Download Perl Distributions
Getting started quickly:
![]() Unix/Linux |
![]() Mac OS X |
![]() Windows |
(may not be latest) |
(may not be latest) |
|
Perl runs on over 100 platforms!
We recommend that you always run the latest stable version, currently 5.20.2. If you're running a version older than 5.8.3, you may find that the latest version of CPAN modules will not work.
Operating System Information:
Unix
Running Linux, Solaris, AIX, HPUX, or any other UNIX-like system?
Binaries
-
You probably already have perl
installed. Type
perl -von a command line to find out which version. - ActiveState Perl has binary distributions of Perl for many platforms. This is the simplest way to install the latest version of Perl.
Source
- Consider looking at App::perlbrew to help compile and manage Perl from source
- Find out more about the source code, development versions as well as current releases of the Perl source code.
- Latest under development source code
Mac OS X
Binaries
-
Mac OS X already has Perl installed. Open a Terminal application (in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder) and run
perl -vto find out which version. - ActiveState Perl has binary distributions of Perl for Mac OS X. This is the simplest way to install the latest version of Perl.
Source
- Consider looking at App::perlbrew to help compile and manage Perl from source
- Find out more about the source code, development versions as well as current releases of the Perl source code.
- Latest under development source code
Windows
Windows does not have Perl installed by default.
Binaries
- ActiveState Perl has binary distributions of Perl for Win32 (and Perl for Win64).
- Strawberry Perl: A 100% Open Source Perl for Windows that is exactly the same as Perl everywhere else; this includes using modules from CPAN, without the need for binary packages. Help is available from other Windows Perl developers on the #win32 irc channel on irc.perl.org (see website for access through a browser).
- DWIM Perl for Windows: A 100% Open Source Perl for Windows, based on Strawberry Perl. It aims to include as many useful CPAN modules as possible. It even comes with Padre, the Perl IDE.
Source
- Consider looking at App::perlbrew to help compile and manage Perl from source
- Find out more about the source code, development versions as well as current releases of the Perl source code.
- Latest under development source code
Learning Perl
learn.perl.org has many resources to help you get started, also contact others in the Perl Community to find out more and get help.
Commercial Support
ActiveState offers commercial support for Perl.
Tip
Database interfaces DBIx::Class provides an Object Relational Mapper (ORM) to databases (e.g. Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, Postgress, Access etc)





