HP-UX 11i Version 2 May 2005 Release Notes

Libraries and Programming
Perl
Chapter 10
175
Performance
There are no known performance issues.
Documentation
There is no other documentation.
Obsolescence
Not applicable.
Perl
Perl is a high-level programming language created and enhanced by the Open Source
community. Perl takes the best features from other languages, such as C, awk, sed, sh,
and BASIC, among others, and at least a dozen other tools and languages.
Summary of Change
Perl 5.8.2 build 808 corresponds to the Perl 5.8.2 source code release and includes the
following:
• Better Unicode support
• New I/O implementation
• New thread implementation
• Better numeric accuracy
• Safe Signals
• Many new modules
• More extensive regression testing
Significant changes that have occurred in the 5.8.2 release are documented in
perldelta. This document can be viewed by entering man perldelta.
Impact
There are no impacts other than those listed above.
Compatibility
Perl 5.8 is not binary compatible with earlier releases of Perl. XS modules have to
recompiled. (Pure Perl modules should continue to work.) The major reason for the
discontinuity is the new IO architecture called PerlIO. PerlIO is the default
configuration because without it many new features of Perl 5.8 cannot be used. In other
words, you just have to recompile your modules containing XS code.