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Perl

1987fraglet

scriptingimperativefunctionalscripting.pl.pm

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docker run --rm --platform="linux/amd64" 100hellos/perl:latest

MCP + fragletc

MCPstdinargs

This language supports code execution via MCP and the fragletc CLI. Stdin piping and argument passing are both supported.

Install fragletc →

Perl is a scripting imperative and functional language first appearing in 1987.

Hello World

#!/usr/bin/env perl

# This is a slightly modified version of the script from:
# https://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=329174
#
# You can do a simple "Hello World!" in Perl with:
# perl -e 'print "Hello World!\n"'
# BEGIN_FRAGLET
                  package Earth;sub Greet{
                %_=('Y','~');$_='$;=!(Middle
              Earth.age~~~<Eart~~~~~~~~~~~~~h
           .age)?!(defined$ti~~~~~~~~~~~mez~~~On
         e[2])?!(push@time~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Zone,loc
       ~altime())?rotation?~~~~~~~~~~~~~q~~?The Worl
      ~~d?:q:[\w]::q=[\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~d~a-f]=:q?..~~
     ~~~?:q:.:;"42b3d3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~728456c6c6f6
    ~~~~~0275f627c64672~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b3072796e647
   ~~~~~~~42b3b3rg7d"=Ym~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\$;~~*\;p~~~~u
  ~~~~~~~~~sh@_,$&;bless~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$c~~~~~~~
  ~~~~~~~~~o~ntine~~~~~nt~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~s=\~~~~~~~$~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~pangaea~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;{l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ocal@_;local$;
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~="o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~cean";$^A=(defi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ed$continents)?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(vec(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$;, YYsplit(\'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\',${\$;}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)%3,YYsplit(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~q??,$;)**2-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(($;=Ytr/oa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~eiu//)**2))=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=28160)?q:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.::q?!?:\'?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\';}$^A=Ys
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:\Q.\E:pack(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\'h*\',j
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oin(q(),~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~grep{$_=
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ym,$,,}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~split("
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~",@_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[0]))
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~):e~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~gexe
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;$d~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~="s
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ort~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<=
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~>,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~YY
           ~~~~~~~~~~~@_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              ~~~~~~~~~"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~';;
                s,(~|\r|\n|\s),,g;s.Y.\x7e.g;
                  eval};Greet;'the world';
# END_FRAGLET

Coding Guide

Language Version

Perl 5.x

Execution Model

Interpreted, runs directly from source
Code executes at the top level
Script runs once and exits

Key Characteristics

Dynamic typing
Case-sensitive
Variables use sigils: $ (scalar), @ (array), % (hash)
Context-sensitive (scalar vs list context)
Automatic memory management
Regular expressions are first-class

Fragment Authoring

Write valid Perl statements. Your fragment becomes the script body. Code runs at the top level of the script, so statements execute immediately. You can define subroutines, use variables, and call functions.

Available Packages

Standard Perl library is available. Core modules include:

strict and warnings (recommended for production code)
Data::Dumper - data structure debugging
File::Find - file system traversal
Getopt::Long - command-line option parsing
JSON - JSON encoding/decoding (if installed)
Many more in the standard library

Common Patterns

Print: print "message\n";
Variables: my $name = "Alice";
Arrays: my @list = (1, 2, 3);
Hashes: my %hash = (key => "value");
Subroutines: sub greet { my ($name) = @_; return "Hello, $name!"; }
Conditionals: if ($condition) { ... } else { ... }
Loops: for my $item (@list) { ... }
Regular expressions: $str =~ s/pattern/replacement/;

Examples

# Simple output
print "Hello, World!\n";

# Variables and string interpolation
my $name = "Alice";
print "Hello, $name!\n";

# Arrays
my @numbers = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
my $sum = 0;
for my $num (@numbers) {
    $sum += $num * $num;
}
print "Sum of squares: $sum\n";

# Functions
sub greet {
    my ($name) = @_;
    return "Hello, $name!";
}

print greet("World") . "\n";

# Hashes
my %colors = (
    red => "#FF0000",
    green => "#00FF00",
    blue => "#0000FF"
);
print "Red: $colors{red}\n";

# Regular expressions
my $text = "Hello World";
$text =~ s/World/Perl/;
print "$text\n";

# List processing with map
my @squared = map { $_ * $_ } (1..5);
print "Squares: @squared\n";

Caveats

Always use my to declare variables (avoids global scope pollution)
Remember to add newlines (\n) to print statements for proper output
String interpolation only works in double quotes, not single quotes
Array and hash access use different syntax: $array[0] vs $hash{key}
Context matters: @array in scalar context returns length, not the array itself

Fraglet Scripts

Echo Args

#!/usr/bin/env -S fragletc --vein=perl
print "Args: " . join(" ", @ARGV) . "\n";

Perl Fortune

#!/usr/bin/env -S fragletc --vein=perl
# One from the vault: Perl fortunes
print "Perl: the only language that looks the same before and after RSA encryption.\n";

Stdin Upper

#!/usr/bin/env -S fragletc --vein=perl
while (<STDIN>) { print uc($_); }

Test

#!/usr/bin/env -S fragletc --vein=perl
                  package Earth;sub Greet{
                %_=('Y','~');$_='$;=!(Middle
              Earth.age~~~<Eart~~~~~~~~~~~~~h
           .age)?!(defined$ti~~~~~~~~~~~mez~~~On
         e[2])?!(push@time~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Zone,loc
       ~altime())?rotation?~~~~~~~~~~~~~q~~?The Worl
      ~~d?:q:[\w]::q=[\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~d~a-f]=:q?..~~
     ~~~?:q:.:;"42b3d3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~728456c6c6f6
    ~~~~~0275f627c64672~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b3072796e647
   ~~~~~~~42b3b3rg7d"=Ym~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\$;~~*\;p~~~~u
  ~~~~~~~~~sh@_,$&;bless~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$c~~~~~~~
  ~~~~~~~~~o~ntine~~~~~nt~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~s=\~~~~~~~$~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~pangaea~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;{l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ocal@_;local$;
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~="o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~cean";$^A=(defi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ed$continents)?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(vec(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$;, YYsplit(\'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\',${\$;}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)%3,YYsplit(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~q??,$;)**2-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(($;=Ytr/oa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~eiu//)**2))=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=28160)?q:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.::q?!?:\'?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\';}$^A=Ys
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:\Q.\E:pack(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\'h*\',j
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oin(q(),~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~grep{$_=
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ym,$,,}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~split("
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~",@_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[0]))
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~):e~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~gexe
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;$d~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~="s
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ort~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<=
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~>,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~YY
           ~~~~~~~~~~~@_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              ~~~~~~~~~"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~';;
                s,(~|\r|\n|\s),,g;s.Y.\x7e.g;
                  eval};Greet;'the world';

Connections

influenced by

the-c-programming-language awk sed lisp

influences

php python raku ruby

Container Info

image100hellos/perl:latest

build scheduleMonday

fragletenabled

sourceperl/files/