Beginning Perl

INTRODUCTION xxiii
 
CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS PERL? 1
 
Perl Today 2
 
Getting Perl 3
 
Working with Non-Windows Platforms: perlbrew 4
 
Using Windows 6
 
The Perl Community 8
 
IRC 8
 
PerlMonks 9
 
Perl Mongers 9
 
StackOverflow 9
 
Using perldoc 11
 
Understanding the Structure of perldoc 11
 
Getting Started with perldoc 11
 
Using Tutorials and FAQs 12
 
Using the perldoc -f function 14
 
Using a Terminal Window 14
 
Using the Command Line 15
 
Creating a Work Directory 16
 
Creating Hello, World! 18
 
Writing Your First Program 18
 
Shebang Lines 21
 
Summary 22
 
CHAPTER 2: UNDERSTANDING THE CPAN 25
 
CPAN and METACPAN 26
 
Finding and Evaluating Modules 27
 
Downloading and Installing 29
 
CPAN Clients 33
 
Using the CPAN.pm Client 33
 
Using the Cpanm Client 35
 
PPM 36
 
CPAN::Mini 36
 
Summary 39
 
CHAPTER 3: VARIABLES 41
 
What Is Programming? 42
 
A Few Things to Note Before Getting Started 43
 
strict, warnings, and diagnostics 43
 
The my Function 43
 
Sigils 44
 
Identifiers 45
 
Scalars 46
 
Strings 47
 
Numbers 51
 
Arrays 53
 
Breaking Down the Code 54
 
Accessing Elements 55
 
Iterating over Arrays 58
 
Hashes 58
 
Accessing Elements 59
 
Iterating Over Hashes 60
 
Adding Data to Hashes 60
 
Slices 61
 
Array Slices 62
 
Hash Slices 62
 
Context 63
 
Scalar Context 63
 
List Context 64
 
Scope 67
 
my Variables 67
 
Package Variables 69
 
Strict, Warnings, and Diagnostics 72
 
strict 74
 
warnings 74
 
diagnostics 75
 
Working Without a Net 76
 
Perl's Built-in Variables 78
 
$_ 78
 
%ENV

Curtis "Ovid" Poe has specialized in Perl since 2000. He is an author, a regular guest speaker at conferences across Europe and the United States, and he wrote the test harness that currently ships with the Perl language.