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Programming Perl By Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen & Randal L. Schwartz. Second Edition, September 1996. We think that Perl is an easy language to learn and use, and we hope to convince you that we're right. Perl is a language for getting your job done. Of course, if your job is programming, you can get your job done with any "complete" computer language, theoretically speaking. But we know from experience that computer languages differ not so much in what they make possible, but in what they make easy. At one extreme, the so-called "fourth generation languages" make it easy to do some things, but nearly impossible to do other things. At the other extreme, certain well known, "industrial-strength" languages make it equally difficult to do almost everything. Perl is different. In a nutshell, Perl is designed to make the easy jobs easy, without making the hard jobs impossible. You want a language that makes it easy to manipulate numbers and text, files and directories, computers and networks, and especially programs. It should be easy to run external programs and scan their output for interesting tidbits. It should be easy to send those same tidbits off to other programs that can do special things with them. It should be easy to develop, modify, and debug your own programs too. And, of course, it should be easy to compile and run your programs, and do it portably, on any modern operating system. Initially designed as a glue language for the UNIX operating system ( or any of its myriad variants ), Perl also runs on numerous other systems, including MS-DOS, VMS, OS/2, Plan 9, Macintosh, and any variety of Windows you care to mention. It is one of the most portable programming languages available today. Perl is used by people who are desperate to analyze or convert lots of data quickly, whether you're talking DNA sequences, Web pages, or pork belly futures. To those who merely like it, Perl is the Practical Extraction and Report Language. To those who love it, Perl is the Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister.
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