How can I install Perl on Windows 8?

Question

I want to use Perl for web development. I have tried to find out how to install it but when I tried to get ActivePerl it wouldn't install on Windows 8. Can anyone tell me how to install Perl on Windows 8? I can go for ActivePerl, Strawberry Perl, or any other Perl release as long as it will work on Windows 8.

Answer 1

As you already know, there are two generally used Perls in the Windows World:

• ActivePerl from ActiveState.
• Strawberry Perl which is an open source project started by Adam Kennedy -- a big honcho in the Perl community.

What's the big difference between them:

ActiveState Perl was designed to be a Perl solution specifically for Windows (and later both Macs and Linux). ActiveState offers a very nice Perl IDE called Komodo and has excellent Perl support. All you need is some cash. After all, that's how ActiveState makes its money. Of course, you can use EPIC instead of Komodo and get a lot of help from StackOverflow too.

ActiveState comes with the default Win32 modules already installed and also supplies a Perl Package Manager (PPM) instead of using CPAN for installing other CPAN modules. PPM has a nice GUI interface, and its modules have already been precompiled and tested. It also is a bit better than CPAN with dependency tracking. Of course, there might be some CPAN modules not in PPM, and that can be an issue.

Strawberry Perl was started to be more Open Source oriented than ActiveState. By default, Strawberry Perl comes with a Make program and a complete development environment, so that almost all CPAN modules are available and can be installed. This is because Strawberry Perl comes with the complete MinGW package which includes Make and a gcc compiler. The idea was to give Perl people who mainly use Linux and Unix machines a similar feeling solution for Windows.

In reality, both are pretty similar. ActiveState comes with the Win32 modules, but you can install them as needed on Strawberry Perl via CPAN. Strawberry Perl works with CPAN, but ActiveState gives you complete directions for installing the same MinGW environment that Strawberry Perl uses (via their PPM) which allows you to install all CPAN modules that Strawberry Perl can install. ActiveState comes with a GUI Perl Documentation that includes all installed Perl modules, but the perldoc command gives you the same information anyway.

So, if you're more Linux/Unix oriented and want something that feels very similar on Windows, go with Strawberry Perl. If you are using Perl as a Win32 solution, go with ActiveState. And, don't worry about choosing the wrong one. In the end, Strawberry Perl can include all those nice Win32 modules, and ActivePerl can use CPAN.