Where to get Perl

Do you have Perl?

Try typing "perl -v" at the command line.You should get a version statement.

    $ perl -v
 
    This is perl 5, version 16, subversion 1 (v5.16.1) built for
    darwin-thread-multi-2level
    ....

Perl source

http://www.cpan.org/src

You will need a compiler, a shell, and some system libraries. Perl's Configure script will tell you if you're missing something.

If you're on Windows, you may not have a compiler to use. Look onward to Strawberry or ActiveState.

Windows Perl: Strawberry

http://www.strawberryperl.com

Strawberry Perl is a Windows Perl distribution that comes with a CPAN client, a working compiler and a lot of modules already pre-installed.

Unless you have a very specific need, you want the Strawberry Perl distribution.

Windows Perl: ActiveState

Originators of Perl on Windows, and still very much involved in the community, ActiveState releases their own version of Perl with a module installation system called PPM. If you don't want to deal with the "hassle" of managing your Perl install yourself, this may be for you.

Want to contribute?

Submit a PR to github.com/petdance/perl101