From 966c04bb5c457124a52432f90688e0845bd40dc9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: comdog Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:36:46 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] * perlfaq1: What's the difference between "perl" and "Perl"? + Perl had some more history on the Perl vs. perl debate git-svn-id: http://svn.perl.org/modules/perlfaq/trunk@10000 50811bd7-b8ce-0310-adc1-d9db26280581 --- perlfaq1.pod | 24 +++++++++++++++++------- 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) diff --git a/perlfaq1.pod b/perlfaq1.pod index 13286d0..eb45eca 100644 --- a/perlfaq1.pod +++ b/perlfaq1.pod @@ -283,13 +283,23 @@ will sleep easier, too--Wall Street programs not withstanding. :-) =head2 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." You may or may not choose to follow this usage. For -example, parallelism means "awk and perl" and "Python and Perl" look -OK, 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. +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 T, 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 eiditon became T, 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. =head2 Is it a Perl program or a Perl script?