Is there some tiny perl that I can use in embedded system where the size would matter?

Question

Is there some tiny perl that I can use in embedded system where the size would matter?

Answer 1

See Simon Cozens' article on Microperl.

microperl is a real, honest-to-goodness Perl interpreter; no core elements of the Perl language have been removed. The regular expression engine is exactly the same, the language is exactly the same, it has the same Unicode support, and so on. The only things that have been removed from it are functions that are completely system-specific, like crypt and readdir.

See also README.micro:

microperl is supposed to be a really minimal perl, even more minimal than miniperl. No Configure is needed to build microperl, on the other hand this means that interfaces between Perl and your operating system are left very -- minimal.

All this is experimental. If you don't know what to do with microperl you probably shouldn't. Do not report bugs in microperl; fix the bugs.

Depending on size constraints, you may not need to go that far, just using miniperl —which is built in the process of compiling perl— might be enough.

Answer 2

Hate to say it and I will probability get lots of down votes but ...

If size is a problem go with C. If there is a specific functionality you want from perl you will find a C library with a bit of searching that will give you similar functionality.

If easy script-ability and quick turn around is required may be you should get a larger CPU able to run perl or try a language with a smaller footprint like Lua.