Practical Extraction and Report Language (pearl) An interpretive programming language designed to process text. It is typically the language used for CGI scripts.
This is another example of an acronym morphing into a word (Perl is now preferred over PERL). Perl has been developed as an open source project and was started in 1987 by Larry Wall.
While developed originally for UNIX , versions are now available for different platforms. Perl syntax is flexible and some perl programmers attempt to make the most compact (and indecipherable [[smile]] ) code possible. Perl modules and add-ons are available to do most anything leading some to call it the "Swiss Army chainsaw" of programming languages.
