Minimal Perl

Chapter 1. Introducing Minimal Perl

1.1	A visit to Perlistan	3
1.2	Perl can be simple	7
1.3	About Minimal Perl	7
1.4	Laziness is a virtue	9
1.5	A minimal dose of syntax	10
1.6	Writing one-line programs	11
1.7	Summary	14

Perl is a great language, with an ingenious mentality underlying it, and a terrific user community gathered around it. Given these properties, it’s no wonder it has become so popular.

But Perl is also a large and complex language that offers the programmer many different ways to accomplish the same goal. This can make it hard for beginners to learn the language and for one programmer to understand a program written by another.

In this chapter, we’ll discuss the motivation behind the development of Minimal Perl and the philosophy underlying the special ...