how to use a perl script in windows

Using Perl Scripts on Windows (Install, Run, Automate, and Avoid Common Pitfalls)

Overview

Difficulty: Beginner (with some intermediate tips)

Tags: perl, windows, cmd, powershell, strawberry-perl, activeperl, cpan, automation, encoding, path

Using a Perl script on Windows boils down to four things:

Install a Perl distribution (so Windows has a perl.exe interpreter).
Make sure it’s on your PATH (so perl works from any terminal).
Run your script from Command Prompt or PowerShell (or automate it via Task Scheduler).
Follow Windows-aware best practices (paths, quoting, encodings, line endings, permissions).

1) Install Perl on Windows

Windows does not ship with Perl. You must install it. The two most common choices are:

Strawberry Perl (very popular for development; includes a compiler toolchain and a CPAN client setup that works well).
ActivePerl (vendor-provided distribution; may have licensing considerations depending on version/usage).

After installation, verify the interpreter:

perl -v

If you see a version banner, Perl is installed and runnable.

PATH (the #1 Windows setup issue)

If perl -v says something like “perl is not recognized as an internal or external command”, then Perl is not on your PATH. Fix by either:

Re-running the installer and enabling “Add Perl to PATH”, or
Manually adding the Perl bin directory to PATH (System Properties → Environment Variables).

Typical Strawberry Perl location looks like C:\\Strawberry\\perl\\bin (your install may differ).

2) Create a Perl script file

Create a file with a .pl extension, for example hello_windows.pl. Use a text editor (VS Code, Notepad++, etc.). Start with strict and warnings:

use strict;
use warnings;

print "Hello from Perl on Windows!\n";
print "2 + 2 = ", 2 + 2, "\n";

3) Run a Perl script (Command Prompt and PowerShell)

Open a terminal, change into the script folder, and run:

cd C:\\path\\to\\your\\scripts
perl hello_windows.pl

Expected output:

Hello from Perl on Windows!
2 + 2 = 4

Running scripts in different shells

Command Prompt (cmd.exe): good for simple usage; quoting rules are older and sometimes stricter.
PowerShell: modern shell; different quoting/escaping rules; often easier with paths containing spaces.

In both shells, the most reliable habit is: explicitly call perl yourscript.pl, especially when you are starting out. It avoids confusion with file associations.

4) Two more runnable examples (with expected output)

Example 2: Command-line options (Getopt::Long)

This is common for “real scripts”: take parameters, validate them, and produce consistent output.

use strict;
use warnings;
use Getopt::Long qw(GetOptions);

my $name  = "World";
my $times = 1;

GetOptions(
  "name=s"  => \$name,
  "times=i" => \$times,
) or die "Usage: perl greet.pl --name NAME --times N\n";

die "--times must be >= 1\n" if $times < 1;

for (1..$times) {
  print "Hello, $name!\n";
}

Run (cmd or PowerShell):

perl greet.pl --name Ada --times 3

Expected output:

Hello, Ada!
Hello, Ada!
Hello, Ada!

Example 3: Safe temporary files and simple processing (File::Temp)

Windows scripting often involves working with files. This example writes known data to a temp file, reads it back, and computes counts deterministically.

use strict;
use warnings;
use File::Temp qw(tempfile);

my ($fh, $filename) = tempfile();
print $fh "alpha\n";
print $fh "beta\n";
print $fh "beta\n";
close $fh;

open my $in, "<", $filename or die "Can't open temp file: $!";
my $lines = 0;
my $beta  = 0;

while (my $line = <$in>) {
  $lines++;
  chomp $line;
  $beta++ if $line eq "beta";
}
close $in;

print "Temp file: $filename\n";
print "Lines: $lines\n";
print "beta lines: $beta\n";

Run:

perl tempfile_count.pl

Expected output (the temp path will vary, but the counts are stable):

Temp file: C:\Users\YOURNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\XXXXXXXX
Lines: 3
beta lines: 2

5) Best practices on Windows

A) Always use strict and warnings

Start scripts with:

use strict;
use warnings;

This catches typos and many logic errors early.

B) Use Windows-safe path handling

Windows paths use backslashes, but in Perl string literals a backslash is an escape character. That means this is wrong:

my $p = "C:\temp\new";   # \t becomes a TAB, \n becomes newline

Prefer one of these instead:

Escape backslashes: "C:\\temp\\new"
Use single quotes (no interpolation/escapes): 'C:\\temp\\new'
Or best: build paths with core modules like File::Spec:

use File::Spec;
my $p = File::Spec->catfile('C:', 'temp', 'new', 'file.txt');

C) Be careful with quoting and spaces in paths

Windows users often store scripts under paths like C:\\Users\\Name\\My Documents\\Scripts. When a path contains spaces:

In cmd.exe, you typically need double quotes around the full path.
In PowerShell, quoting is also needed, but escaping rules differ.

Safe habit:

perl "C:\\Users\\Name\\My Documents\\Scripts\\myscript.pl"

D) Understand encodings (UTF-8 vs legacy console code pages)

Windows consoles historically default to non-UTF-8 encodings (varies by system and configuration). If your script reads/writes non-ASCII (accented characters, symbols), be explicit:

Use use utf8; for UTF-8 in your source code literals.
Use binmode or open layers for filehandles to read/write UTF-8.

Example pattern (for scripts that print Unicode reliably when the terminal supports it):

use strict;
use warnings;
use utf8;

binmode STDOUT, ':encoding(UTF-8)';
print "café\n";

If the console still shows garbled output, the terminal’s encoding settings may not be UTF-8 (this is a Windows environment issue, not a Perl bug).

E) Prefer core modules for portability

When possible, use modules included with Perl (core) so your scripts run on other Windows machines without extra installs. Examples include Getopt::Long, File::Temp, File::Find, File::Spec, Time::Piece.

F) Install non-core modules responsibly (CPAN)

When you need external modules, install them via CPAN tooling that matches your distribution. A common approach with Strawberry Perl is installing cpanm and then modules, but the exact commands can vary. In production settings, prefer:

Documented dependency installation steps.
Pinning versions when reproducibility matters.
Vendoring dependencies or using a controlled build environment when deploying to many machines.

6) Common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)

Perl not found: Fix PATH; verify with where perl (cmd) or Get-Command perl (PowerShell).
Double-click runs then disappears: The console window closes immediately. Run from a terminal, or add a sleep/<STDIN> pause during debugging.
Backslash escapes in strings: Use 'C:\\path' or File::Spec.
Different quoting rules between cmd and PowerShell: Test your command lines in the shell you will deploy with.
CRLF line endings: Perl generally handles CRLF fine, but tools and cross-platform repos can get messy. Keep consistent editor settings.
Permissions/UAC: Writing to system locations (like C:\\Program Files) may require admin privileges; prefer user-writable directories.
Module installation issues: Use the distribution’s recommended tooling and ensure you have the needed build tools where applicable.

7) Real-world usage patterns on Windows

Perl on Windows is widely used for automation and “glue code”:

Log processing: parse IIS logs, app logs, CSV exports; aggregate metrics; generate reports.
File automation: rename batches of files, move files by date, clean directories, validate filenames.
ETL scripts: transform data files, call APIs, load into databases (with appropriate DB drivers).
Build/release tooling: generate artifacts, update version strings, run checks.
Scheduled tasks: run nightly jobs via Windows Task Scheduler.

Task Scheduler tip (practical)

When scheduling a script, avoid relying on a PATH you don’t control. Point the task directly at perl.exe and pass the script as an argument. Also set “Start in” to your script directory if it reads relative paths.

8) Quick checklist

Install Strawberry Perl or ActivePerl.
Verify: perl -v.
Run scripts with: perl yourscript.pl.
Use: use strict; use warnings;.
Handle paths safely (escape backslashes or use File::Spec).
Be explicit about encoding when using non-ASCII text.
For automation, use Task Scheduler with explicit perl.exe path.