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