This article was updated and rechecked on 27th of November 2023

Category: Ubuntu

Added: 17th of December 2015

Updated On: 27th of November 2023

Viewed: 6,175 times

Install Perl in Ubuntu, and create a perl script

The simple script below prints the message My First Perl Script in the terminal using perl.
Perl may be an old language but once you start learning it, there is so much more you can do with it over PHP.

Is Perl still worth learning in 2015?
If Perl provides you with the functions you need, then it is definitely worth learning.

To start using perl in Ubuntu you first need to install perl.
Run the following command in your terminal. You will be required to enter your password.

sudo apt-get install perl


Then enter the following command in the terminal. This will show the path to perl
which perl


It will show that your path to perl is usr/bin/perl
You will enter this path at the top of every perl script you create. It tells the system where to find perl.

To create your first perl script copy and paste the code below in to a text file and save it as perl.pl
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
print"My First Perl Script\n";


The next thing to do is make the perl script executable.
To do this, CD to the directory of where your perl script is located, and enter the following command in the terminal
chmod +x perl.pl


We now need to run the script. Enter the following command in the terminal.
./perl.pl


If everything works correctly the following will be output in the terminal.
My First Perl Script


Congratulations, you have just created your first perl script.