ActiveState Offers A Precious 'Perl'
The popularity of scripting languages such as Perl and Tool Command Language continues to grow, according to authorities in the field, because the languages can be used to run servers and tie together the diverse elements of a Web site.
ActiveState Tool, the maker of a version of the scripting language Perl for Windows machines, said yesterday that it has seen 3 million downloads of its offering of ActivePerl over the past year, with 375,000 occurring in October. Perl is an open source code and hence free.
"We have seen a 55 percent increase in sales for our Perl titles," said Tim O'Reilly, president of computer book publisher O'Reilly & Associates in Sebastopol, Calif. O'Reilly & Associates not only publishes guides to the Perl scripting language but also employs Perl's original author, Larry Wall, who continues working on the language.
ActiveState is now offering a CD with ActivePerl and related tools and utilities, priced at $39.95, said ActiveState Chief Executive Dick Hardt.