http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=186402

raveguy2k has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question: (programs and processes)

Is there any way to once you've got your perl program to work to make it to where you don't need to have active perl installed on another comp for it to work. Say if you wrote an address book in perl or something an I wanted to send it to my friend for him to use, is there any way for me to make it into an exe or something so he wouldn't have to install active perl?

Originally posted as a Categorized Question.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: How do I make a Perl script into a self-contained executable?
by radiantmatrix (Parson) on May 14, 2006 at 17:50 UTC
    There are several approaches to producing self-contained executable packages from Perl programs.
    1. ActiveState offers their Perl Dev Kit (PDK), which contains a tool called PerlApp. Using the PerlApp GUI tool, any set of Perl scripts can be "compiled" into a single distributable Windows EXE file. This is a commercial solution.
    2. Perl2EXE is a command-line tool with a similar goal as PerlApp above. There are "lite" (gratis) and "pro" (commercial) versions available with varying feature-sets.
    3. PAR is a cross-platform packager. The included pp utility is capable of creating perl packages in Windows EXE and Linux binary formats. (Possibly OSX as well? Untested...). However, PAR can also be used to distribute packages that require only a basic Perl distribution and the PAR runtime parl. These are not executables, but work similar to Java's JAR files.

    There are additional ways to accomplish the core goal of distributable packages, but the above are the recommended, well-tested methods.

    At some point in the future, Parrot may provide functionality to create reusable libraries, executables, and/or packages from Perl programs. Keep an eye on its development.

Re: Always working
by Nightblade (Beadle) on Jul 31, 2002 at 01:36 UTC
Re: Always working
by Marza (Vicar) on Jul 31, 2002 at 06:04 UTC

    You can also try PerlApp from ActiveState but it does cost you a bit as it is part of the DevKit

Re: How do I make a Perl script into a self-contained executable?
by reneeb (Chaplain) on Aug 08, 2005 at 07:23 UTC
    I use the Autrijus' PAR-module. This works fine and it is - Perl.
Re: How do I make a Perl script into a self-contained executable?
by superfrink (Curate) on Aug 08, 2005 at 05:07 UTC
    There is also the perlcc program.

    I have used perlcc on very simple programs without any problems but perldoc does refer to perlcc as "very experimental".
Re: How do I make a Perl script into a self-contained executable?
by 3dbc (Monk) on Nov 13, 2012 at 17:55 UTC
    perlapp so simple.

    Originally posted as a Categorized Answer.