Although it was once a comprehensive language for web programming. What Programming Language To Learn - Web Programming What Programming Language To Learn - Web Programming Today we are going to take a look at the various web programming languages that power the Internet. This is part four in a series on programming for beginners. In part 1, we learned the basics of... Read More Very few people think learning Perl is worth the effort these days.
But that doesn't mean the language is useless or obsolete.. In fact, many modern websites and web tools still rely on Perl for day-to-day operations, including Craigslist, IMDb, and DuckDuckGo, so if you're interested in learning it, don't let anyone stop or dissuade you. 7 Useful Tricks to Master a New Programming Language 7 Useful Tricks to Master a New Programming Language It's okay to feel overwhelmed when you're learning to code. You will probably forget things as fast as you learn them. These tips can help you better retain all the new information. Read more.
If you're going to learn Perl, then you'll also want to familiarize yourself with POD. Here's what it is, why it's important, and what to do when you come across such files.
POD stands for Plain Old Documentation, which is a basic markup language used to format text without much effort. It is similar to Markdown markup language. What is Markdown? 4 reasons why you should learn it now What is Markdown? 4 reasons why you should learn it Are you tired of HTML and WYSIWYG editors? Then Markdown is the answer for you, no matter who you are. Read More
POD can be used in two ways: it can exist directly within the source code of a Perl file OR it can exist as a separate POD file. When it exists inside the code, you can think of it as comments in any other programming language, except the most sophisticated and flexible ones.
Embedded documentation works well with stand-alone scripts or when you want to ensure that anyone who finds the file is also guaranteed access to the documentation, but it can be cumbersome when you want to document an entire code base at a higher level.
Fortunately, POD can also be used to create manual-type pages that are more suitable for user-facing documents (as users may not want to delve into the source code of a script itself). That's when POD files come in handy.
To be clear, the built-in POD documentation is contained within the actual Perl script files between lines of code, and these script files come in one of two extension formats:.PL or .PM. When you see a .POD extension, it indicates that the file is documentation only and does not include source code.
While it's possible to open POD files in any text editor, including Notepad, you'll probably only want to do this if you're editing the raw documentation itself. Think of it like opening an HTML file in an editor:with all the markup, the actual text content is hard to read.
Instead, you should use some sort of reading tool that takes the raw POD documentation and presents it in an easy-to-read way.
The easiest way is to use the perldoc Command line tool that is automatically included when Perl is installed on your system. Most OS X and Linux systems come with Perl already installed, but Windows users will need to install it manually. (Fortunately, it's no more difficult than running a setup file.)
Now start the command line, navigate to where the POD file is located and type perldoc [archivo .pod] to see it correctly formatted. For example, if the file was named library.pod then you would write perldoc library.pod and that's it.
Despite perldoc The tool isn't too difficult to use, it's not exactly convenient when you want to share the documentation with others or when you want to read it away from your computer. That's when you may want to consider converting to another format.
Convert to HTML: Install and use the pod2html tool which provides an easy way to translate any POD file into a readable HTML file. Unfortunately, you can only do a one-to-one conversion (so you can't combine multiple POD files into a single HTML file).
Convert to PDF: Install and use the pod2pdf tool, which is similar and just as easy to use as the pod2html tool above, except it converts to PDF instead of HTML.
Another option would be to convert POD to HTML using the method shown above, open the HTML file in a browser like Chrome or Firefox, and then print the page as a PDF.
Convert to Markdown: Install and use the pod2markdown tool to translate between POD and Markdown. Markdown is a general-purpose markup language, which means that users are more likely to be familiar with it and that there are more tools that can accept and display Markdown.
Convert to LaTeX: Install and use the pod2latex tool. LaTeX is another markup language, one that is less common than Markdown, but still more popular than POD. LaTeX is mainly used in academic and scientific documents, but in case you need it, this converter exists.
Convert to plain text: Install and use the pod2text tool, which produces an ASCII-formatted text-only file. You probably won't need to use this, but in case you do, know that the option exists.
Once you get the hang of it, POD files are extremely simple and convenient to use. There is a bit of a learning curve, but it's very small, especially if you've used a markup language before. Hopefully you are now comfortable dealing with POD files.
If you're feeling overwhelmed, ask yourself these important questions for novice programmers 4 questions to ask yourself before learning how to code 4 questions to ask yourself before learning how to code Learning a programming language is popular. But is it for everyone? Before you commit, ask yourself the following questions and be honest. Read more . Having difficulties doesn't necessarily mean you're not destined to be a programmer. 6 Signs that you are not intended to be a programmer. 6 Signs that you are not intended to be a programmer. Not everyone is cut out to be a programmer. If you're not entirely sure you're destined to be a programmer, here are some signs that may point you in the right direction. Read More
That said, heed these tips to learn how to code without the stress How to Learn to Code Without All the Stress How to Learn to Code Without All the Stress You may have decided to pursue programming, either for a career or just as a hobby. Cool! But maybe you're starting to feel overwhelmed. No good. Here's help to make your journey easier. Read More What makes a good programming tutorial? What makes a good programming tutorial? Not all programming tutorials are the same. Some benefit you and others end up wasting your time. Here's what to look for in a quality programming tutorial. Read more.
What are you using Perl for? Do you have any other tips to share or questions to ask? Let us know in the comments below!
