I know that Perl is very common for CGI scripts and is used in many web applications. I also know that Perl can be run from the command-line for basic applications. Anybody ever make desktop applications in Perl or do most people strictly use Perl for CGI and use C(++) or Visual Basic for desktop applications. I am curious because I would like to attempt to create a game in Perl and distribute it. Of course it could only work for people who have Perl installed. Just wondering.

So what is your question? I know you can create games with perl but I don't know about successful, but there are a few existing ones.

I am asking whether or not people generally use Perl to create desktop applications.

Im not really sure they use it generally, but to let you know it is possible.

I dont know too much about pearl well little at all but the idea of being able to merge desktop and www applications is interesting. I personally think the bridge will be closer in the near future. I've seen new articals on this topic before. wouldnt it be great to be able to build applications for both desktop and www use instead of having to build two seperate applications?

Perl is not a true web programming language. It is a normal programming language like C or Java. It can be used to create a desktop application. It can be configured though to run off a web server for scripting. My question was if people use Perl for stuff like game programming and if alot of people actually have Perl installed. I think a text-based RPG game or something similar can be very interesting in Perl.

I've never had the need (urge) to write a desktop app. (in any language). My first choice for doing such a thing, would be Perl. My second choice would be Java.

Several GUI toolkits exists for Perl: Tk, Gtk, Win32, QT, and wx. Perl/Tk is the oldest and simplest, and it's cross platform. Wx is what I would check out first, unless the app. should only run on Linux or Windows - then I would go for Gtk or Win32...

But if it's a game you're doing you have to look at Perl/SDL, which is a toolkit aimed at game.

For inspiration check out the great and addictive arcade game Frozon Bubble - written in 100% Perl!

Hi,

I can tell my experience with Perl was doing admin tasks in Linux, and it was very good at doing this, I even obtained a script to parse mime and add footer ads for emails, like Yahoo.

On the other hand for desktop applications I would use Visual Basic or Java, it makes more sense to me.

But as as long as Perl has pertinent resources for creating your game and you know how to use it, you better go for it.

And don't worry about how many people have Perl installed, it is an easy task if your game is interesting enough, I remember I installed Python on my laptop only to reset my iPod Shuffle

Thanks for the replies. I didn't know about the Perl toolkits and I might have a look at those. I started working with Perl Saturday and I feel very good about my knowledge in the language. I have basically read the entire Perl for Dummies book I got for Christmas on Sunday. I will try to make an RPG and I may even put in on something like Sourceforge.