Running/Testing Perl on Windows -- binaries, compiling

garyj has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I've read the other posts about running Perl on Windows, and have some related questions:

1) The Perl source code sites say to use a compiler when running scripts. What is it, what's it do, is it a must, and where do I get it?

2) They also say if you can't get a compiler to download a binary version of Perl instead. What's binary, how's it differ from standard Perl, can I write/test/run binary scripts and then publish them w/o conversion problems, and can I open/edit a script written in standard Perl with my binary version?

As you've probably gathered by now, I'm a newbie -- just looking for the easiest way to get started. All help's appreciated.

Great monastery you got here, BTW. :)

Edit ar0n -- moved to SoPW from Q&A

Comment on Running/Testing Perl on Windows -- binaries, compiling

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Re: Running/Testing Perl on Windows -- binaries, compiling by belg4mit (Prior) on Dec 31, 2001 at 04:56 UTC
Binary = "regular perl". The easiest way to get started is to go to http://www.activestate.com. Perl is in itself a compiler which may lead to the confusion resulting in question #1. This might help as well. `-- perl -pe "s/\b;([st])/'\1/mg"`	[reply]
Re: Running/Testing Perl on Windows -- binaries, compiling by count0 (Friar) on Dec 31, 2001 at 05:01 UTC
2) They also say if you can't get a compiler to download a binary version of Perl instead. Perl is open source. This means that the C source code in which perl is written is available for download. I would guess that what you read was talking about downloading and compiling perl, with a C compiler. There's really no reason for you to do this (yet ;).	[reply]
(tye)Re: Running/Testing Perl on Windows -- binaries, compiling by tye (Sage) on Dec 31, 2001 at 21:58 UTC
See http://www.perl.com/CPAN-local/ports/index.html#win32 for an official list of places to get Perl for Windows. These are "binary distributions" because you don't need to compile the C source code in order to build perl.exe which is what knows how to run Perl scripts. The scripts are not "binary" vs. "standard" and choosing a binary distribution over the standard distribution doesn't change what scripts you can run (other than some experimental features that may not be supported in all binary distributions but that you really don't want to be playing with at this point anyway). It is just that the "standard" distribution of Perl only includes the C source code (so that it can be used on hundreds of platforms) while a "binary" distribution instead includes a pre-compiled perl.exe. For Windows, one of the fine binary distributions is certainly the way to go. Although the one from ActiveState is the most popular, I prefer InidigoPerl because it has a more basic install process, a less restrictive license, has a nice GUI module installer, and includes a web server. While SiePerl is nice because it comes with a huge list of modules already included. - tye (but my friends call me "Tye")	[reply]
Re: (tye)Re: Running/Testing Perl on Windows -- binaries, compiling by garyj (Novice) on Jan 02, 2002 at 04:23 UTC
Thanks to all for your help; especially 'Tye' -- I definitely recommend Indigo Perl for Windows users. It's fast, easy, nothing new to learn. I'm finally up & running!	[reply]
Re: Running/Testing Perl on Windows -- binaries, compiling by brassmon_k (Sexton) on Dec 31, 2001 at 21:47 UTC
Well I'm guessing your new to perl so let me offer you a book that helped me greatly. First off you're probably thinking of using an O'Reilly book to get started they are good but not as simple as a true newbie book. O'Reilly tends to use a lot of complexity. To get started I suggest "SAMS Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days" After that the O'Reilly book will be super easy. Then you can move onto more complex Perl if you're trying to attain Perl purism. I'm still learning. Perl is my first language. The next book after those two (It's more or less a really nice supplement but it would be wise to go thorugh it because it contains some of the more complex issues with Perl) This book is O'Reilly's "Programming Perl". Just go to Amazon.com or your local Media Store. Have fun! The brassmon_k	[reply]