source: trunk/third/perl/pod/perlfaq.pod @ 17035

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1=head1 NAME
2
3perlfaq - frequently asked questions about Perl ($Date: 2002-02-07 21:12:22 $)
4
5=head1 DESCRIPTION
6
7The perlfaq is structured into the following documents:
8
9
10=head2 perlfaq: Structural overview of the FAQ.
11
12This document.
13
14=head2 L<perlfaq1>: General Questions About Perl
15
16Very general, high-level information about Perl.
17
18=over 4
19
20=item *
21
22What is Perl?
23
24=item *
25
26Who supports Perl?  Who develops it?  Why is it free?
27
28=item *
29
30Which version of Perl should I use?
31
32=item *
33
34What are perl4 and perl5?
35
36=item *
37
38What is perl6?
39
40=item *
41
42How stable is Perl?
43
44=item *
45
46Is Perl difficult to learn?
47
48=item *
49
50How does Perl compare with other languages like Java, Python, REXX, Scheme, or Tcl?
51
52=item *
53
54Can I do [task] in Perl?
55
56=item *
57
58When shouldn't I program in Perl?
59
60=item *
61
62What's the difference between "perl" and "Perl"?
63
64=item *
65
66Is it a Perl program or a Perl script?
67
68=item *
69
70What is a JAPH?
71
72=item *
73
74Where can I get a list of Larry Wall witticisms?
75
76=item *
77
78How can I convince my sysadmin/supervisor/employees to use version 5/5.005/Perl instead of some other language?
79
80=back
81
82
83=head2 L<perlfaq2>: Obtaining and Learning about Perl
84
85Where to find source and documentation to Perl, support,
86and related matters.
87
88=over 4
89
90=item *
91
92What machines support Perl?  Where do I get it?
93
94=item *
95
96How can I get a binary version of Perl?
97
98=item *
99
100I don't have a C compiler on my system.  How can I compile perl?
101
102=item *
103
104I copied the Perl binary from one machine to another, but scripts don't work.
105
106=item *
107
108I grabbed the sources and tried to compile but gdbm/dynamic loading/malloc/linking/... failed.  How do I make it work?
109
110=item *
111
112What modules and extensions are available for Perl?  What is CPAN?  What does CPAN/src/... mean?
113
114=item *
115
116Is there an ISO or ANSI certified version of Perl?
117
118=item *
119
120Where can I get information on Perl?
121
122=item *
123
124What are the Perl newsgroups on Usenet?  Where do I post questions?
125
126=item *
127
128Where should I post source code?
129
130=item *
131
132Perl Books
133
134=item *
135
136Perl in Magazines
137
138=item *
139
140Perl on the Net: FTP and WWW Access
141
142=item *
143
144What mailing lists are there for Perl?
145
146=item *
147
148Archives of comp.lang.perl.misc
149
150=item *
151
152Where can I buy a commercial version of Perl?
153
154=item *
155
156Where do I send bug reports?
157
158=item *
159
160What is perl.com? Perl Mongers? pm.org? perl.org?
161
162=back
163
164
165=head2 L<perlfaq3>: Programming Tools
166
167Programmer tools and programming support.
168
169=over 4
170
171=item *
172
173How do I do (anything)?
174
175=item *
176
177How can I use Perl interactively?
178
179=item *
180
181Is there a Perl shell?
182
183=item *
184
185How do I debug my Perl programs?
186
187=item *
188
189How do I profile my Perl programs?
190
191=item *
192
193How do I cross-reference my Perl programs?
194
195=item *
196
197Is there a pretty-printer (formatter) for Perl?
198
199=item *
200
201Is there a ctags for Perl?
202
203=item *
204
205Is there an IDE or Windows Perl Editor?
206
207=item *
208
209Where can I get Perl macros for vi?
210
211=item *
212
213Where can I get perl-mode for emacs?
214
215=item *
216
217How can I use curses with Perl?
218
219=item *
220
221How can I use X or Tk with Perl?
222
223=item *
224
225How can I generate simple menus without using CGI or Tk?
226
227=item *
228
229What is undump?
230
231=item *
232
233How can I make my Perl program run faster?
234
235=item *
236
237How can I make my Perl program take less memory?
238
239=item *
240
241Is it unsafe to return a pointer to local data?
242
243=item *
244
245How can I free an array or hash so my program shrinks?
246
247=item *
248
249How can I make my CGI script more efficient?
250
251=item *
252
253How can I hide the source for my Perl program?
254
255=item *
256
257How can I compile my Perl program into byte code or C?
258
259=item *
260
261How can I compile Perl into Java?
262
263=item *
264
265How can I get C<#!perl> to work on [MS-DOS,NT,...]?
266
267=item *
268
269Can I write useful Perl programs on the command line?
270
271=item *
272
273Why don't Perl one-liners work on my DOS/Mac/VMS system?
274
275=item *
276
277Where can I learn about CGI or Web programming in Perl?
278
279=item *
280
281Where can I learn about object-oriented Perl programming?
282
283=item *
284
285Where can I learn about linking C with Perl? [h2xs, xsubpp]
286
287=item *
288
289I've read perlembed, perlguts, etc., but I can't embed perl in
290my C program; what am I doing wrong?
291
292=item *
293
294When I tried to run my script, I got this message. What does it
295mean?
296
297=item *
298
299What's MakeMaker?
300
301=back
302
303
304=head2 L<perlfaq4>: Data Manipulation
305
306Manipulating numbers, dates, strings, arrays, hashes, and
307miscellaneous data issues.
308
309=over 4
310
311=item *
312
313Why am I getting long decimals (eg, 19.9499999999999) instead of the numbers I should be getting (eg, 19.95)?
314
315=item *
316
317Why isn't my octal data interpreted correctly?
318
319=item *
320
321Does Perl have a round() function?  What about ceil() and floor()?  Trig functions?
322
323=item *
324
325How do I convert bits into ints?
326
327=item *
328
329Why doesn't & work the way I want it to?
330
331=item *
332
333How do I multiply matrices?
334
335=item *
336
337How do I perform an operation on a series of integers?
338
339=item *
340
341How can I output Roman numerals?
342
343=item *
344
345Why aren't my random numbers random?
346
347=item *
348
349How do I find the week-of-the-year/day-of-the-year?
350
351=item *
352
353How do I find the current century or millennium?
354
355=item *
356
357How can I compare two dates and find the difference?
358
359=item *
360
361How can I take a string and turn it into epoch seconds?
362
363=item *
364
365How can I find the Julian Day?
366
367=item *
368
369How do I find yesterday's date?
370
371=item *
372
373Does Perl have a Year 2000 problem?  Is Perl Y2K compliant?
374
375=item *
376
377How do I validate input?
378
379=item *
380
381How do I unescape a string?
382
383=item *
384
385How do I remove consecutive pairs of characters?
386
387=item *
388
389How do I expand function calls in a string?
390
391=item *
392
393How do I find matching/nesting anything?
394
395=item *
396
397How do I reverse a string?
398
399=item *
400
401How do I expand tabs in a string?
402
403=item *
404
405How do I reformat a paragraph?
406
407=item *
408
409How can I access/change the first N letters of a string?
410
411=item *
412
413How do I change the Nth occurrence of something?
414
415=item *
416
417How can I count the number of occurrences of a substring within a string?
418
419=item *
420
421How do I capitalize all the words on one line?
422
423=item *
424
425How can I split a [character] delimited string except when inside
426[character]? (Comma-separated files)
427
428=item *
429
430How do I strip blank space from the beginning/end of a string?
431
432=item *
433
434How do I pad a string with blanks or pad a number with zeroes?
435
436=item *
437
438How do I extract selected columns from a string?
439
440=item *
441
442How do I find the soundex value of a string?
443
444=item *
445
446How can I expand variables in text strings?
447
448=item *
449
450What's wrong with always quoting "$vars"?
451
452=item *
453
454Why don't my <<HERE documents work?
455
456=item *
457
458What is the difference between a list and an array?
459
460=item *
461
462What is the difference between $array[1] and @array[1]?
463
464=item *
465
466How can I remove duplicate elements from a list or array?
467
468=item *
469
470How can I tell whether a list or array contains a certain element?
471
472=item *
473
474How do I compute the difference of two arrays?  How do I compute the intersection of two arrays?
475
476=item *
477
478How do I test whether two arrays or hashes are equal?
479
480=item *
481
482How do I find the first array element for which a condition is true?
483
484=item *
485
486How do I handle linked lists?
487
488=item *
489
490How do I handle circular lists?
491
492=item *
493
494How do I shuffle an array randomly?
495
496=item *
497
498How do I process/modify each element of an array?
499
500=item *
501
502How do I select a random element from an array?
503
504=item *
505
506How do I permute N elements of a list?
507
508=item *
509
510How do I sort an array by (anything)?
511
512=item *
513
514How do I manipulate arrays of bits?
515
516=item *
517
518Why does defined() return true on empty arrays and hashes?
519
520=item *
521
522How do I process an entire hash?
523
524=item *
525
526What happens if I add or remove keys from a hash while iterating over it?
527
528=item *
529
530How do I look up a hash element by value?
531
532=item *
533
534How can I know how many entries are in a hash?
535
536=item *
537
538How do I sort a hash (optionally by value instead of key)?
539
540=item *
541
542How can I always keep my hash sorted?
543
544=item *
545
546What's the difference between "delete" and "undef" with hashes?
547
548=item *
549
550Why don't my tied hashes make the defined/exists distinction?
551
552=item *
553
554How do I reset an each() operation part-way through?
555
556=item *
557
558How can I get the unique keys from two hashes?
559
560=item *
561
562How can I store a multidimensional array in a DBM file?
563
564=item *
565
566How can I make my hash remember the order I put elements into it?
567
568=item *
569
570Why does passing a subroutine an undefined element in a hash create it?
571
572=item *
573
574How can I make the Perl equivalent of a C structure/C++ class/hash or array of hashes or arrays?
575
576=item *
577
578How can I use a reference as a hash key?
579
580=item *
581
582How do I handle binary data correctly?
583
584=item *
585
586How do I determine whether a scalar is a number/whole/integer/float?
587
588=item *
589
590How do I keep persistent data across program calls?
591
592=item *
593
594How do I print out or copy a recursive data structure?
595
596=item *
597
598How do I define methods for every class/object?
599
600=item *
601
602How do I verify a credit card checksum?
603
604=item *
605
606How do I pack arrays of doubles or floats for XS code?
607
608=back
609
610
611=head2 L<perlfaq5>: Files and Formats
612
613I/O and the "f" issues: filehandles, flushing, formats and footers.
614
615=over 4
616
617=item *
618
619How do I flush/unbuffer an output filehandle?  Why must I do this?
620
621=item *
622
623How do I change one line in a file/delete a line in a file/insert a line in the middle of a file/append to the beginning of a file?
624
625=item *
626
627How do I count the number of lines in a file?
628
629=item *
630
631How do I make a temporary file name?
632
633=item *
634
635How can I manipulate fixed-record-length files?
636
637=item *
638
639How can I make a filehandle local to a subroutine?  How do I pass filehandles between subroutines?  How do I make an array of filehandles?
640
641=item *
642
643How can I use a filehandle indirectly?
644
645=item *
646
647How can I set up a footer format to be used with write()?
648
649=item *
650
651How can I write() into a string?
652
653=item *
654
655How can I output my numbers with commas added?
656
657=item *
658
659How can I translate tildes (~) in a filename?
660
661=item *
662
663How come when I open a file read-write it wipes it out?
664
665=item *
666
667Why do I sometimes get an "Argument list too long" when I use <*>?
668
669=item *
670
671Is there a leak/bug in glob()?
672
673=item *
674
675How can I open a file with a leading ">" or trailing blanks?
676
677=item *
678
679How can I reliably rename a file?
680
681=item *
682
683How can I lock a file?
684
685=item *
686
687Why can't I just open(FH, ">file.lock")?
688
689=item *
690
691I still don't get locking.  I just want to increment the number in the file.  How can I do this?
692
693=item *
694
695How do I randomly update a binary file?
696
697=item *
698
699How do I get a file's timestamp in perl?
700
701=item *
702
703How do I set a file's timestamp in perl?
704
705=item *
706
707How do I print to more than one file at once?
708
709=item *
710
711How can I read in an entire file all at once?
712
713=item *
714
715How can I read in a file by paragraphs?
716
717=item *
718
719How can I read a single character from a file?  From the keyboard?
720
721=item *
722
723How can I tell whether there's a character waiting on a filehandle?
724
725=item *
726
727How do I do a C<tail -f> in perl?
728
729=item *
730
731How do I dup() a filehandle in Perl?
732
733=item *
734
735How do I close a file descriptor by number?
736
737=item *
738
739Why can't I use "C:\temp\foo" in DOS paths?  What doesn't `C:\temp\foo.exe` work?
740
741=item *
742
743Why doesn't glob("*.*") get all the files?
744
745=item *
746
747Why does Perl let me delete read-only files?  Why does C<-i> clobber protected files?  Isn't this a bug in Perl?
748
749=item *
750
751How do I select a random line from a file?
752
753=item *
754
755Why do I get weird spaces when I print an array of lines?
756
757=back
758
759
760=head2 L<perlfaq6>: Regexps
761
762Pattern matching and regular expressions.
763
764=over 4
765
766=item *
767
768How can I hope to use regular expressions without creating illegible and unmaintainable code?
769
770=item *
771
772I'm having trouble matching over more than one line.  What's wrong?
773
774=item *
775
776How can I pull out lines between two patterns that are themselves on different lines?
777
778=item *
779
780I put a regular expression into $/ but it didn't work. What's wrong?
781
782=item *
783
784How do I substitute case insensitively on the LHS while preserving case on the RHS?
785
786=item *
787
788How can I make C<\w> match national character sets?
789
790=item *
791
792How can I match a locale-smart version of C</[a-zA-Z]/>?
793
794=item *
795
796How can I quote a variable to use in a regex?
797
798=item *
799
800What is C</o> really for?
801
802=item *
803
804How do I use a regular expression to strip C style comments from a file?
805
806=item *
807
808Can I use Perl regular expressions to match balanced text?
809
810=item *
811
812What does it mean that regexes are greedy?  How can I get around it?
813
814=item *
815
816How do I process each word on each line?
817
818=item *
819
820How can I print out a word-frequency or line-frequency summary?
821
822=item *
823
824How can I do approximate matching?
825
826=item *
827
828How do I efficiently match many regular expressions at once?
829
830=item *
831
832Why don't word-boundary searches with C<\b> work for me?
833
834=item *
835
836Why does using $&, $`, or $' slow my program down?
837
838=item *
839
840What good is C<\G> in a regular expression?
841
842=item *
843
844Are Perl regexes DFAs or NFAs?  Are they POSIX compliant?
845
846=item *
847
848What's wrong with using grep or map in a void context?
849
850=item *
851
852How can I match strings with multibyte characters?
853
854=item *
855
856How do I match a pattern that is supplied by the user?
857
858=back
859
860
861=head2 L<perlfaq7>: General Perl Language Issues
862
863General Perl language issues that don't clearly fit into any of the
864other sections.
865
866=over 4
867
868=item *
869
870Can I get a BNF/yacc/RE for the Perl language?
871
872=item *
873
874What are all these $@%&* punctuation signs, and how do I know when to use them?
875
876=item *
877
878Do I always/never have to quote my strings or use semicolons and commas?
879
880=item *
881
882How do I skip some return values?
883
884=item *
885
886How do I temporarily block warnings?
887
888=item *
889
890What's an extension?
891
892=item *
893
894Why do Perl operators have different precedence than C operators?
895
896=item *
897
898How do I declare/create a structure?
899
900=item *
901
902How do I create a module?
903
904=item *
905
906How do I create a class?
907
908=item *
909
910How can I tell if a variable is tainted?
911
912=item *
913
914What's a closure?
915
916=item *
917
918What is variable suicide and how can I prevent it?
919
920=item *
921
922How can I pass/return a {Function, FileHandle, Array, Hash, Method, Regex}?
923
924=item *
925
926How do I create a static variable?
927
928=item *
929
930What's the difference between dynamic and lexical (static) scoping?  Between local() and my()?
931
932=item *
933
934How can I access a dynamic variable while a similarly named lexical is in scope?
935
936=item *
937
938What's the difference between deep and shallow binding?
939
940=item *
941
942Why doesn't "my($foo) = <FILE>;" work right?
943
944=item *
945
946How do I redefine a builtin function, operator, or method?
947
948=item *
949
950What's the difference between calling a function as &foo and foo()?
951
952=item *
953
954How do I create a switch or case statement?
955
956=item *
957
958How can I catch accesses to undefined variables/functions/methods?
959
960=item *
961
962Why can't a method included in this same file be found?
963
964=item *
965
966How can I find out my current package?
967
968=item *
969
970How can I comment out a large block of perl code?
971
972=item *
973
974How do I clear a package?
975
976=item *
977
978How can I use a variable as a variable name?
979
980=back
981
982
983=head2 L<perlfaq8>: System Interaction
984
985Interprocess communication (IPC), control over the user-interface
986(keyboard, screen and pointing devices).
987
988=over 4
989
990=item *
991
992How do I find out which operating system I'm running under?
993
994=item *
995
996How come exec() doesn't return?
997
998=item *
999
1000How do I do fancy stuff with the keyboard/screen/mouse?
1001
1002=item *
1003
1004How do I print something out in color?
1005
1006=item *
1007
1008How do I read just one key without waiting for a return key?
1009
1010=item *
1011
1012How do I check whether input is ready on the keyboard?
1013
1014=item *
1015
1016How do I clear the screen?
1017
1018=item *
1019
1020How do I get the screen size?
1021
1022=item *
1023
1024How do I ask the user for a password?
1025
1026=item *
1027
1028How do I read and write the serial port?
1029
1030=item *
1031
1032How do I decode encrypted password files?
1033
1034=item *
1035
1036How do I start a process in the background?
1037
1038=item *
1039
1040How do I trap control characters/signals?
1041
1042=item *
1043
1044How do I modify the shadow password file on a Unix system?
1045
1046=item *
1047
1048How do I set the time and date?
1049
1050=item *
1051
1052How can I sleep() or alarm() for under a second?
1053
1054=item *
1055
1056How can I measure time under a second?
1057
1058=item *
1059
1060How can I do an atexit() or setjmp()/longjmp()? (Exception handling)
1061
1062=item *
1063
1064Why doesn't my sockets program work under System V (Solaris)?  What does the error message "Protocol not supported" mean?
1065
1066=item *
1067
1068How can I call my system's unique C functions from Perl?
1069
1070=item *
1071
1072Where do I get the include files to do ioctl() or syscall()?
1073
1074=item *
1075
1076Why do setuid perl scripts complain about kernel problems?
1077
1078=item *
1079
1080How can I open a pipe both to and from a command?
1081
1082=item *
1083
1084Why can't I get the output of a command with system()?
1085
1086=item *
1087
1088How can I capture STDERR from an external command?
1089
1090=item *
1091
1092Why doesn't open() return an error when a pipe open fails?
1093
1094=item *
1095
1096What's wrong with using backticks in a void context?
1097
1098=item *
1099
1100How can I call backticks without shell processing?
1101
1102=item *
1103
1104Why can't my script read from STDIN after I gave it EOF (^D on Unix, ^Z on MS-DOS)?
1105
1106=item *
1107
1108How can I convert my shell script to perl?
1109
1110=item *
1111
1112Can I use perl to run a telnet or ftp session?
1113
1114=item *
1115
1116How can I write expect in Perl?
1117
1118=item *
1119
1120Is there a way to hide perl's command line from programs such as "ps"?
1121
1122=item *
1123
1124I {changed directory, modified my environment} in a perl script.  How come the change disappeared when I exited the script?  How do I get my changes to be visible?
1125
1126=item *
1127
1128How do I close a process's filehandle without waiting for it to complete?
1129
1130=item *
1131
1132How do I fork a daemon process?
1133
1134=item *
1135
1136How do I find out if I'm running interactively or not?
1137
1138=item *
1139
1140How do I timeout a slow event?
1141
1142=item *
1143
1144How do I set CPU limits?
1145
1146=item *
1147
1148How do I avoid zombies on a Unix system?
1149
1150=item *
1151
1152How do I use an SQL database?
1153
1154=item *
1155
1156How do I make a system() exit on control-C?
1157
1158=item *
1159
1160How do I open a file without blocking?
1161
1162=item *
1163
1164How do I install a module from CPAN?
1165
1166=item *
1167
1168What's the difference between require and use?
1169
1170=item *
1171
1172How do I keep my own module/library directory?
1173
1174=item *
1175
1176How do I add the directory my program lives in to the module/library search path?
1177
1178=item *
1179
1180How do I add a directory to my include path at runtime?
1181
1182=item *
1183
1184What is socket.ph and where do I get it?
1185
1186=back
1187
1188
1189=head2 L<perlfaq9>: Networking
1190
1191Networking, the Internet, and a few on the web.
1192
1193=over 4
1194
1195=item *
1196
1197My CGI script runs from the command line but not the browser.  (500 Server Error)
1198
1199=item *
1200
1201How can I get better error messages from a CGI program?
1202
1203=item *
1204
1205How do I remove HTML from a string?
1206
1207=item *
1208
1209How do I extract URLs?
1210
1211=item *
1212
1213How do I download a file from the user's machine?  How do I open a file on another machine?
1214
1215=item *
1216
1217How do I make a pop-up menu in HTML?
1218
1219=item *
1220
1221How do I fetch an HTML file?
1222
1223=item *
1224
1225How do I automate an HTML form submission?
1226
1227=item *
1228
1229How do I decode or create those %-encodings on the web?
1230
1231=item *
1232
1233How do I redirect to another page?
1234
1235=item *
1236
1237How do I put a password on my web pages?
1238
1239=item *
1240
1241How do I edit my .htpasswd and .htgroup files with Perl?
1242
1243=item *
1244
1245How do I make sure users can't enter values into a form that cause my CGI script to do bad things?
1246
1247=item *
1248
1249How do I parse a mail header?
1250
1251=item *
1252
1253How do I decode a CGI form?
1254
1255=item *
1256
1257How do I check a valid mail address?
1258
1259=item *
1260
1261How do I decode a MIME/BASE64 string?
1262
1263=item *
1264
1265How do I return the user's mail address?
1266
1267=item *
1268
1269How do I send mail?
1270
1271=item *
1272
1273How do I read mail?
1274
1275=item *
1276
1277How do I find out my hostname/domainname/IP address?
1278
1279=item *
1280
1281How do I fetch a news article or the active newsgroups?
1282
1283=item *
1284
1285How do I fetch/put an FTP file?
1286
1287=item *
1288
1289How can I do RPC in Perl?
1290
1291=back
1292
1293
1294=head1 About the perlfaq documents
1295
1296=head2 Where to get the perlfaq
1297
1298This document is posted regularly to comp.lang.perl.announce and
1299several other related newsgroups.  It is available in a variety of
1300formats from CPAN in the /CPAN/doc/FAQs/FAQ/ directory or on the web
1301at http://www.perl.com/perl/faq/ .
1302
1303=head2 How to contribute to the perlfaq
1304
1305You may mail corrections, additions, and suggestions to
1306perlfaq-suggestions@perl.com .  This alias should not be
1307used to I<ask> FAQs.  It's for fixing the current FAQ.
1308Send questions to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup.
1309
1310=head2 What will happen if you mail your Perl programming problems to the authors
1311
1312Your questions will probably go unread, unless they're suggestions of
1313new questions to add to the FAQ, in which case they should have gone
1314to the perlfaq-suggestions@perl.com instead.
1315
1316You should have read section 2 of this faq.  There you would have
1317learned that comp.lang.perl.misc is the appropriate place to go for
1318free advice.  If your question is really important and you require a
1319prompt and correct answer, you should hire a consultant.
1320
1321=head1 Credits
1322
1323When I first began the Perl FAQ in the late 80s, I never realized it
1324would have grown to over a hundred pages, nor that Perl would ever become
1325so popular and widespread.  This document could not have been written
1326without the tremendous help provided by Larry Wall and the rest of the
1327Perl Porters.
1328
1329=head1 Author and Copyright Information
1330
1331Copyright (c) 1997-1999 Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington.
1332All rights reserved.
1333
1334=head2 Bundled Distributions
1335
1336When included as part of the Standard Version of Perl or as part of
1337its complete documentation whether printed or otherwise, this work
1338may be distributed only under the terms of Perl's Artistic License.
1339Any distribution of this file or derivatives thereof I<outside>
1340of that package requires that special arrangements be made with
1341copyright holder.
1342
1343Irrespective of its distribution, all code examples in these files
1344are hereby placed into the public domain.  You are permitted and
1345encouraged to use this code in your own programs for fun
1346or for profit as you see fit.  A simple comment in the code giving
1347credit would be courteous but is not required.
1348
1349=head2 Disclaimer
1350
1351This information is offered in good faith and in the hope that it may
1352be of use, but is not guaranteed to be correct, up to date, or suitable
1353for any particular purpose whatsoever.  The authors accept no liability
1354in respect of this information or its use.
1355
1356=head1 Changes
1357
1358=over 4
1359
1360=item 1/November/2000
1361
1362A few grammatical fixes and updates implemented by John Borwick.
1363
1364=item 23/May/99
1365
1366Extensive updates from the net in preparation for 5.6 release.
1367
1368=item 13/April/99
1369
1370More minor touch-ups.  Added new question at the end
1371of perlfaq7 on variable names within variables.
1372
1373=item 7/January/99
1374
1375Small touchups here and there.  Added all questions in this
1376document as a sort of table of contents.
1377
1378=item 22/June/98
1379
1380Significant changes throughout in preparation for the 5.005
1381release.
1382
1383=item 24/April/97
1384
1385Style and whitespace changes from Chip, new question on reading one
1386character at a time from a terminal using POSIX from Tom.
1387
1388=item 23/April/97
1389
1390Added http://www.oasis.leo.org/perl/ to L<perlfaq2>.  Style fix to
1391L<perlfaq3>.  Added floating point precision, fixed complex number
1392arithmetic, cross-references, caveat for Text::Wrap, alternative
1393answer for initial capitalizing, fixed incorrect regexp, added example
1394of Tie::IxHash to L<perlfaq4>.  Added example of passing and storing
1395filehandles, added commify to L<perlfaq5>.  Restored variable suicide,
1396and added mass commenting to L<perlfaq7>.  Added Net::Telnet, fixed
1397backticks, added reader/writer pair to telnet question, added FindBin,
1398grouped module questions together in L<perlfaq8>.  Expanded caveats
1399for the simple URL extractor, gave LWP example, added CGI security
1400question, expanded on the mail address answer in L<perlfaq9>.
1401
1402=item 25/March/97
1403
1404Added more info to the binary distribution section of L<perlfaq2>.
1405Added Net::Telnet to L<perlfaq6>.  Fixed typos in L<perlfaq8>.  Added
1406mail sending example to L<perlfaq9>.  Added Merlyn's columns to
1407L<perlfaq2>.
1408
1409=item 18/March/97
1410
1411Added the DATE to the NAME section, indicating which sections have
1412changed.
1413
1414Mentioned SIGPIPE and L<perlipc> in the forking open answer in
1415L<perlfaq8>.
1416
1417Fixed description of a regular expression in L<perlfaq4>.
1418
1419=item 17/March/97 Version
1420
1421Various typos fixed throughout.
1422
1423Added new question on Perl BNF on L<perlfaq7>.
1424
1425=item Initial Release: 11/March/97
1426
1427This is the initial release of version 3 of the FAQ; consequently there
1428have been no changes since its initial release.
1429
1430=back
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