Perl

 Welcome to the Llama book, our affectionate name for our book covering Perl 5.

 This is the eighth edition of a book that millions of readers have enjoyed since we released the first one in 1993. We hope they’ve enjoyed it. It’s a sure thing that we enjoyed writing it. At least, that’s how we remember it after we’ve turned in the book and waited the months it took to see it show up on shelves. And by “shelves,” we mean online.

 This is the second edition of our popular Perl 5 book after the release of Perl 6, a lan‐ guage that started its life as something based on Perl but has now taken on a life of its own with the new name “Raku.” Unfortunately, that bit of history means both lan‐ guages have “Perl” in the name even though they are only lightly related. It’s likely that you want Perl 5 and this book unless you know that you don’t. And from this point, “Perl” means Perl 5, the same Perl that’s been getting work done for a couple of decades.

 In the world of programming, there are many choices when it comes to languages. Each language has its advantages and disadvantages. No single language will fit all needs.

 You may already know why you want to learn Perl 5. If that is the case, just dive right into this content. If you are still wondering why Perl 5 is a great language, then I would like to take a few moments to provide you with some good reasons, hopefully without any negative comments toward other languages.

 Perl 5 is a very robust language that includes a great number of features that you would expect from a modern language. It is also easy to learn initially because there isn't a need for so much extra syntax that you commonly find in more structured languages.

 Perl 5 also has a huge following with great documentation and online support. There are hundreds of thousands of Perl programs available, providing you with a great starting point whenever you start a new project. Many organizations have used Perl 5 for over two decades, making it very much embedded in the corporate IT world.

 I hope you enjoy this book and that it helps you on journey of learning this fun and powerful language.