Perl Hacks

Hack #67. Build Your Own Perl

Compile Perl just the way you like it.

Perl has so many features that no single binary can do everything everyone wants. If you're debugging XS code, you might want to enable debugging. If you like to experiment, you might want to enable threads. If you need to run Perl on an odd platform where memory or disk space are low, you might want to disable certain features and core modules. You might even want an experimental patch that adds type information (autobox on the CPAN) or the defined-or operator (dor on the CPAN). You might also want to patch Perl yourself or help test out a development release.

Whatever the case, building your own Perl is reasonably easy.

The Hack

Before you start, you need a working C development environment with a compiler, system headers, and a Make utility.

First, download Perl. The latest version is always available from the CPAN at http://www.cpan.org/src/. Stable versions have even minor version numbers (Perl 5.6.x, Perl 5.8.x, Perl 5.10.x) while development versions have odd minor numbers (Perl 5.7.x, Perl 5.9.x). Unless you are ready to report and possibly debug bugs, choose a stable version.

After you have downloaded and unpacked the distribution, change to the new directory. To configure the default build, simply run the Configure file:

$ sh Configure -de
            

You don't have to use the -de flag, but the configuration will prompt you for multitudinous options that few people care about and fewer still all understand. However, some ...