Getting Started
Getting Perl
If you don't currently have a Perl compiler on your system, I recommend ActiveState's Active Perl package (have a look at www.activestate.com). You can download a complete setup for Perl as a single MSI package, which automatically installs everything you need, and setup up the necessary environmental variables etc.
Writing Perl
Perl scripts are just text documents, which can be authored and edited in any text editor. I use CodeWright (a code development editor), which has some nice features like ChromaCoding (which highlights recognised constructs for each supported language - Perl being one of them).
There are probably some Perl editors about on the Internet - if not, I might think about writing one... (in Perl?! maybe? More likely C#...)
Running a Script
To run a script, you just type:
perl MyScript.pl
The perl program compiles and then executes the script. In order to see any compiler warnings, you can use the -w switch (this is recommended):
perl -w MyScript.pl
The full list of command line switches (for perl 5.6.1 from ActiveState) is shown below:
Usage: D:\Perl\bin\perl.exe [switches] [--] [programfile] [arguments]
-0[octal] specify record separator (\0, if no argument)
-a autosplit mode with -n or -p (splits $_ into @F)
-C enable native wide character system interfaces
-c check syntax only (runs BEGIN and CHECK blocks)
-d[:debugger] run program under debugger
-D[number/list] set debugging flags (argument is a bit mask or alphabets)
-e 'command' one line of program (several -e's allowed, omit programfile)
-F/pattern/ split() pattern for -a switch (//'s are optional)
-i[extension] edit <> files in place (makes backup if extension supplied)
-Idirectory specify @INC/#include directory (several -I's allowed)
-l[octal] enable line ending processing, specifies line terminator
-[mM][-]module execute `use/no module...' before executing program
-n assume 'while (<>) { ... }' loop around program
-p assume loop like -n but print line also, like sed
-P run program through C preprocessor before compilation
-s enable rudimentary parsing for switches after programfile
-S look for programfile using PATH environment variable
-T enable tainting checks
-u dump core after parsing program
-U allow unsafe operations
-v print version, subversion (includes VERY IMPORTANT perl info)
-V[:variable] print configuration summary (or a single Config.pm variable)
-w enable many useful warnings (RECOMMENDED)
-W enable all warnings
-X disable all warnings
-x[directory] strip off text before #!perl line and perhaps cd to directory