In this training, you're introduced into the programming language Perl: designed for writing efficient and readable software, and to be used on all possible platforms (UNIX, Linux, MS-Windows, Mac, ...). It is commonly applied for a wide range of tasks such as system administration, application management, web development, network programming, and text manipulation. Perl is praised for its flexibility, versatility, performance, and its ease to automate system tasks.

In this course you'll learn

• the base syntax of the Perl 5 language.
• how to easily and quickly write simple programs solving complicated problems.

This course is first of all a "workshop": participants will have ample opportunity to practise all the discussed topics.

• Introduction:
  • What is Perl?
  • Why is Perl used?
• Basic structures in Perl:
  • basic operations (arithmetic and textual)
  • comparisons
  • standard input/output
• The use of lists (arrays and hashes)
• Conditions and strings:
  • if ... elsif ... else, unless, ...
  • while, until, for, foreach
• Manipulation and comparison of text strings
  • pattern matching with regular expressions
  • substitution, extraction, splitting of textual data
• More advanced topics:
  • the creation and use of subroutines
  • the handling of files (open, read, write)
  • the use of references
  • Perl and the shell: piping, redirecting, calling external programs, and the use of parameters
  • Perl modules: installing them and learn how to use them

Classroom instruction; theory, examples and exercises.

Delivered as a live, interactive training – available in-person or online, or in a hybrid format. Training can be implemented in English, Dutch, or French.

Participants should have a basic programming experience (see course Programming fundamentals).

System administrators who want to automate day-to-day tasks, and possibly deploy their scripts on multiple platforms; software developers who are charmed by the compact, readable, and versatile programming possibilities, or by the unexpectedly efficient runtime behaviour of Perl; designers planning to use a Perl module which they found on the internet, and want to understand how that module works.