December 18, 1987

Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.

Menlo Park, United States | NASA

Watercolor painting based depiction of Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language. (1987)

Release of the First Version of Perl

On December 18, 1987, Larry Wall, a programmer and linguist, released the first version of the Perl programming language. This release marked a significant moment in the world of programming due to Perl’s versatility and capability to handle numerous tasks.

Background

Larry Wall, who worked as a systems administrator at Unisys, developed Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language) as a general-purpose scripting language to facilitate report processing and other administrative tasks. Before Perl, Wall found existing tools like awk, sed, and the Bourne shell inadequate for his needs, which led him to create a more comprehensive and intuitive language.

Features of Perl 1.0

The initial release of Perl included the following standout features:

  • Text Processing Capabilities: It inherited features from popular tools such as awk and sed, allowing flexible and powerful text manipulation.
  • Integration of Shell Scripting: Combined elements of shell scripting with practical data manipulation, making scripting more powerful and approachable for system tasks.
  • Ease of Use: Perl was designed to be easy to write and read, emphasizing practicality over purity in language design.

Significance

Perl rapidly gained popularity among system administrators and developers for its text manipulation capabilities and adaptability across different platforms. This first version set the stage for Perl to become a cornerstone in web development, bioinformatics, and as a glue language that could integrate diverse systems.

Legacy

The release of Perl 1.0 laid the foundation for subsequent versions that expanded its functionality dramatically. Over the years, Perl became integral to early internet infrastructure and remains influential in various programming communities. It prompted further development towards creating languages and tools that emphasized programmer efficiency and flexibility.

The release of Perl on December 18, 1987, thus marked the beginning of what would be a central career for one of the most influential scripting languages in the programming world.

Source: www.perl.org

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