In this section, we will guide you through the process of setting up your environment to start programming in Perl. This includes installing Perl, setting up a text editor or Integrated Development Environment (IDE), and verifying the installation.

1. Download Strawberry Perl:

   • Visit the Strawberry Perl website.
   • Download the latest version of Strawberry Perl for Windows.

2. Install Strawberry Perl:

   • Run the downloaded installer.
   • Follow the installation instructions, accepting the default settings.

3. Verify the Installation:

   • Open Command Prompt.
   • Type perl -v and press Enter.
   • You should see the Perl version information.

1. Check Pre-installed Perl:

   • Open Terminal.
   • Type perl -v and press Enter.
   • macOS usually comes with Perl pre-installed. If you see the version information, Perl is already installed.

2. Install Perl via Homebrew (if needed):

   • If Perl is not installed or you want to install a different version, you can use Homebrew.
   • Install Homebrew if you haven't already: /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
   • Install Perl: brew install perl
   • Verify the installation: perl -v

1. Check Pre-installed Perl:

   • Open Terminal.
   • Type perl -v and press Enter.
   • Most Linux distributions come with Perl pre-installed. If you see the version information, Perl is already installed.

2. Install Perl via Package Manager (if needed):

   • For Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install perl
   • For Red Hat/CentOS: sudo yum install perl
   • For Fedora: sudo dnf install perl
   • Verify the installation: perl -v

• Notepad++ (Windows):

  • Download from Notepad++ website.
  • Install and open Notepad++.

• Sublime Text (Windows, macOS, Linux):

  • Download from Sublime Text website.
  • Install and open Sublime Text.

• Visual Studio Code (Windows, macOS, Linux):

  • Download from Visual Studio Code website.
  • Install and open Visual Studio Code.
  • Install the Perl extension for syntax highlighting and other features.

• Padre (Windows, macOS, Linux):
  • Padre is a Perl IDE. Install it via CPAN:

    cpan Padre
    

  • Open Padre from your applications menu or by typing padre in the terminal.

1. Create a Simple Perl Script:

   • Open your text editor or IDE.
   • Write the following code and save it as hello_world.pl:

     #!/usr/bin/perl
     use strict;
     use warnings;
     print "Hello, World!\n";
     

2. Run the Script:

   • Open Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (macOS/Linux).
   • Navigate to the directory where you saved hello_world.pl.
   • Run the script by typing:

     perl hello_world.pl
     

   • You should see the output: Hello, World!

By now, you should have Perl installed on your system, a text editor or IDE set up, and have successfully run your first Perl script. This setup will serve as the foundation for all the Perl programming you will do in this course. In the next section, we will dive into writing your first Perl program in more detail.