Introduction
- Why use Perl?
- How does it compare to other languages?
- Where’s it heading?
Installation
- How and where to get Perl
- The environment in our classroom
- Other configurations
Running a Perl Script
- Command-line vs. script files
- Command-line switches
- Editing and running a script
Numbers
- Numeric literals
- Arithmetic operators
Strings
- String literals
- String operators
Formatting Output
Scalar Variables
- What are scalars and how are they used?
- Variable interpolation
Getting Input
- The STDIN predefined filehandle
- chomp vs. chop
Arrays
- Creating and accessing arrays
- Undefined array items
- Printing arrays
- Finding the size of an array
- Array slices
- Lists vs. arrays
More About Arrays
- The split and join functions
- The reverse function
- Other array functions
Associative Arrays (Hashes)
- What are hashes?
- Creating and accessing hashes
- Hash functions
- Common uses for hashes
Control Structures
- What is a code block?
- Conditional operators and expressions
- True and false
- If-then-else statements
- TMTOWTDI
Loops
- Code blocks and labels
- while loops
- Loop control
- for loops
- foreach loops
- The “default variable”
Reading and writing files
- Opening and closing filehandles
- Passing arguments to Perl scripts
- The die function
- Different ways to read the contents of a file
Talking to the Operating System
- Using OS commands as input
Regular Expressions
- Syntax for matching, substitutions and translations
- Constructing regular expressions
Subroutines
- Reasons for using subroutines
- CPAN and modules