Win32 Perl Links
With so much information on Perl available on the Internet it can be
quite difficult to find exactly what you are looking for. This is why
we have compiled a list of links that may help guide you while on your
journey the the vast net of Perl resources.
Win32 Perl (as with Perl on other platforms) is available on the net
in source code form for free. It, and most of its modules and extensions,
are posted in particular web and FTP sites. You can download and
compile them or you can download a precompiled binary.
- The Official Perl Web Site
- This site, hosted by O'Reilly & Associates is the
site for perl resources. Here you will find cross platform scripts
modules, information and stuff.
- ActiveState's Web Site
- These are the guys who brought the most useful version of Perl
to the Win32 world. They not only distribute a working binary
of Win32 Perl 5.005 but they also have a host of other useful
packages ranging from Perl-to-executable compilers and Integrated
Development Environment applications.
- CPAN
- CPAN (aka the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) consists
of hundreds of servers across the Internet. When someone creates
some useful module it is usually submitted to CPAN for the world
to download and use.
CPAN has several mirror sites around the world which replicate
frequrently. If you experience slow downloads then you may want to
try a CPAN site closer to your locale.
The CPAN FAQ is available online.
- PerlMonks
- The Perl Monks are a bunch of Perl people who discuss, write, hack and pretty much
do everything else with Perl code. This is a great place to learn about Perl.
Sure there is a wealth of information out on the web regarding Perl.
For the most part you can find what you are looking for from the large
search engines. This list, however, point out some of the more reliable
and useful Win32 Perl resources.
- Joe's Perl For Win32
- Joe Casadonte's web site is pretty much the place to start.
He covers everything from extensions to books and tutorials. His site
is a required bookmark for any Win32 Perl coder.
- The Perl Ring
- The Perl Ring is a Web Ring dedicated to Perl. This is a great place
to peruse the Internet's Perl releated sites.
- Jutta Klebe's Web Site
- Jutta provides some scripts and an extension for interacting with the
Win32 Performance Monitor. You can use this to get virtually any performance
counter you want--including the process list.
- Jenda's Perl Pages
- Jenda always has some interesting and wonderful extensions, modules,
scripts and other tidbits.
- Aldo's Perl Lab
- Aldo has been busy creating some of the most impacting Win32
extensions available. Extensions such as Win32::API and Win32::GUI.
This site has quite a bit of useful information regarding his
extensions.
- DBI
- The DBI (DataBase Interface) spec has been around long enough to
be a viable means for interfacing Perl with almost any database engine.
If you use databases and are not familiar with DBI then you should be. What
ODBC has done for C/C++, DBI has done for Perl. There is even an ODBC DBI
driver.
- Amine Moulay Ramdane's Win32 Perl Modules
- Amine has authored several very high powered Win32 Perl modules that provide
a variety of necessary functions. From MAPI and Zip file support to NTFS and
memory mapped files, these modules are not for the timid but provide a coder
awesome functionality.
If you are looking for Perl magazines and newsletters there are several of
them to choose from. Raning from printed periodicals to email lists there
is something for everyone.
- The Perl Journal
- This is the journal that is responsible for most of the communities
reading entertainment. It is an quarterly periodical that typically
has valuable articles and features from the most prominent and
respected Perl community leaders and shakers.
If you have not tried this magazine you should.
- Windows Scripting Solutions
- This particular monthly periodical is about Windows scripting in general, so it
covers Perl, VB and, yes, even batch files. Here is where you can find Dave Roth's
montly column on Win32 Perl called Progressive Perl For Windows.
This is available in both print and online but requires a subscription. Archives
a year and older are publicly available.
- Usenet groups
- Some of you new to the Net may call these newsgroups but those of
us who have been around for awhile throw around the term Usenet
groups. Either way they are chock full of interesting ideas, banterings,
suggestions and people willing to help.
The main groups are located on pretty much any news server:
| comp.lang.perl |
This is a now defunct general Perl discussion group. Even though some postings still
are made to this group most serious Perl folks frequent the comp.lang.perl.misc group. |
| comp.lang.perl.misc |
A miscellaneous Perl discussion group. This is where most people
people post messages to. |
| comp.lang.perl.modules |
This group is where you can post messages regarding Perl modules and extensions. |
| comp.lang.perl.moderated |
Here is a useful group which discusses most any Perl topic. Since it is moderated
don't be suprised if traffic is low and the messages are concise and well thought out. |
| alt.perl |
This is an alternative Perl discussion group. It appears to be where many
hacks frequent. You can find some pretty interesting stuff here. |
| alt.perl.sockets |
This group discusses networking and socket related Perl issues. |
You can use the Perl Package Manager (PPM) to automatically
download and install various Perl packages and extensions. By default
PPM is configured to connect to the ActiveState repository. Any search
or installation request will default to ActiveState's repository.
You can add additional repositories or specify the location to a
repository for a particular request.
- ActiveState Tool Corp. Perl Repository
- This is the default repository that Win32 Perl is configured to use. Most of
the Perl extensions and modules that are available can be obtained using this
repository.
- Roth Consulting Repository
- This is the Roth Consulting Respository. All of Roth Consulting's extensions
and modules can be obtained from this site.
- Jenda's Perl Directory
- Jenda Krynicky's repository contains such important extensions as
Win32::Lanman, Win32::FileOp and Win32::SetupSup.
There are just a plethora of Win32 Perl extensions available that enable Perl to
do just amazing things. Some of the exciting ones that are out on the net are:
- Win32::TaskScheduler
- This is an extension that provides Perl scripts with a way to interact with the
Windows Task Scheduler.
- Win32::Lanman
- This is Jens Helberg's infamous Win32 Perl extension that provides almost all networking based functionality that you would ever need.
Plus more! You need this extension!
- Win32::API
- Aldo Calpini's legendary Win32 Perl extension that enables a Perl script to load any DLL and call into it's functions. This is another
one that every system administrator must have!
