Web pages are designed using programming codes and a number of technologies as tools to achieve the desired objectives. An example of the above described, are the pages of animations in which you use resources such as HTML5 or OpenGL programming language, among others. However, there are simple to use languages that offer incredible flexibility to combine systems to interoperate or process large amounts of data, such as Perl. Therefore, it is essential that you know the advantages and disadvantages of using Perl in web programming.
Due to the availability of various modules for programming (e.g. Dancer, Catalyst, Mojolicious, etc.) you have the possibility to use Perl in your web sites. It is clear that each of the environments offers benefits and disadvantages, but the important thing is that you know what you are facing if you use this language, which has several benefits.
What is Perl?
Perl is an acronym for Practical Extracting and Reporting Language and is a scripting language, that is, a computer code that is stored in a text file and can be used for web programming. You can use it to extract data from the text files of your web pages and obtain reports.
On another note, Perl combines features of other programming codes such as the C language, AWK and even Bourne Shell. And although Perl has long been used on Linux, it has now been adapted for use on web pages through a common gateway interface (CGI). The latter refers to a technology that allows any browser to request data from an application you are running on an online server.
Advantages
The main advantages of this language are as follows.
Structured: this programming language offers basic control structures for you to manipulate it comfortably. For example, you can use conditionals or loops in the creation of web pages to carry out actions and make decisions depending on the data inputs you receive. On the other hand, you can create functions to separate and improve the structure of the programming on your website.
Object-oriented programming support: allows you to create code through object-oriented programming. The latter can be used to create a structure based on objects which must have certain characteristics of this type of programming (attributes, methods and identity).
High-level language: means that it is more understandable than other types of languages, such as assembly language. In addition, it is easy to use because of its algorithms adapted to a more human language.
Object-oriented programming support: allows you to create code through object-oriented programming. The latter can be used to create a structure based on objects which must have certain characteristics of this type of programming (attributes, methods and identity).
High-level language: this means that it is more understandable than other types of languages, such as assembly language. In addition, it is easy to use because of its algorithms adapted to a more human language.
General purpose: means that you use it in web development but also in other environments such as Linux applications, system administration, data package management, etc.
Multiplatform: since it offers you the option to install it on operating systems such as Linux or Windows.
Free to use: this means that you do not need to pay for a license to program web pages with this programming language.
Interpreted language: this means that the code already written is not compiled (translation of the language into executable code for the web), but is executed directly.
Extensible: so you can program web pages and take advantage of parts of code written in other languages.
Disadvantages
Although it has many benefits, Perl has these disadvantages:
Slowness at the start of execution: when programming a web page you require speed to test your creations or modifications. However, Perl tends to be slow at the beginning of its execution since it must be compiled before use, compared to other languages such as Python.
No exception control: despite being a high-level language with control structures, it does not have exception controls. These controls allow you to handle events that occur on a web page such as an interrupted command sequence that prevents readers from performing a certain action.
It uses a lot of computational resources: this means that it is not as lightweight as other programming languages and can consume a lot of ram and CPU resources during its execution.
If you are willing to use Perl as a programming language for your web site, it is important to know first its advantages and disadvantages. It is an interpreted language that has several uses, although it is mainly oriented to the search and extraction of information, handling and management of processes, among others. The most important thing is that you get an interpreter of this language and from there, you get inspired to make the most of the resources it offers for web design.