Ubuntu Unleashed 2013 Edition: Covering 12.10 and 13.04, Eighth Edition

A Simple Perl Program

This section introduces a very simple Perl program example to get you started using Perl. Although trivial for experienced Perl hackers, a short example is necessary for new users who want to learn more about Perl.

To introduce you to the absolute basics of Perl programming, Listing 37.1 illustrates a simple Perl program that prints a short message.

Listing 37.1. A Simple Perl Program

#!/usr/bin/perlprint 'Look at all the camels!\n';

Type that in and save it to a file called trivial.pl. Then make the file executable using the chmod command (see the following sidebar) and run it at the command prompt.

Command-Line Error

If you get the message bash: trivial.pl: command not found or bash: ./trivial.pl: Permission denied ...