Practical Extraction and Report Language

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What Does Practical Extraction and Report Language Mean?

Practical Extraction and Report Language (Perl) is a scripting language. Perl applications are known as Perl scripts, which tend to be much more compact than scripts written in other languages. A common use for Perl is to extract text file information and generate a report or other output format.

Techopedia Explains Practical Extraction and Report Language

Perl is an interpretive rather than compiled language, e.g., C. Although uncompiled programs require more CPU run time, short Perl programs and faster processors actually save time. Perl is used in many areas of Web application development.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.