Perl Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples
Dr. Herong Yang, Version 5.00

Perl Script Conversion Tools

This section describes why and how to convert Perl script files to executable binary files. ActivePerl Dev Kit and Perl2Exe are two popular conversion tools for Windows systems.

It happens very often that you have developed a very nice Perl script to perform a common task, and someone else also needs to perform this task. So you decide to share your script with him/her. But he/she knows nothing about Perl and does not have Perl installed on his/her system. The simplest way to share your script in this case is to convert it into an executable program.

There are two general approaches to convert Perl scripts into executable programs:

  • Using the standard Perl compilation tool, perlcc, to convert Perl scripts into C source codes and then compiled into executable programs.
  • Using "Perl Dev Kit (PDK)" from ActiveState to convert Perl scripts directly into Windows executable programs.
  • Using Perl2Exe from IndigoSTAR Software to convert Perl scripts directly into Windows executable programs.

Sections in This Chapter

Perl Script Conversion Tools

Installing Perl Dev Kit (PDK)

Running PerlApp to Convert *.pl to *.exe

Dr. Herong Yang, updated in 2008
Perl Script Conversion Tools