Re^4: Pre-compiled Perl?

I don't think we have any real disagreement except for terminology. A compiler translates one formal language to another. If you define the parse tree to be a language, your definition of "language" is loose enough that every data structure is a language, and that makes every program a compiler. Saying that a language is "compiled" in the old-school sense really means that it is "compiled to machine language," but as you say, the distinction is mostly unimportant these days.

Contrary to some other languages (e.g. shell, TCL, awk, makefile), Perl has clearly a compile phase and a run time phase.

All of those languages have to be parsed, so they clearly have a "parse phase." The thing about Perl is that it lets you execute Perl code during the parse. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other language that lets you do that.

Comment on Re^4: Pre-compiled Perl?

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Re^5: Pre-compiled Perl? by LanX (Saint) on Apr 05, 2017 at 23:43 UTC
> The thing about Perl is that it lets you execute Perl code during the parse. What do you mean? Macros are executed during the parse and LISP is one of the two oldest higher order languages and often copied. Cheers Rolf _{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language and ☆☆☆☆ :) Je suis Charlie!}	[reply]
Re^6: Pre-compiled Perl? by shmem (Chancellor) on Apr 06, 2017 at 08:10 UTC
What do you mean? I guess it is the fact that files loaded via use are compiled and executed whilst parsing the loading file. perl -le'print map{pack c,($-++?1:13)+ord}split//,ESEL'	[reply]
Re^7: Pre-compiled Perl? by LanX (Saint) on Apr 06, 2017 at 08:59 UTC
Afaik does a `require` in Ruby also execute the code, and while not being an expert in Python it was easy to find the function `__import__()` which is executed at import. ° I'd rather say execution at import is the rule and not the exception for dynamic languages. Cheers Rolf _{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language and ☆☆☆☆ :) Je suis Charlie!} footnotes °) just checked it, no difference in Python, just see Why is Python running my module when I import it	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^6: Pre-compiled Perl? by Anonymous Monk on Apr 06, 2017 at 14:07 UTC
Macros are executed during the parse and LISP is one of the two oldest higher order languages and often copied. Hm. Obviously I haven't thought my statement through all the way. LISP can be completely parsed without executing any code; Perl can't.	[reply]
Re^7: Pre-compiled Perl? by LanX (Saint) on Apr 06, 2017 at 14:20 UTC
Again, please elaborate. Cheers Rolf _{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language and ☆☆☆☆ :) Je suis Charlie!}	[reply]
Re^8: Pre-compiled Perl? by Anonymous Monk on Apr 06, 2017 at 14:33 UTC
Re^9: Pre-compiled Perl? by LanX (Saint) on Apr 06, 2017 at 15:06 UTC
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