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  13 <big><strong><span class="block">&nbsp;perlfaq2 - Obtaining and Learning about Perl</span></strong></big>
  14 </td></tr>
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  16
  17 <p><a name="__index__"></a></p>
  18 <!-- INDEX BEGIN -->
  19
  20 <ul>
  21
  22         <li><a href="#name">NAME</a></li>
  23         <li><a href="#description">DESCRIPTION</a></li>
  24         <ul>
  25
  26                 <li><a href="#what_machines_support_perl_where_do_i_get_it">What machines support perl?  Where do I get it?</a></li>
  27                 <li><a href="#how_can_i_get_a_binary_version_of_perl">How can I get a binary version of perl?</a></li>
  28                 <li><a href="#i_don_t_have_a_c_compiler__how_can_i_build_my_own_perl_interpreter">I don't have a C compiler. How can I build my own Perl interpreter?</a></li>
  29                 <li><a href="#i_copied_the_perl_binary_from_one_machine_to_another__but_scripts_don_t_work_">I copied the perl binary from one machine to another, but scripts don't work.</a></li>
  30                 <li><a href="#i_grabbed_the_sources_and_tried_to_compile_but_gdbm_dynamic_loading_malloc_linking_____failed__how_do_i_make_it_work">I grabbed the sources and tried to compile but gdbm/dynamic loading/malloc/linking/... failed.  How do I make it work?</a></li>
  31                 <li><a href="#what_modules_and_extensions_are_available_for_perl_what_is_cpan_what_does_cpan_src_____mean">What modules and extensions are available for Perl?  What is CPAN?  What does CPAN/src/... mean?</a></li>
  32                 <li><a href="#is_there_an_iso_or_ansi_certified_version_of_perl">Is there an ISO or ANSI certified version of Perl?</a></li>
  33                 <li><a href="#where_can_i_get_information_on_perl">Where can I get information on Perl?</a></li>
  34                 <li><a href="#what_are_the_perl_newsgroups_on_usenet_where_do_i_post_questions">What are the Perl newsgroups on Usenet?  Where do I post questions?</a></li>
  35                 <li><a href="#where_should_i_post_source_code">Where should I post source code?</a></li>
  36                 <li><a href="#perl_books">Perl Books</a></li>
  37                 <li><a href="#which_magazines_have_perl_content">Which magazines have Perl content?</a></li>
  38                 <li><a href="#what_mailing_lists_are_there_for_perl">What mailing lists are there for Perl?</a></li>
  39                 <li><a href="#where_are_the_archives_for_comp_lang_perl_misc">Where are the archives for comp.lang.perl.misc?</a></li>
  40                 <li><a href="#where_can_i_buy_a_commercial_version_of_perl">Where can I buy a commercial version of perl?</a></li>
  41                 <li><a href="#where_do_i_send_bug_reports">Where do I send bug reports?</a></li>
  42                 <li><a href="#what_is_perl_com_perl_mongers_pm_org_perl_org_cpan_org">What is perl.com? Perl Mongers? pm.org? perl.org? cpan.org?</a></li>
  43         </ul>
  44
  45         <li><a href="#author_and_copyright">AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT</a></li>
  46 </ul>
  47 <!-- INDEX END -->
  48
  49 <hr />
  50 <p>
  51 </p>
  52 <h1><a name="name">NAME</a></h1>
  53 <p>perlfaq2 - Obtaining and Learning about Perl ($Revision: 1.39 $, $Date: 2006/01/08 14:27:07 $)</p>
  54 <p>
  55 </p>
  56 <hr />
  57 <h1><a name="description">DESCRIPTION</a></h1>
  58 <p>This section of the FAQ answers questions about where to find
  59 source and documentation for Perl, support, and
  60 related matters.</p>
  61 <p>
  62 </p>
  63 <h2><a name="what_machines_support_perl_where_do_i_get_it">What machines support perl?  Where do I get it?</a></h2>
  64 <p>The standard release of perl (the one maintained by the perl
  65 development team) is distributed only in source code form.  You
  66 can find this at <a href="http://www.cpan.org/src/latest.tar.gz">http://www.cpan.org/src/latest.tar.gz</a> , which
  67 is in a standard Internet format (a gzipped archive in POSIX tar format).</p>
  68 <p>Perl builds and runs on a bewildering number of platforms.  Virtually
  69 all known and current Unix derivatives are supported (perl's native
  70 platform), as are other systems like VMS, DOS, OS/2, Windows,
  71 QNX, BeOS, OS X, MPE/iX and the Amiga.</p>
  72 <p>Binary distributions for some proprietary platforms, including
  73 Apple systems, can be found <a href="http://www.cpan.org/ports/">http://www.cpan.org/ports/</a> directory.
  74 Because these are not part of the standard distribution, they may
  75 and in fact do differ from the base perl port in a variety of ways.
  76 You'll have to check their respective release notes to see just
  77 what the differences are.  These differences can be either positive
  78 (e.g. extensions for the features of the particular platform that
  79 are not supported in the source release of perl) or negative (e.g.
  80 might be based upon a less current source release of perl).</p>
  81 <p>
  82 </p>
  83 <h2><a name="how_can_i_get_a_binary_version_of_perl">How can I get a binary version of perl?</a></h2>
  84 <p>If you don't have a C compiler because your vendor for whatever
  85 reasons did not include one with your system, the best thing to do is
  86 grab a binary version of gcc from the net and use that to compile perl
  87 with.  CPAN only has binaries for systems that are terribly hard to
  88 get free compilers for, not for Unix systems.</p>
  89 <p>Some URLs that might help you are:</p>
  90 <pre>
  91     <a href="http://www.cpan.org/ports/">http://www.cpan.org/ports/</a>
  92     <a href="http://www.perl.com/pub/language/info/software.html">http://www.perl.com/pub/language/info/software.html</a></pre>
  93 <p>Someone looking for a perl for Win16 might look to Laszlo Molnar's djgpp
  94 port in <a href="http://www.cpan.org/ports/#msdos">http://www.cpan.org/ports/#msdos</a> , which comes with clear
  95 installation instructions.  A simple installation guide for MS-DOS using
  96 Ilya Zakharevich's OS/2 port is available at
  97 <a href="http://www.cs.ruu.nl/%7Epiet/perl5dos.html">http://www.cs.ruu.nl/%7Epiet/perl5dos.html</a>
  98 and similarly for Windows 3.1 at <a href="http://www.cs.ruu.nl/%7Epiet/perlwin3.html">http://www.cs.ruu.nl/%7Epiet/perlwin3.html</a> .</p>
  99 <p>
 100 </p>
 101 <h2><a name="i_don_t_have_a_c_compiler__how_can_i_build_my_own_perl_interpreter">I don't have a C compiler. How can I build my own Perl interpreter?</a></h2>
 102 <p>Since you don't have a C compiler, you're doomed and your vendor
 103 should be sacrificed to the Sun gods.  But that doesn't help you.</p>
 104 <p>What you need to do is get a binary version of gcc for your system
 105 first.  Consult the Usenet FAQs for your operating system for
 106 information on where to get such a binary version.</p>
 107 <p>
 108 </p>
 109 <h2><a name="i_copied_the_perl_binary_from_one_machine_to_another__but_scripts_don_t_work_">I copied the perl binary from one machine to another, but scripts don't work.</a></h2>
 110 <p>That's probably because you forgot libraries, or library paths differ.
 111 You really should build the whole distribution on the machine it will
 112 eventually live on, and then type <code>make install</code>.  Most other
 113 approaches are doomed to failure.</p>
 114 <p>One simple way to check that things are in the right place is to print out
 115 the hard-coded @INC that perl looks through for libraries:</p>
 116 <pre>
 117     % perl -le 'print for @INC'</pre>
 118 <p>If this command lists any paths that don't exist on your system, then you
 119 may need to move the appropriate libraries to these locations, or create
 120 symbolic links, aliases, or shortcuts appropriately.  @INC is also printed as
 121 part of the output of</p>
 122 <pre>
 123     % perl -V</pre>
 124 <p>You might also want to check out
 125 <a href="file://C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perlfaq8.html#how_do_i_keep_my_own_module_library_directory">How do I keep my own module/library directory? in the perlfaq8 manpage</a>.</p>
 126 <p>
 127 </p>
 128 <h2><a name="i_grabbed_the_sources_and_tried_to_compile_but_gdbm_dynamic_loading_malloc_linking_____failed__how_do_i_make_it_work">I grabbed the sources and tried to compile but gdbm/dynamic loading/malloc/linking/... failed.  How do I make it work?</a></h2>
 129 <p>Read the <em>INSTALL</em> file, which is part of the source distribution.
 130 It describes in detail how to cope with most idiosyncrasies that the
 131 Configure script can't work around for any given system or
 132 architecture.</p>
 133 <p>
 134 </p>
 135 <h2><a name="what_modules_and_extensions_are_available_for_perl_what_is_cpan_what_does_cpan_src_____mean">What modules and extensions are available for Perl?  What is CPAN?  What does CPAN/src/... mean?</a></h2>
 136 <p>CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a ~1.2Gb archive
 137 replicated on nearly 200 machines all over the world.  CPAN contains
 138 source code, non-native ports, documentation, scripts, and many
 139 third-party modules and extensions, designed for everything from
 140 commercial database interfaces to keyboard/screen control to web
 141 walking and CGI scripts.  The master web site for CPAN is
 142 <a href="http://www.cpan.org/">http://www.cpan.org/</a> and there is the CPAN Multiplexer at
 143 <a href="http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html">http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html</a> which will choose a mirror near you
 144 via DNS.  See <a href="http://www.perl.com/CPAN">http://www.perl.com/CPAN</a> (without a slash at the
 145 end) for how this process works. Also, <a href="http://mirror.cpan.org/">http://mirror.cpan.org/</a>
 146 has a nice interface to the <a href="http://www.cpan.org/MIRRORED.BY">http://www.cpan.org/MIRRORED.BY</a>
 147 mirror directory.</p>
 148 <p>See the CPAN FAQ at <a href="http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html">http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html</a> for
 149 answers to the most frequently asked questions about CPAN
 150 including how to become a mirror.</p>
 151 <p>CPAN/path/... is a naming convention for files available on CPAN
 152 sites.  CPAN indicates the base directory of a CPAN mirror, and the
 153 rest of the path is the path from that directory to the file.  For
 154 instance, if you're using <a href="ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN">ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN</a>
 155 as your CPAN site, the file CPAN/misc/japh is downloadable as
 156 <a href="ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/misc/japh">ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/misc/japh</a> .</p>
 157 <p>Considering that there are close to two thousand existing modules in
 158 the archive, one probably exists to do nearly anything you can think of.
 159 Current categories under CPAN/modules/by-category/ include Perl core
 160 modules; development support; operating system interfaces; networking,
 161 devices, and interprocess communication; data type utilities; database
 162 interfaces; user interfaces; interfaces to other languages; filenames,
 163 file systems, and file locking; internationalization and locale; world
 164 wide web support; server and daemon utilities; archiving and
 165 compression; image manipulation; mail and news; control flow
 166 utilities; filehandle and I/O; Microsoft Windows modules; and
 167 miscellaneous modules.</p>
 168 <p>See <a href="http://www.cpan.org/modules/00modlist.long.html">http://www.cpan.org/modules/00modlist.long.html</a> or
 169 <a href="http://search.cpan.org/">http://search.cpan.org/</a> for a more complete list of modules by category.</p>
 170 <p>CPAN is not affiliated with O'Reilly Media.</p>
 171 <p>
 172 </p>
 173 <h2><a name="is_there_an_iso_or_ansi_certified_version_of_perl">Is there an ISO or ANSI certified version of Perl?</a></h2>
 174 <p>Certainly not.  Larry expects that he'll be certified before Perl is.</p>
 175 <p>
 176 </p>
 177 <h2><a name="where_can_i_get_information_on_perl">Where can I get information on Perl?</a></h2>
 178 <p>The complete Perl documentation is available with the Perl distribution.
 179 If you have Perl installed locally, you probably have the documentation
 180 installed as well: type <code>man perl</code> if you're on a system resembling Unix.
 181 This will lead you to other important man pages, including how to set your
 182 $MANPATH.  If you're not on a Unix system, access to the documentation
 183 will be different; for example, documentation might only be in HTML format.  All
 184 proper perl installations have fully-accessible documentation.</p>
 185 <p>You might also try <code>perldoc perl</code> in case your system doesn't
 186 have a proper man command, or it's been misinstalled.  If that doesn't
 187 work, try looking in /usr/local/lib/perl5/pod for documentation.</p>
 188 <p>If all else fails, consult <a href="http://perldoc.perl.org/">http://perldoc.perl.org/</a> which has the
 189 complete documentation in HTML and PDF format.</p>
 190 <p>Many good books have been written about Perl--see the section below
 191 for more details.</p>
 192 <p>Tutorial documents are included in current or upcoming Perl releases
 193 include <a href="file://C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perltoot.html">the perltoot manpage</a> for objects or <a href="file://C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perlboot.html">the perlboot manpage</a> for a beginner's
 194 approach to objects, <a href="file://C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perlopentut.html">the perlopentut manpage</a> for file opening semantics,
 195 <a href="file://C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perlreftut.html">the perlreftut manpage</a> for managing references, <a href="file://C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perlretut.html">the perlretut manpage</a> for regular
 196 expressions, <a href="file://C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perlthrtut.html">the perlthrtut manpage</a> for threads, <a href="file://C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perldebtut.html">the perldebtut manpage</a> for debugging,
 197 and <a href="file://C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perlxstut.html">the perlxstut manpage</a> for linking C and Perl together.  There may be more
 198 by the time you read this.  These URLs might also be useful:</p>
 199 <pre>
 200     <a href="http://">http://</a><a href="//C|\msysgit\mingw\html/pod/perldoc.html">perldoc</a>.perl.org/
 201     <a href="http://bookmarks.cpan.org/search.cgi?cat=Training%2FTutorials">http://bookmarks.cpan.org/search.cgi?cat=Training%2FTutorials</a></pre>
 202 <p>
 203 </p>
 204 <h2><a name="what_are_the_perl_newsgroups_on_usenet_where_do_i_post_questions">What are the Perl newsgroups on Usenet?  Where do I post questions?</a></h2>
 205 <p>Several groups devoted to the Perl language are on Usenet:</p>
 206 <pre>
 207     comp.lang.perl.announce             Moderated announcement group
 208     comp.lang.perl.misc                 High traffic general Perl discussion
 209     comp.lang.perl.moderated        Moderated discussion group
 210     comp.lang.perl.modules              Use and development of Perl modules
 211     comp.lang.perl.tk                   Using Tk (and X) from Perl</pre>
 212 <pre>
 213     comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi  Writing CGI scripts for the Web.</pre>
 214 <p>Some years ago, comp.lang.perl was divided into those groups, and
 215 comp.lang.perl itself officially removed.  While that group may still
 216 be found on some news servers, it is unwise to use it, because
 217 postings there will not appear on news servers which honour the
 218 official list of group names.  Use comp.lang.perl.misc for topics
 219 which do not have a more-appropriate specific group.</p>
 220 <p>There is also a Usenet gateway to Perl mailing lists sponsored by
 221 perl.org at <a href="nntp://nntp.perl.org">nntp://nntp.perl.org</a> , a web interface to the same lists
 222 at <a href="http://nntp.perl.org/group/">http://nntp.perl.org/group/</a> and these lists are also available
 223 under the <code>perl.*</code> hierarchy at <a href="http://groups.google.com">http://groups.google.com</a> . Other
 224 groups are listed at <a href="http://lists.perl.org/">http://lists.perl.org/</a> ( also known as
 225 <a href="http://lists.cpan.org/">http://lists.cpan.org/</a> ).</p>
 226 <p>A nice place to ask questions is the PerlMonks site,
 227 <a href="http://www.perlmonks.org/">http://www.perlmonks.org/</a> , or the Perl Beginners mailing list
 228 <a href="http://lists.perl.org/showlist.cgi?name=beginners">http://lists.perl.org/showlist.cgi?name=beginners</a> .</p>
 229 <p>Note that none of the above are supposed to write your code for you:
 230 asking questions about particular problems or general advice is fine,
 231 but asking someone to write your code for free is not very cool.</p>
 232 <p>
 233 </p>
 234 <h2><a name="where_should_i_post_source_code">Where should I post source code?</a></h2>
 235 <p>You should post source code to whichever group is most appropriate, but
 236 feel free to cross-post to comp.lang.perl.misc.  If you want to cross-post
 237 to alt.sources, please make sure it follows their posting standards,
 238 including setting the Followup-To header line to NOT include alt.sources;
 239 see their FAQ ( <a href="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/alt-sources-intro/">http://www.faqs.org/faqs/alt-sources-intro/</a> ) for details.</p>
 240 <p>If you're just looking for software, first use Google
 241 ( <a href="http://www.google.com">http://www.google.com</a> ), Google's usenet search interface
 242 ( <a href="http://groups.google.com">http://groups.google.com</a> ),  and CPAN Search ( <a href="http://search.cpan.org">http://search.cpan.org</a> ).
 243 This is faster and more productive than just posting a request.</p>
 244 <p>
 245 </p>
 246 <h2><a name="perl_books">Perl Books</a></h2>
 247 <p>A number of books on Perl and/or CGI programming are available.  A few
 248 of these are good, some are OK, but many aren't worth your money.
 249 There is a list of these books, some with extensive reviews, at
 250 <a href="http://books.perl.org/">http://books.perl.org/</a> . If you don't see your book listed here, you
 251 can write to <a href="mailto:perlfaq-workers@perl.org">perlfaq-workers@perl.org</a> .</p>
 252 <p>The incontestably definitive reference book on Perl, written by
 253 the creator of Perl, is Programming Perl:</p>
 254 <pre>
 255         Programming Perl (the &quot;Camel Book&quot;):
 256         by Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Jon Orwant
 257         ISBN 0-596-00027-8  [3rd edition July 2000]
 258         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pperl3/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pperl3/</a>
 259         (English, translations to several languages are also available)</pre>
 260 <p>The companion volume to the Camel containing thousands
 261 of real-world examples, mini-tutorials, and complete programs is:</p>
 262 <pre>
 263         The Perl Cookbook (the &quot;Ram Book&quot;):
 264         by Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington,
 265             with Foreword by Larry Wall
 266         ISBN 0-596-00313-7 [2nd Edition August 2003]
 267         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlckbk2/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlckbk2/</a></pre>
 268 <p>If you're already a seasoned programmer, then the Camel Book might
 269 suffice for you to learn Perl.  If you're not, check out the
 270 Llama book:</p>
 271 <pre>
 272         Learning Perl
 273         by Randal L. Schwartz, Tom Phoenix, and brian d foy
 274         ISBN 0-596-10105-8 [4th edition July 2005]
 275         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/learnperl4/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/learnperl4/</a></pre>
 276 <p>And for more advanced information on writing larger programs,
 277 presented in the same style as the Llama book, continue your education
 278 with the Alpaca book:</p>
 279 <pre>
 280         Learning Perl Objects, References, and Modules (the &quot;Alpaca Book&quot;)
 281         by Randal L. Schwartz, with Tom Phoenix (foreword by Damian Conway)
 282         ISBN 0-596-00478-8 [1st edition June 2003]
 283         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lrnperlorm/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lrnperlorm/</a></pre>
 284 <p>If you're not an accidental programmer, but a more serious and
 285 possibly even degreed computer scientist who doesn't need as much
 286 hand-holding as we try to provide in the Llama, please check out the
 287 delightful book</p>
 288 <pre>
 289         Perl: The Programmer's Companion
 290         by Nigel Chapman
 291         ISBN 0-471-97563-X [1997, 3rd printing Spring 1998]
 292         <a href="http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/catalog/97563-X.htm">http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/catalog/97563-X.htm</a>
 293         <a href="http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/chapman/perl/perltpc.html">http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/chapman/perl/perltpc.html</a> (errata etc)</pre>
 294 <p>If you are more at home in Windows the following is available
 295 (though unfortunately rather dated).</p>
 296 <pre>
 297         Learning Perl on Win32 Systems (the &quot;Gecko Book&quot;)
 298         by Randal L. Schwartz, Erik Olson, and Tom Christiansen,
 299             with foreword by Larry Wall
 300         ISBN 1-56592-324-3 [1st edition August 1997]
 301         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lperlwin/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lperlwin/</a></pre>
 302 <p>Addison-Wesley ( <a href="http://www.awlonline.com/">http://www.awlonline.com/</a> ) and Manning
 303 ( <a href="http://www.manning.com/">http://www.manning.com/</a> ) are also publishers of some fine Perl books
 304 such as <em>Object Oriented Programming with Perl</em> by Damian Conway and
 305 <em>Network Programming with Perl</em> by Lincoln Stein.</p>
 306 <p>An excellent technical book discounter is Bookpool at
 307 <a href="http://www.bookpool.com/">http://www.bookpool.com/</a> where a 30% discount or more is not unusual.</p>
 308 <p>What follows is a list of the books that the FAQ authors found personally
 309 useful.  Your mileage may (but, we hope, probably won't) vary.</p>
 310 <p>Recommended books on (or mostly on) Perl follow.</p>
 311 <dl>
 312 <dt><strong><a name="item_references">References</a></strong>
 313
 314 <dd>
 315 <pre>
 316         Programming Perl
 317         by Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Jon Orwant
 318         ISBN 0-596-00027-8 [3rd edition July 2000]
 319         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pperl3/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pperl3/</a></pre>
 320 </dd>
 321 <dd>
 322 <pre>
 323         Perl 5 Pocket Reference
 324         by Johan Vromans
 325         ISBN 0-596-00032-4 [3rd edition May 2000]
 326         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlpr3/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlpr3/</a></pre>
 327 </dd>
 328 <dt><strong><a name="item_tutorials">Tutorials</a></strong>
 329
 330 <dd>
 331 <pre>
 332         Beginning Perl
 333         by James Lee
 334         ISBN 1-59059-391-X [2nd edition August 2004]
 335         <a href="http://apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=344">http://apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=344</a></pre>
 336 </dd>
 337 <dd>
 338 <pre>
 339         Elements of Programming with Perl
 340         by Andrew L. Johnson
 341         ISBN 1-884777-80-5 [1st edition October 1999]
 342         <a href="http://www.manning.com/Johnson/">http://www.manning.com/Johnson/</a></pre>
 343 </dd>
 344 <dd>
 345 <pre>
 346         Learning Perl
 347         by Randal L. Schwartz, Tom Phoenix, and brian d foy
 348         ISBN 0-596-10105-8 [4th edition July 2005]
 349         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/learnperl4/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/learnperl4/</a></pre>
 350 </dd>
 351 <dd>
 352 <pre>
 353         Learning Perl Objects, References, and Modules
 354         by Randal L. Schwartz, with Tom Phoenix (foreword by Damian Conway)
 355         ISBN 0-596-00478-8 [1st edition June 2003]
 356         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lrnperlorm/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lrnperlorm/</a></pre>
 357 </dd>
 358 <dt><strong><a name="item_task_2doriented">Task-Oriented</a></strong>
 359
 360 <dd>
 361 <pre>
 362         Writing Perl Modules for CPAN
 363         by Sam Tregar
 364         ISBN 1-59059-018-X [1st edition Aug 2002]
 365         <a href="http://apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=14">http://apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=14</a></pre>
 366 </dd>
 367 <dd>
 368 <pre>
 369         The Perl Cookbook
 370         by Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington
 371             with foreword by Larry Wall
 372         ISBN 1-56592-243-3 [1st edition August 1998]
 373         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/cookbook/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/cookbook/</a></pre>
 374 </dd>
 375 <dd>
 376 <pre>
 377         Effective Perl Programming
 378         by Joseph Hall
 379         ISBN 0-201-41975-0 [1st edition 1998]
 380         <a href="http://www.awl.com/">http://www.awl.com/</a></pre>
 381 </dd>
 382 <dd>
 383 <pre>
 384         Real World SQL Server Administration with Perl
 385         by Linchi Shea
 386         ISBN 1-59059-097-X [1st edition July 2003]
 387         <a href="http://apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=171">http://apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=171</a></pre>
 388 </dd>
 389 <dt><strong><a name="item_special_topics">Special Topics</a></strong>
 390
 391 <dd>
 392 <pre>
 393         Perl Best Practices
 394         by Damian Conway
 395         ISBN: 0-596-00173-8 [1st edition July 2005]
 396         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlbp/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlbp/</a></pre>
 397 </dd>
 398 <dd>
 399 <pre>
 400         Higher Order Perl
 401         by Mark-Jason Dominus
 402         ISBN: 1558607013 [1st edition March 2005]
 403         <a href="http://hop.perl.plover.com/">http://hop.perl.plover.com/</a></pre>
 404 </dd>
 405 <dd>
 406 <pre>
 407         Perl 6 Now: The Core Ideas Illustrated with Perl 5
 408         by Scott Walters
 409         ISBN 1-59059-395-2 [1st edition December 2004]
 410         <a href="http://apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=355">http://apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=355</a></pre>
 411 </dd>
 412 <dd>
 413 <pre>
 414         Mastering Regular Expressions
 415         by Jeffrey E. F. Friedl
 416         ISBN 0-596-00289-0 [2nd edition July 2002]
 417         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex2/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex2/</a></pre>
 418 </dd>
 419 <dd>
 420 <pre>
 421         Network Programming with Perl
 422         by Lincoln Stein
 423         ISBN 0-201-61571-1 [1st edition 2001]
 424         <a href="http://www.awlonline.com/">http://www.awlonline.com/</a></pre>
 425 </dd>
 426 <dd>
 427 <pre>
 428         Object Oriented Perl
 429         Damian Conway
 430             with foreword by Randal L. Schwartz
 431         ISBN 1-884777-79-1 [1st edition August 1999]
 432         <a href="http://www.manning.com/Conway/">http://www.manning.com/Conway/</a></pre>
 433 </dd>
 434 <dd>
 435 <pre>
 436         Data Munging with Perl
 437         Dave Cross
 438         ISBN 1-930110-00-6 [1st edition 2001]
 439         <a href="http://www.manning.com/cross">http://www.manning.com/cross</a></pre>
 440 </dd>
 441 <dd>
 442 <pre>
 443         Mastering Perl/Tk
 444         by Steve Lidie and Nancy Walsh
 445         ISBN 1-56592-716-8 [1st edition January 2002]
 446         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mastperltk/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mastperltk/</a></pre>
 447 </dd>
 448 <dd>
 449 <pre>
 450         Extending and Embedding Perl
 451         by Tim Jenness and Simon Cozens
 452         ISBN 1-930110-82-0 [1st edition August 2002]
 453         <a href="http://www.manning.com/jenness">http://www.manning.com/jenness</a></pre>
 454 </dd>
 455 <dd>
 456 <pre>
 457         Perl Debugger Pocket Reference
 458         by Richard Foley
 459         ISBN 0-596-00503-2 [1st edition January 2004]
 460         <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perldebugpr/">http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perldebugpr/</a></pre>
 461 </dd>
 462 </dl>
 463 <p>
 464 </p>
 465 <h2><a name="which_magazines_have_perl_content">Which magazines have Perl content?</a></h2>
 466 <p>The first (and for a long time, only) periodical devoted to All Things Perl,
 467 <em>The Perl Journal</em> contains tutorials, demonstrations, case studies,
 468 announcements, contests, and much more.  <em>TPJ</em> has columns on web
 469 development, databases, Win32 Perl, graphical programming, regular
 470 expressions, and networking, and sponsors the Obfuscated Perl Contest
 471 and the Perl Poetry Contests.  Beginning in November 2002, TPJ moved to a
 472 reader-supported monthly e-zine format in which subscribers can download
 473 issues as PDF documents. For more details on TPJ, see <a href="http://www.tpj.com/">http://www.tpj.com/</a></p>
 474 <p>Beyond this, magazines that frequently carry quality articles on
 475 Perl are <em>The Perl Review</em> ( <a href="http://www.theperlreview.com">http://www.theperlreview.com</a> ),
 476 <em>Unix Review</em> ( <a href="http://www.unixreview.com/">http://www.unixreview.com/</a> ),
 477 <em>Linux Magazine</em> ( <a href="http://www.linuxmagazine.com/">http://www.linuxmagazine.com/</a> ),
 478 and Usenix's newsletter/magazine to its members, <em>login:</em>
 479 ( <a href="http://www.usenix.org/">http://www.usenix.org/</a> )</p>
 480 <p>The Perl columns of Randal L. Schwartz are available on the web at
 481 <a href="http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/WebTechniques/">http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/WebTechniques/</a> ,
 482 <a href="http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/UnixReview/">http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/UnixReview/</a> , and
 483 <a href="http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/LinuxMag/">http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/LinuxMag/</a> .</p>
 484 <p>
 485 </p>
 486 <h2><a name="what_mailing_lists_are_there_for_perl">What mailing lists are there for Perl?</a></h2>
 487 <p>Most of the major modules (Tk, CGI, libwww-perl) have their own
 488 mailing lists.  Consult the documentation that came with the module for
 489 subscription information.</p>
 490 <p>A comprehensive list of Perl related mailing lists can be found at:</p>
 491 <pre>
 492         <a href="http://lists.perl.org/">http://lists.perl.org/</a></pre>
 493 <p>
 494 </p>
 495 <h2><a name="where_are_the_archives_for_comp_lang_perl_misc">Where are the archives for comp.lang.perl.misc?</a></h2>
 496 <p>The Google search engine now carries archived and searchable newsgroup
 497 content.</p>
 498 <p><a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?group=comp.lang.perl.misc">http://groups.google.com/groups?group=comp.lang.perl.misc</a></p>
 499 <p>If you have a question, you can be sure someone has already asked the
 500 same question at some point on c.l.p.m. It requires some time and patience
 501 to sift through all the content but often you will find the answer you
 502 seek.</p>
 503 <p>
 504 </p>
 505 <h2><a name="where_can_i_buy_a_commercial_version_of_perl">Where can I buy a commercial version of perl?</a></h2>
 506 <p>In a real sense, perl already <em>is</em> commercial software: it has a license
 507 that you can grab and carefully read to your manager. It is distributed
 508 in releases and comes in well-defined packages. There is a very large
 509 user community and an extensive literature.  The comp.lang.perl.*
 510 newsgroups and several of the mailing lists provide free answers to your
 511 questions in near real-time.  Perl has traditionally been supported by
 512 Larry, scores of software designers and developers, and myriad
 513 programmers, all working for free to create a useful thing to make life
 514 better for everyone.</p>
 515 <p>However, these answers may not suffice for managers who require a
 516 purchase order from a company whom they can sue should anything go awry.
 517 Or maybe they need very serious hand-holding and contractual obligations.
 518 Shrink-wrapped CDs with perl on them are available from several sources if
 519 that will help.  For example, many Perl books include a distribution of perl,
 520 as do the O'Reilly Perl Resource Kits (in both the Unix flavor
 521 and in the proprietary Microsoft flavor); the free Unix distributions
 522 also all come with perl.</p>
 523 <p>
 524 </p>
 525 <h2><a name="where_do_i_send_bug_reports">Where do I send bug reports?</a></h2>
 526 <p>If you are reporting a bug in the perl interpreter or the modules
 527 shipped with Perl, use the <em>perlbug</em> program in the Perl distribution or
 528 mail your report to <a href="mailto:perlbug@perl.org">perlbug@perl.org</a> or at <a href="http://rt.perl.org/perlbug/">http://rt.perl.org/perlbug/</a> .</p>
 529 <p>For Perl modules, you can submit bug reports to the Request Tracker set
 530 up at <a href="http://rt.cpan.org">http://rt.cpan.org</a> .</p>
 531 <p>If you are posting a bug with a non-standard port (see the answer to
 532 ``What platforms is perl available for?''), a binary distribution, or a
 533 non-standard module (such as Tk, CGI, etc), then please see the
 534 documentation that came with it to determine the correct place to post
 535 bugs.</p>
 536 <p>Read the <code>perlbug(1)</code> man page (perl5.004 or later) for more information.</p>
 537 <p>
 538 </p>
 539 <h2><a name="what_is_perl_com_perl_mongers_pm_org_perl_org_cpan_org">What is perl.com? Perl Mongers? pm.org? perl.org? cpan.org?</a></h2>
 540 <p>Perl.com at <a href="http://www.perl.com/">http://www.perl.com/</a> is part of the O'Reilly Network, a
 541 subsidiary of O'Reilly Media.</p>
 542 <p>The Perl Foundation is an advocacy organization for the Perl language
 543 which maintains the web site <a href="http://www.perl.org/">http://www.perl.org/</a> as a general
 544 advocacy site for the Perl language. It uses the domain to provide
 545 general support services to the Perl community, including the hosting
 546 of mailing lists, web sites, and other services.  The web site
 547 <a href="http://www.perl.org/">http://www.perl.org/</a> is a general advocacy site for the Perl language,
 548 and there are many other sub-domains for special topics, such as</p>
 549 <pre>
 550         <a href="http://learn.perl.org/">http://learn.perl.org/</a>
 551         <a href="http://use.perl.org/">http://use.perl.org/</a>
 552         <a href="http://jobs.perl.org/">http://jobs.perl.org/</a>
 553         <a href="http://lists.perl.org/">http://lists.perl.org/</a></pre>
 554 <p>Perl Mongers uses the pm.org domain for services related to Perl user
 555 groups, including the hosting of mailing lists and web sites.  See the
 556 Perl user group web site at <a href="http://www.pm.org/">http://www.pm.org/</a> for more information about
 557 joining, starting, or requesting services for a Perl user group.</p>
 558 <p><a href="http://www.cpan.org/">http://www.cpan.org/</a> is the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network,
 559 a replicated worldwide repository of Perl software, see
 560 the <em>What is CPAN?</em> question earlier in this document.</p>
 561 <p>
 562 </p>
 563 <hr />
 564 <h1><a name="author_and_copyright">AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT</a></h1>
 565 <p>Copyright (c) 1997-2006 Tom Christiansen, Nathan Torkington, and
 566 other authors as noted. All rights reserved.</p>
 567 <p>This documentation is free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 568 under the same terms as Perl itself.</p>
 569 <p>Irrespective of its distribution, all code examples here are in the public
 570 domain.  You are permitted and encouraged to use this code and any
 571 derivatives thereof in your own programs for fun or for profit as you
 572 see fit.  A simple comment in the code giving credit to the FAQ would
 573 be courteous but is not required.</p>
 574 <table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">
 575 <tr><td class="block" style="background-color: #cccccc" valign="middle">
 576 <big><strong><span class="block">&nbsp;perlfaq2 - Obtaining and Learning about Perl</span></strong></big>
 577 </td></tr>
 578 </table>
 579
 580 </body>
 581
 582 </html>