WebPerl is a project designed to run Perl in the browser.

Core Technology and Functionality

• WebAssembly Port: WebPerl utilizes the power of WebAssembly (Wasm) and Emscripten.

• Direct Binary Port: Critically, WebPerl does not translate Perl code to JavaScript. Instead, it is a port of the standard perl binary to WebAssembly, ensuring users have the full power of Perl at their disposal.

• Perl 6 Support: It offers experimental Perl 6 support.

• Browser Interaction: Perl code running via WebPerl can interact with JavaScript elements. For example, it can target elements by ID, add event listeners, and trigger JavaScript functions like window.alert.

• Output Handling: By default, standard output (such as the result of a print statement) goes to the JavaScript console.

Status and Availability

• Development Status: WebPerl is very much in beta. The developer notes that some features may not work yet, and parts of the API may still change. Feedback is appreciated.

• Open Source: The project's sources are available on GitHub (haukex/webperl).

• Related Tools: Beta web applications written using WebPerl are available, including the WebPerl Code Demo Editor and the WebPerl Regex Tester.

Usage and Deployment

• Prerequisites: To use the Quick Start method, users need a recent version of Perl (recommended v5.26 and up) and cpanm to install dependencies.

• Deployment: WebPerl can be deployed by downloading the prebuilt ZIP archive (e.g., webperlprebuiltv0.09-beta.zip), installing dependencies via cpanm, and running plackup webperl.psgi.

• Hosting: Content can be accessed locally via a browser at http://localhost:5000/ after running plackup. Alternatively, the contents of the ZIP archive can be hosted on a webserver of the user's choice.

• Examples: The ZIP archive contains several examples, including webperl_demo.html.