VANCOUVER, British Columbia – March 15, 1999 – Perl application development has never been this easy. Every Perl developer will expand their capabilities with the Perl Development Kit.

The latest version of the Perl Development Kit 1.1, released today by ActiveState Tool Corp, allows developers to create cutting-edge Perl Applications for Win32 platforms. The Perl Development Kit includes:

  • PerlDebugger 1.1: A lightweight yet powerful debugger for Perl scripts that lets a developer focus on their code.
  • PerlApp 1.1: Turns a developer's Perl scripts into executables that at the developer's option can be free-standing so that Perl scripts can be run on computers without Perl.
  • PerlCOM 1.1: A COM object factory that works with Perl packages, objects and bare script. PerlCOM, in conjunction with DCOM, allows developers to use Perl to easily build distributed applications.
  • PerlCtrl 1.1: Allows developers to create free standing COM controls written in Perl. This allows developers to quickly extend the functionality of Visual Basic or Delphi with Perl and the hundreds of Perl modules.

"The PDK gives new Perl users the opportunity to utilize the Perl Debugger to quickly understand how their Perl programs work, while experienced users can take advantage of PerlCtrl and PerlCOM in the COM based development environments such as Visual Basic.," says Dick Hardt, President and CTO of ActiveState Tool Corp. "PDK 1.1 allows programmers to build standalone executibles and COM controls with Perl that do not require the Perl run-time to be installed on the target machine. This will greatly increase the potential of Perl development."

Installing the Perl Development is straightforward. An intelligent installer simplifies the installation process. With improved documentation developers can easily get their scripts running right away. New features in Perl Development Kit 1.1 include the ability to build freestanding exe files and ActiveX controls with a wide variety of scripts. Feedback from beta testers indicates that the Perl Development Kit delivers flexibility and reduced development time. Perl Development Kit 1.1 is the latest offering in a series of ActiveState products that has allowed Perl Developers around the world to broaden their Perl Development capabilities. ActiveState continues to produce leading edge Perl development tools that can be utilized by both novice and expert Perl Developers alike.

For developers that have already purchased the O'Reilly & Associates Perl Resource Kit with Service Pack 1, or the ActiveState Perl Debugger 1.0, there is some great news. ActiveState is providing, free of charge, an upgrade path to the Perl Development Kit 1.1. Simply go to the Perl Development Page and follow the upgrade link. www.activestate.com/pdk/.