1) A first example "Hello World"

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w
#
# This program says "hello" to the world
#
print "Hello World!\n";

To execute the perl script copy the blue text from the screen and paste it into a file. Save the file, for example, under the name "hello". Then type at the Unix prompt:

perl hello

Explanations
# indicates a comment; the line is ignored
print a command; prints the string between the quotes
\n newline character
; indicates the end of a command

Exercises

1) Add a second print statement to the script from the example. (For example print "How are you?".) What does adding or deleting "\n" change?

2) Make some random changes, for example, delete the "#" before "This program says ..."; delete the semicolon after "World\n"; etc. In most cases you will get an error message. The only useful piece of information in that message is probably the number of the line in which the error occurred. Fix the errors until the script executes again successfully.

3) Type "perl -v" at the command line. It gives you information about the specific version of Perl that is installed on the computer.
Type "man perl" at the command line. It provides you with on-line help. (Don't try to read it right now - it's too technical. Just keep in mind that it's there in case you need it later in the semester.) To exit "man perl" type "q" or Ctrl-c.

2) A second example

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w
#
# A program for greeting people
#
print "What is your name? ";
$name = <STDIN> ;
chomp ($name);
print "Hello, $name! How are you?\n";

Explanations
$name a variable for a "name"
= an assignment operator
<STDIN> reads from standard input (i.e. keyboard)
chomp deletes the newline character ("enter" key)

Exercises:

1) What happens if you delete the line with "chomp"?
2) Write a program that asks two people for their names; stores the names in variables called $name1 and $name2; says hello to both of them.

Operators for Numbers

$a = 3 -4 +10;
$b = 5*6;
$c = 7/8;
print "These are the values: $a $b $c \n";
print "Increment $a by one: ";
$a++;
print $a;
print "\n";
print "Decrease $a by one: ";
$a--;
print $a;
print "\n";

Exercises

1) Execute the script. Make sure you understand every line.
2) What is the value of $a and $b after each of the following statements?
$a=5; $b=10;
$a++;
$b--;$b--;$b++;
$a = $a + $b;
$b = $a;
$a--;
3) Write a script that asks a user for a number. The script adds 3 to that number. Then multiplies the result by 2, subtracts 4, subtracts twice the original number, adds 3, then prints the result.

Optional exercise

To execute a perl script you can also change the program permissions to executable

chmod u+x program_name

and then execute it by simply typing the program_name.