What is Perl Programming Language?

Perl is a general-purpose programming language originally developed for text manipulation and now used for a wide range of tasks including system administration, web development, network programming, GUI development, and more.

• Perl is a stable, cross-platform programming language.

• Though Perl is not officially an acronym few people used it as Practical Extraction and Report Language.

• It is used for mission-critical projects in the public and private sectors.

• Perl is an Open Source software, licensed under its Artistic License, or the GNU General Public License (GPL).

• Perl was created by Larry Wall.

• Perl 1.0 was released to Usenet's alt.comp.sources in 1987.

• At the time of writing this tutorial, the latest version of Perl was 5.16.2.

• Perl is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary.

PC Magazine announced Perl as the finalist for its 1998 Technical Excellence Award in the Development Tool category.