PerlOnJava

Perl 5 on the JVM — single jar, batteries included

PerlOnJava compiles Perl to JVM bytecode. One jar file runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows — just add Java 22+.

Features

• Single jar distribution — no installation, no dependencies beyond Java
• Full toolchain — jperl, jperldoc, jcpan, jprove
• 150+ modules included — DBI, HTTP::Tiny, JSON, YAML, Text::CSV, and more
• Install more with jcpan — pure-Perl CPAN modules work out of the box
• JDBC database access — PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, Oracle via standard JDBC drivers
• Embed in Java apps — JSR-223 ScriptEngine integration
• Perl 5.42+ features — see feature matrix

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/fglock/PerlOnJava.git
cd PerlOnJava
make

./jperl -E 'say "Hello World"'
./jperl -MJSON -E 'say encode_json({hello => "world"})'

Full Quick Start Guide — Installation options, database setup, Docker

Documentation

| Getting Started | Guides | Reference | |-----------------|--------|-----------| | Installation | Database Access | Feature Matrix | | Quick Start | Java Integration | CLI Options | | Docker | Using CPAN Modules | Architecture | | One-liners | Module Porting | Testing |

About: Why PerlOnJava? | Roadmap | Changelog | Support

About Perl

Perl is a high-level, general-purpose language known for text processing, system administration, and web development. Learn more: www.perl.org

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for build instructions, code organization, and how to submit pull requests.

License

Same terms as Perl 5 — Artistic License or GPL v1+. See LICENSE.md. Copyright (c) Flavio Glock