 10144 $
-Date: $Date: 2006-08-06 02:30:54 +0200 (dim, 06 aoĆ» 2006) $
+Date: $Date: 2007-10-31 13:50:01 +0100 (Wed, 31 Oct 2007) $
See L<perlfaq> for source control details and availability.
=head1 AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT
-Copyright (c) 1997-2006 Tom Christiansen, Nathan Torkington, and
+Copyright (c) 1997-2007 Tom Christiansen, Nathan Torkington, and
other authors as noted. All rights reserved.
This documentation is free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it