Over my last few posts I’ve been discussing how to get started with PERL programming.\u00a0 Of course, I’ve run parallel posts:\u00a0 some have focused on Windows, others on Linux\/Mac.\u00a0 I hope you’ve all been successful in following the procedures I’ve offered.<\/p>\n
Whichever world you reside in – assuming it is just one – knowing what’s going on in the other world often seems beneficial.\u00a0 Therefore, I recommend the users of one operating system read the posts for the other, if only to realize how similar the procedures are.<\/p>\n
Today’s emphasis is on the line<\/p>\n
#!\/usr\/bin\/perl<\/span><\/p>\n which is part of the script for Linux\/Mac, but is conspicuously absent at the head of the script for Windows.<\/p>\n According to Robert Pepper’s Perl Tutorial<\/a>, #!\/usr\/bin\/perl<\/span> is called the “shebang” line. (By the way: almost everything I know about PERL I learned from Robert Pepper.) He goes on to explain that under Unix systems (Linux is a derivative), the shebang line tells the file type so the computer knows how to execute it. <\/p>\n Windows, he continues, does not need a shebang line. However, a shebang line for the Windows script might look similar to this:<\/p>\n #!c:\/strawberry\/perl\/bin\/perl.exe<\/span><\/p>\n (The above shebang reveals the use of Strawberry Perl).<\/p>\n The line tells the location of the perl interpreter, which will execute the script. Once again, the line is not needed in Windows.<\/p>\n For Linux\/Mac, however, you will see something like<\/p>\n #!\/usr\/bin\/perl<\/span><\/p>\n at the head of a PERL script, and it is<\/em> needed – on mine, anyway. Now you know why, whichever operating system you might use:)<\/p>\n