in reply to Re^3: perl not omnipotent? let's see!
in thread perl not omnipotent? let's see!

So they tell me. Others, though, claim that this isn't true. I've seen some bitter flames over whether Perl stands for "Practical Extraction and Report Language", or for anything at all. To be honest, I just don't know what' the truth about it...

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Re^5: perl not omnipotent? let's see!
by tilly (Archbishop) on Oct 19, 2005 at 04:34 UTC
    I consider perlfaq1 the definitive reference. As it says, "...perl is not an acronym, apocryphal folklore and post-facto expansions notwithstanding."

    Note that I have seen Larry Wall claim that he settled on the name Perl partially because he liked the fact that it could expand both to Practical Extraction and Report Language and Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister. Which is why both of those are in the perl manpage.

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      OK, but in perl.pod, the name of the program is listed as "Practical Extraction and Report Language". This doc was written by Larry Wall with "oodles of other people", and I know Larry and company love to play around... so the issue seems unclear to me.

      I kind of like the Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister, myself...

[reply]
        Look at the BUGS section of perl.pod. You'll find that Perl actually stands for Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister, but don’t tell anyone I said that. That is as definitive as the name at the top.

        However both perlfaq1.pod (which was also written by Larry Wall and Co.) and interviews that I've seen with Larry confirm that Perl is not an acronym. However as http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3394 indicates, he did come up with the backronyms in the same time frame that he was naming the language.

        I can't honestly say that I've directly heard confirmation of this from Larry's own lips. But I have from multiple other people who are in a good position to know, including Randal Schwartz.

        So while the issue may seem unclear to you, it is not to me, and it is not to anyone who is prominent in the Perl community. The expansions in perl.pod are jokes. Perl is not an acronym.

[reply]

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