FAQ 1.12 What"s the difference between "perl" and "Perl"?

This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq1.pod, which
comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to
reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community
to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete
perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org .

------------------------------------------------------------ --------

1.12: What's the difference between "perl" and "Perl"?

One bit. Oh, you weren't talking ASCII? :-) Larry now uses "Perl" to
signify the language proper and "perl" the implementation of it, i.e.
the current interpreter. Hence Tom's quip that "Nothing but perl can
parse Perl."

Before the first edition of *Programming perl*, people commonly referred
to the language as "perl", and its name appeared that way in the title
because it referred to the interpreter. In the book, Randal Schwartz
capitalised the language's name to make it stand out better when
typeset. This convention was adopted by the community, and the second
edition became *Programming Perl*, using the capitalized version of the
name to refer to the language.

You may or may not choose to follow this usage. For example, parallelism
means "awk and perl" and "Python and Perl" look good, while "awk and
Perl" and "Python and perl" do not. But never write "PERL", because perl
is not an acronym, apocryphal folklore and post-facto expansions
notwithstanding.



------------------------------------------------------------ --------

The perlfaq-workers, a group of volunteers, maintain the perlfaq. They
are not necessarily experts in every domain where Perl might show up,
so please include as much information as possible and relevant in any
corrections. The perlfaq-workers also don't have access to every
operating system or platform, so please include relevant details for
corrections to examples that do not work on particular platforms.
Working code is greatly appreciated.

If you'd like to help maintain the perlfaq, see the details in
perlfaq.pod.

Re: FAQ 1.12 What"s the difference between "perl" and "Perl"?

>>>>> "PS" == PerlFAQ Server writes:

PS> 1.12: What's the difference between "perl" and "Perl"?

PS> You may or may not choose to follow this usage. For example,
PS> parallelism means "awk and perl" and "Python and Perl" look
PS> good, while "awk and Perl" and "Python and perl" do not. But
PS> never write "PERL", because perl is not an acronym, apocryphal
PS> folklore and post-facto expansions notwithstanding.

what good timing! the appropriate official FAQ entry about not writing
PERL shows up soon after the never dying thread on that stupid subject.

and notice how none of the PERL usage flamers are back helping with the
usual questions and problems posted here. the regulars are doing their
jobs as usual. just like i said many times before, you help here, you
can have a say here. otherwise your comments on anything are highly
downgraded.

uri

--
Uri Guttman ------ uri@stemsystems.com -------- http://www.sysarch.com --
----- Perl Code Review , Architecture, Development, Training, Support ------
--------- Free Perl Training --- http://perlhunter.com/college.html ---------
--------- Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix ---- http://bestfriendscocoa.com ---------