diff options
author | Perl 5 Porters <perl5-porters@africa.nicoh.com> | 1997-03-09 11:57:19 +1200 |
---|---|---|
committer | Chip Salzenberg <chip@atlantic.net> | 1997-03-09 11:57:19 +1200 |
commit | 68dc074516a6859e3424b48d1647bcb08b1a1a7d (patch) | |
tree | 125011c6d8e4a04727ff97166dc19199809958e4 /pod/perlfaq2.pod | |
parent | 699e6cd4da8c333ef83554732e73ab6734463b5d (diff) | |
download | perl-68dc074516a6859e3424b48d1647bcb08b1a1a7d.tar.gz |
[inseparable changes from match from perl-5.003_93 to perl-5.003_94]
BUILD PROCESS
Subject: Don't use db 2.x, we're not yet ready for it
From: Paul Marquess <pmarquess@bfsec.bt.co.uk>
Files: Configure
Subject: Warn if #! command is longer than 32 chars
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: Configure
Subject: patches re perl -wc install{perl,man}
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 97 13:13:16 GMT
From: Robin Barker <rmb1@cise.npl.co.uk>
Files: installman installperl
I got the new installhtml from CPAN
(TOMC/scripts/pod2html-v2.0beta.shar.gz)
I had problems getting the system call to splitpod at line 376 to work.
1. splitroot was not being found
2. splitroot was not finding its library
3. I changed htmlroot to podroot at line 175 to match the documentation.
p5p-msgid: 3180.9703270906@tempest.cise.npl.co.uk
private-msgid: 21544.9703111313@tempest.cise.npl.co.uk
Subject: 3_93 doesn't install pods
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 02:21:35 -0500
From: Spider Boardman <spider@orb.nashua.nh.us>
Files: installperl
Msg-ID: 199703160721.CAA08339@Orb.Nashua.NH.US
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 43506a616735d616e03d277d64fbae1e864024bf)
Subject: When installing, use File::Copy instead of `cp`
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: installperl
Subject: Make hint files' warnings more visible
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:18:03 +0100 (MET)
From: Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@usit.uio.no>
Files: hints/3b1.sh hints/apollo.sh hints/cxux.sh hints/dcosx.sh hints/dgux.sh hints/esix4.sh hints/freebsd.sh hints/hpux.sh hints/irix_4.sh hints/mips.sh hints/next_3_0.sh hints/os2.sh hints/qnx.sh hints/sco_2_3_3.sh hints/sco_2_3_4.sh hints/solaris_2.sh hints/ultrix_4.sh hints/utekv.sh
private-msgid: 199703202218.XAA09041@bombur2.uio.no
CORE LANGUAGE CHANGES
Subject: Defer creation of array and hash elements as parameters
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: dump.c global.sym mg.c op.c op.h perl.h pp.c pp_hot.c proto.h sv.c
Subject: New special literal: __PACKAGE__
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: keywords.pl pod/perldata.pod toke.c
Subject: Abort compilation at C<BEGIN{}> or C<use> after errors
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: op.c pod/perldiag.pod t/pragma/subs.t
Subject: allow C<substr 'hello', -10>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 15:55:44 -0800
From: David Dyck <dcd@tc.fluke.com>
Files: pp.c
Msg-ID: 97Mar10.155517pst.35716-2@gateway.fluke.com
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 77f720bf92f3d0100352416caeedd57936807ff2)
Subject: Regularize C<x % y>, esp. when y is negative
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pp.c
Subject: Flush before C<flock(FOO, LOCK_UN)>
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pod/perldelta.pod pod/perlfunc.pod pp_sys.c
Subject: Close loopholes in prototype mismatch warning
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: op.c sv.c toke.c
Subject: Warn on C<while ($x = each %y) {}>
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: op.c pod/perldiag.pod
Subject: Don't warn on C<print $fh func()>
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: toke.c
CORE PORTABILITY
Subject: Don't say 'static var = 1'
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 1997 15:19:57 +0200 (EET)
From: Jarkko Hietaniemi <jhi@iki.fi>
Files: malloc.c
private-msgid: 199703091319.PAA24714@alpha.hut.fi
Subject: HP/UX hint comments
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 15:43:07 -0500 (EST)
From: Andy Dougherty <doughera@fractal.phys.lafayette.edu>
Files: hints/hpux.sh
private-msgid: Pine.SOL.3.95q.970321153918.28770B-100000@fractal.lafayette.
Subject: VMS update
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 22:00:55 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Bailey <bailey@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu>
Files: lib/ExtUtils/MM_VMS.pm lib/Test/Harness.pm t/op/taint.t utils/perlbug.PL vms/descrip.mms
Msg-ID: 1997Mar11.220056.1873182@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 2b5725676da60b49978f38b85bb7f8ee20b4cb55)
Subject: vmsish.t and related patches
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 01:32:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Bailey <bailey@HMIVAX.HUMGEN.UPENN.EDU>
Files: MANIFEST perl.h vms/descrip.mms vms/ext/vmsish.t vms/vms.c
private-msgid: 01IGQW3IP1KK005VFB@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu
Subject: Win32 update (four patches)
From: Gurusamy Sarathy <gsar@engin.umich.edu>
Files: MANIFEST README.win32 lib/AutoSplit.pm lib/Cwd.pm lib/ExtUtils/Command.pm lib/ExtUtils/Install.pm lib/ExtUtils/MM_OS2.pm lib/ExtUtils/MM_Unix.pm lib/ExtUtils/MM_Win32.pm lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm lib/ExtUtils/Mksymlists.pm lib/File/Basename.pm lib/File/Path.pm mg.c t/comp/cpp.t t/comp/script.t t/harness t/io/argv.t t/io/dup.t t/io/fs.t t/io/inplace.t t/lib/filehand.t t/lib/io_dup.t t/lib/io_sel.t t/lib/io_taint.t t/op/closure.t t/op/exec.t t/op/glob.t t/op/goto.t t/op/magic.t t/op/misc.t t/op/rand.t t/op/split.t t/op/stat.t t/op/sysio.t t/op/taint.t t/pragma/strict.t t/pragma/subs.t t/pragma/warning.t util.c win32/*
DOCUMENTATION
Subject: perlfaq.pod
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 16:01:40 -0700
From: Tom Christiansen <tchrist@jhereg.perl.com>
Files: MANIFEST pod/Makefile pod/buildtoc pod/perl.pod pod/perlfaq*.pod pod/roffitall
private-msgid: 199703172301.QAA12566@jhereg.perl.com
Subject: *.pod changes based on the FAQ
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 09:50:14 -0700 (MST)
From: Nat Torkington <gnat@frii.com>
Files: pod/perldata.pod pod/perlfunc.pod pod/perlipc.pod pod/perlop.pod pod/perlre.pod pod/perlrun.pod pod/perlsec.pod pod/perlvar.pod
Msg-ID: 199703171650.JAA02655@elara.frii.com
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 3c10ad8e31f7d77e71c048b1746912f41cb540f0)
Subject: Document that $. is not reset on implicit open
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pod/perldelta.pod
Subject: Re: Embedding success with _93
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 17:55:05 -0500
From: Doug MacEachern <dougm@opengroup.org>
Files: pod/perldelta.pod
Msg-ID: 199703112255.RAA22775@postman.osf.org
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 63a6ff3a1dc8d86edb4d8a7ec1548205e32a7114)
Subject: Patch to document illegal characters
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 09:08:10 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Phoenix <rootbeer@teleport.com>
Files: pod/perldiag.pod pod/perltrap.pod
private-msgid: Pine.GSO.3.96.970314090558.15346J-100000@kelly.teleport.com
Subject: Document trap with //o and closures
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 18:08:08 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Bailey <bailey@HMIVAX.HUMGEN.UPENN.EDU>
Files: pod/perltrap.pod
Msg-ID: 01IGCHWRNSEU00661G@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu
(applied based on p5p patch as commit a54cb1465fdb400848f23705a6f130bb5c34ab70)
Subject: Illegal character in input
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 15:21:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Phoenix <rootbeer@teleport.com>
Files: pod/perldiag.pod
private-msgid: Pine.GSO.3.95q.970310151512.22489a-100000@kelly.teleport.com
Subject: Patch for docs Re: Lost backslash
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 07:28:57 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Phoenix <rootbeer@teleport.com>
Files: pod/perlop.pod
private-msgid: Pine.GSO.3.96.970319071438.24834G-100000@kelly.teleport.com
Subject: XSUB's doc fix
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 11:42:06 -0500
From: Roderick Schertler <roderick@argon.org>
Files: pod/perlcall.pod pod/perlguts.pod pod/perlxstut.pod
Msg-ID: 28804.858012126@eeyore.ibcinc.com
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 5f43237038ea7a4151d3bf65aeeecd56ceb78a6a)
Subject: Document return from do FILE
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 14:50:10 +0000
From: "M.J.T. Guy" <mjtg@cus.cam.ac.uk>
Files: pod/perlfunc.pod
Msg-ID: E0w70DK-0001yJ-00@ursa.cus.cam.ac.uk
(applied based on p5p patch as commit ba8d5fb439878113de8abc9b52d2af237d30fb3c)
Subject: Document $^M in perlvar
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 97 21:08:33 GMT
From: Robin Barker <rmb1@cise.npl.co.uk>
Files: pod/perlvar.pod
private-msgid: 6153.9703202108@tempest.cise.npl.co.uk
Subject: typos in pods of 5.003_93
Date: 19 Mar 1997 10:39:38 -0600
From: Jim Meyering <meyering@asic.sc.ti.com>
Files: pod/perlfunc.pod pod/perlguts.pod pod/perlre.pod pod/perltoot.pod pod/perlxs.pod
Msg-ID: wpgendbzvhx.fsf@asic.sc.ti.com
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 76a9873e006cf8f48f57062b2a0dd40b5ed45a95)
Subject: Re: Updates to pod punctuations
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 17:00:12 -0500
From: Larry W. Virden <lvirden@cas.org>
Files: pod/*.pod
private-msgid: 9703141700.AA22911@cas.org
Subject: clarify example in perlfunc
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 19:46:01 +0200 (EET)
From: Jarkko Hietaniemi <jhi@iki.fi>
Files: pod/perlfunc.pod
private-msgid: 199703201746.TAA25195@alpha.hut.fi
Subject: Regularize headings in DB_File documentation
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: ext/DB_File/DB_File.pm
LIBRARY AND EXTENSIONS
Subject: New module: autouse.pm
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 19:34:30 -0500 (EST)
From: Ilya Zakharevich <ilya@math.ohio-state.edu>
Files: MANIFEST lib/autouse.pm
Msg-ID: 199703210034.TAA13469@monk.mps.ohio-state.edu
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 6757905eccb6dd0440ef65e8128a277a20f7d943)
Subject: Refresh DB_File to 1.12
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 97 15:51:14 GMT
From: Paul Marquess <pmarquess@bfsec.bt.co.uk>
Files: ext/DB_File/DB_File.pm ext/DB_File/DB_File.xs
Msg-ID: 9703121551.AA07435@claudius.bfsec.bt.co.uk
(applied based on p5p patch as commit b3deed9189f963e9994815307931f9084f60d1d9)
Subject: In File::Path, some systems can't remove read-only files
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: lib/File/Path.pm
Subject: Fix bugs revealed by prototype warnings
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: ext/Opcode/Opcode.pm lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm lib/Getopt/Long.pm
Subject: Problems with SKIP in makemaker
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:13:31 -0500 (EST)
From: Ilya Zakharevich <ilya@math.ohio-state.edu>
Files: lib/ExtUtils/MM_Unix.pm
Msg-ID: 199703210413.XAA21601@monk.mps.ohio-state.edu
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 970322a2e8024294ada6e8d1a027cb98f1f48ee3)
Subject: In Exporter, don't C<require Carp> at file scope
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: lib/Exporter.pm
Subject: fix for Exporter's $SIG{__WARN__} handler
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 18:40:51 -0500
From: Roderick Schertler <roderick@argon.org>
Files: lib/Exporter.pm
Msg-ID: 2282.858296451@eeyore.ibcinc.com
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 2768ea1aeef34f42d096f198fbe629c8374ca429)
Subject: Don't try to substr() refs in Carp
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: lib/Carp.pm
Subject: Re: NUL in die and other messages
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 09:58:17 +0000
From: "M.J.T. Guy" <mjtg@cus.cam.ac.uk>
Files: lib/Carp.pm
Msg-ID: E0w815V-0005xs-00@ursa.cus.cam.ac.uk
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 52a267c574cb66c4bc35601dcf148a1d7a3bc557)
OTHER CORE CHANGES
Subject: Guard against buffer overflow in yyerror() and related funcs
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: toke.c
Subject: For bin compat, rename calllist() and he_{,delay}free
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: global.sym hv.c op.c perl.c pod/perlguts.pod proto.h
Subject: Fix C<print> on tied default handle
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pp_hot.c
Subject: Fix C<local($a, undef, $b) = (1,2,3)>
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: op.c
Subject: Improve diagnostic on C<@a++>, C<--%a>, @a =~ s/a/b/
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pp.c pp_hot.c
Subject: Don't warn on C<$x{y} .= "z"> when %x is tied
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pp_hot.c
Subject: Eliminate 'unreachable code' warnings
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: ext/POSIX/POSIX.xs mg.c pp_ctl.c toke.c
Subject: printf format corrections for -DDEBUGGING
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 12:42:50 -0500
From: Roderick Schertler <roderick@argon.org>
Files: doop.c malloc.c op.c pp_ctl.c regexec.c sv.c x2p/str.c x2p/util.c
Msg-ID: 26592.858793370@eeyore.ibcinc.com
(applied based on p5p patch as commit e125f273e351a19a92b69d6244af55abbbf0a26d)
Subject: Warn about missing -DMULTIPLICITY if likely a problem
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 18:45:53 -0500
From: Doug MacEachern <dougm@opengroup.org>
Files: perl.c
Msg-ID: 199703192345.SAA15070@postman.osf.org
(applied based on p5p patch as commit 71aeea1753924e6e19c2461e241e3f7d8a570e90)
Diffstat (limited to 'pod/perlfaq2.pod')
-rw-r--r-- | pod/perlfaq2.pod | 419 |
1 files changed, 419 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/pod/perlfaq2.pod b/pod/perlfaq2.pod new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..b4c3e9f1dc --- /dev/null +++ b/pod/perlfaq2.pod @@ -0,0 +1,419 @@ +=head1 NAME + +perlfaq2 - Obtaining and Learning about Perl ($Revision: 1.13 $) + +=head1 DESCRIPTION + +This section of the FAQ answers questions about where to find +source and documentation for Perl, support and training, and +related matters. + +=head2 What machines support Perl? Where do I get it? + +The standard release of Perl (the one maintained by the perl +development team) is distributed only in source code form. You can +find this at http://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest.tar.gz, which is a +gzipped archive in POSIX tar format. This source builds with no +porting whatsoever on most Unix systems (Perl's native environment), +as well as Plan 9, VMS, QNX, OS/2, and the Amiga. + +Although it's rumored that the (imminent) 5.004 release may build +on Windows NT, this is yet to be proven. Binary distributions +for 32-bit Microsoft systems and for Apple systems can be found +http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ports/ directory. Because these are not part of +the standard distribution, they may and in fact do differ from the base +Perl port in a variety of ways. You'll have to check their respective +release notes to see just what the differences are. These differences +can be either positive (e.g. extensions for the features of the particular +platform that are not supported in the source release of perl) or negative +(e.g. might be based upon a less current source release of perl). + +A useful FAQ for Win32 Perl users is +http://www.endcontsw.com/people/evangelo/Perl_for_Win32_FAQ.html + +=head2 How can I get a binary version of Perl? + +If you don't have a C compiler because for whatever reasons your +vendor 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 +with. CPAN only has binaries for systems that are terribly hard to +get free compilers for, not for Unix systems. + +=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. +You really should build the whole distribution on the machine it will +eventually live on, and then type C<make install>. Most other +approaches are doomed to failure. + +One simple way to check that things are in the right place is to print out +the hard-coded @INC which perl is looking for. + + perl -e 'print join("\n",@INC)' + +If this command lists any paths which don't exist on your system, then you +may need to move the appropriate libraries to these locations, or create +symlinks, aliases, or shortcuts appropriately. + +=head2 I grabbed the sources and tried to compile but gdbm/dynamic loading/malloc/linking/... failed. How do I make it work? + +Read the F<INSTALL> file, which is part of the source distribution. +It describes in detail how to cope with most idiosyncracies that the +Configure script can't work around for any given system or +architecture. + +=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 huge archive +replicated on dozens 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 machine for CPAN is +ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/, but you can use the +address http://www.perl.com/CPAN/CPAN.html to fetch a copy from a +"site near you". See http://www.perl.com/CPAN (without a slash at the +end) for how this process works. + +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 +instance, if you're using ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN +as your CPAN site, the file CPAN/misc/japh file is downloadable as +ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/misc/japh . + +Considering that there are hundreds of 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. + +=head2 Is there an ISO or ANSI certified version of Perl? + +Certainly not. Larry expects that he'll be certified before Perl is. + +=head2 Where can I get information on Perl? + +The complete Perl documentation is available with the perl +distribution. If you have perl installed locally, you probably have +the documentation installed as well: type C<man perl> if you're on a +system resembling Unix. This will lead you to other important man +pages. If you're not on a Unix system, access to the documentation +will be different; for example, it might be only in HTML format. But +all proper perl installations have fully-accessible documentation. + +You might also try C<perldoc perl> in case your system doesn't +have a proper man command, or it's been misinstalled. If that doesn't +work, try looking in /usr/local/lib/perl5/pod for documentation. + +If all else fails, consult the CPAN/doc directory, which contains the +complete documentation in various formats, including native pod, +troff, html, and plain text. There's also a web page at +http://www.perl.com/perl/info/documentation.html that might help. + +It's also worth noting that there's a PDF version of the complete +documentation for perl available in the CPAN/authors/id/BMIDD +directory. + +Many good books have been written about Perl -- see the section below +for more details. + +=head2 What are the Perl newsgroups on USENET? Where do I post questions? + +The now defunct comp.lang.perl newsgroup has been superseded by the +following groups: + + comp.lang.perl.announce Moderated announcement group + comp.lang.perl.misc Very busy group about Perl in general + comp.lang.perl.modules Use and development of Perl modules + comp.lang.perl.tk Using Tk (and X) from Perl + + comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi Writing CGI scripts for the Web. + +There is also USENET gateway to the mailing list used by the crack +Perl development team (perl5-porters) at +news://genetics.upenn.edu/perl.porters-gw/ . + +=head2 Where should I post source code? + +You should post source code to whichever group is most appropriate, +but feel free to cross-post to comp.lang.perl.misc. If you want to +cross-post to alt.sources, please make sure it follows their posting +standards, including setting the Followup-To header line to NOT +include alt.sources; see their FAQ for details. + +=head2 Perl Books + +A number books on Perl and/or CGI programming are available. A few of +these are good, some are ok, but many aren't worth your money. Tom +Christiansen maintains a list of these books, some with extensive +reviews, at http://www.perl.com/perl/critiques/index.html. + +The incontestably definitive reference book on Perl, written by the +creator of Perl and his apostles, is now in its second edition and +fourth printing. + + Programming Perl (the "Camel Book"): + Authors: Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Randal Schwartz + ISBN 1-56592-149-6 (English) + ISBN 4-89052-384-7 (Japanese) + (French and German translations in progress) + +Note that O'Reilly books are color-coded: turquoise (some would call +it teal) covers indicate perl5 coverage, while magenta (some would +call it pink) covers indicate perl4 only. Check the cover color +before you buy! + +What follows is a list of the books that the FAQ authors found personally +useful. Your mileage may (but, we hope, probably won't) vary. + +If you're already a hard-core systems programmer, then the Camel Book +just might suffice for you to learn Perl from. But if you're not, +check out the "Llama Book". It currently doesn't cover perl5, but the +2nd edition is nearly done and should be out by summer 97: + + Learning Perl (the Llama Book): + Author: Randal Schwartz, with intro by Larry Wall + ISBN 1-56592-042-2 (English) + ISBN 4-89502-678-1 (Japanese) + ISBN 2-84177-005-2 (French) + ISBN 3-930673-08-8 (German) + +Another stand-out book in the turquoise O'Reilly Perl line is the "Hip +Owls" book. It covers regular expressions inside and out, with quite a +bit devoted exclusively to Perl: + + Mastering Regular Expressions (the Cute Owls Book): + Author: Jeffrey Friedl + ISBN 1-56592-257-3 + +You can order any of these books from O'Reilly & Associates, +1-800-998-9938. Local/overseas is 1-707-829-0515. If you can locate +an O'Reilly order form, you can also fax to 1-707-829-0104. See +http://www.ora.com/ on the Web. + +Recommended Perl books that are not from O'Reilly are the following: + + Cross-Platform Perl, (for Unix and Windows NT) + Author: Eric F. Johnson + ISBN: 1-55851-483-X + + How to Set up and Maintain a World Wide Web Site, (2nd edition) + Author: Lincoln Stein, M.D., Ph.D. + ISBN: 0-201-63462-7 + + CGI Programming in C & Perl, + Author: Thomas Boutell + ISBN: 0-201-42219-0 + +Note that some of these address specific application areas (e.g. the +Web) and are not general-purpose programming books. + +=head2 Perl in Magazines + +The Perl Journal is the first and only magazine dedicated to Perl. +It is published (on paper, not online) quarterly by Jon Orwant +(orwant@tpj.com), editor. Subscription information is at http://tpj.com +or via email to subscriptions@tpj.com. + +Beyond this, two other magazines that frequently carry high-quality articles +on Perl are Web Techniques (see http://www.webtechniques.com/) and +Unix Review (http://www.unixreview.com/). + +=head2 Perl on the Net: FTP and WWW Access + +To get the best (and possibly cheapest) performance, pick a site from +the list below and use it to grab the complete list of mirror sites. +>From there you can find the quickest site for you. Remember, the +following list is I<not> the complete list of CPAN mirrors. + + http://www.perl.com/CPAN (redirects to another mirror) + http://www.perl.org/CPAN + ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ + http://www.cs.ruu.nl/pub/PERL/CPAN/ + ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ + +=head2 What mailing lists are there for perl? + +Most of the major modules (tk, CGI, libwww-perl) have their own +mailing lists. Consult the documentation that came with the module for +subscription information. The following are a list of mailing lists +related to perl itself. + +If you subscribe to a mailing list, it behooves you to know how to +unsubscribe from it. Strident pleas to the list itself to get you off +will not be favorably received. + +=over 4 + +=item MacPerl + +There is a mailing list for discussing Macintosh Perl. Contact +"mac-perl-request@iis.ee.ethz.ch". + +Also see Matthias Neeracher's (the creator and maintainer of MacPerl) +webpage at http://www.iis.ee.ethz.ch/~neeri/macintosh/perl.html for +many links to interesting MacPerl sites, and the applications/MPW +tools, precompiled. + +=item Perl5-Porters + +The core development team have a mailing list for discussing fixes and +changes to the language. Send mail to +"perl5-porters-request@perl.org" with help in the body of the message +for information on subscribing. + +=item NTPerl + +This list is used to discuss issues involving Win32 Perl 5 (Windows NT +and Win95). Subscribe by emailing ListManager@ActiveWare.com with the +message body: + + subscribe Perl-Win32-Users + +The list software, also written in perl, will automatically determine +your address, and subscribe you automatically. To unsubscribe, email +the following in the message body to the same address like so: + + unsubscribe Perl-Win32-Users + +You can also check http://www.activeware.com/ and select "Mailing Lists" +to join or leave this list. + +=item Perl-Packrats + +Discussion related to archiving of perl materials, particularly the +Comprehensive PerlArchive Network (CPAN). Subscribe by emailing +majordomo@cis.ufl.edu: + + subscribe perl-packrats + +The list software, also written in perl, will automatically determine +your address, and subscribe you automatically. To unsubscribe, simple +prepend the same command with an "un", and mail to the same address +like so: + + unsubscribe perl-packrats + +=back + +=head2 Archives of comp.lang.perl.misc + +Have you tried Deja News or Alta Vista? + +ftp.cis.ufl.edu:/pub/perl/comp.lang.perl.*/monthly has an almost +complete collection dating back to 12/89 (missing 08/91 through +12/93). They are kept as one large file for each month. + +You'll probably want more a sophisticated query and retrieval mechanism +than a file listing, preferably one that allows you to retrieve +articles using a fast-access indices, keyed on at least author, date, +subject, thread (as in "trn") and probably keywords. The best +solution the FAQ authors know of is the MH pick command, but it is +very slow to select on 18000 articles. + +If you have, or know where can be found, the missing sections, please +let perlfaq-suggestions@perl.com know. + +=head2 Perl Training + +While some large training companies offer their own courses on Perl, +you may prefer to contact individuals near and dear to the heart of +Perl development. Two well-known members of the Perl development team +who offer such things are Tom Christiansen <perl-classes@perl.com> +and Randal Schwartz <perl-training-info@stonehenge.com>, plus their +respective minions, who offer a variety of professional tutorials +and seminars on Perl. These courses include large public seminars, +private corporate training, and fly-ins to Colorado and Oregon. +See http://www.perl.com/perl/info/training.html for more details. + +=head2 Where can I buy a commercial version of Perl? + +In a sense, Perl already I<is> commercial software: It has a licence +that you can grab and carefully read to your manager. It is +distributed in releases and comes in well-defined packages. There is a +very large user community and an extensive literature. The +comp.lang.perl.* newsgroups and several of the mailing lists provide +free answers to your questions in near real-time. Perl has +traditionally been supported by Larry, dozens of software designers +and developers, and thousands of programmers, all working for free +to create a useful thing to make life better for everyone. + +However, these answers may not suffice for managers who require a +purchase order from a company whom they can sue should anything go +wrong. Or maybe they need very serious hand-holding and contractual +obligations. Shrink-wrapped CDs with perl on them are available from +several sources if that will help. + +Or you can purchase a real support contract. Although Cygnus historically +provided this service, they no longer sell support contracts for Perl. +Instead, the Paul Ingram Group will be taking up the slack through The +Perl Clinic. The following is a commercial from them: + +"Do you need professional support for Perl and/or Oraperl? Do you need +a support contract with defined levels of service? Do you want to pay +only for what you need? + +"The Paul Ingram Group has provided quality software development and +support services to some of the world's largest corporations for ten +years. We are now offering the same quality support services for Perl +at The Perl Clinic. This service is led by Tim Bunce, an active perl +porter since 1994 and well known as the author and maintainer of the +DBI, DBD::Oracle, and Oraperl modules and author/co-maintainer of The +Perl 5 Module List. We also offer Oracle users support for Perl5 +Oraperl and related modules (which Oracle is planning to ship as part +of Oracle Web Server 3). 20% of the profit from our Perl support work +will be donated to The Perl Institute." + +For more information, contact the The Perl Clinic: + + Tel: +44 1483 424424 + Fax: +44 1483 419419 + Web: http://www.perl.co.uk/ + Email: perl-support-info@perl.co.uk or Tim.Bunce@ig.co.uk + +=head2 Where do I send bug reports? + +If you are reporting a bug in the perl interpreter or the modules +shipped with perl, use the perlbug program in the perl distribution or +email your report to perlbug@perl.com. + +If you are posting a bug with a non-standard port (see the answer to +"What platforms is Perl available for?"), a binary distribution, or a +non-standard module (such as Tk, CGI, etc), then please see the +documentation that came with it to determine the correct place to post +bugs. + +Read the perlbug man page (perl5.004 or later) for more information. + +=head2 What is perl.com? perl.org? The Perl Institute? + +perl.org is the official vehicle for The Perl Institute. The motto of +TPI is "helping people help Perl help people" (or something like +that). It's a non-profit organization supporting development, +documentation, and dissemination of perl. Current directors of TPI +include Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Randal Schwartz, whom you +may have heard of somewhere else around here. + +The perl.com domain is Tom Christiansen's domain. He created it as a +public service long before perl.org came about. It's the original PBS +of the Perl world, a clearinghouse for information about all things +Perlian, accepting no paid advertisements, glossy gifs, or (gasp!) +java applets on its pages. + +=head2 How do I learn about object-oriented Perl programming? + +L<perltoot> (distributed with 5.004 or later) is a good place to start. +Also, L<perlobj>, L<perlref>, and L<perlmod> are useful references, +while L<perlbot> has some excellent tips and tricks. + +=head1 AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT + +Copyright (c) 1997 Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington. +All rights reserved. See L<perlfaq> for distribution information. |