Editing Black Perl

{{short description|Code poem}}
{{distinguish|Black Pearl (disambiguation){{!}}Black Pearl}}
'''"Black Perl"''' is a [[Code poetry|code poem]] written using the [[Perl]] [[programming language]]. It was posted anonymously to [[Usenet]] on April 1, 1990,<ref name=":0" /> and is popular among Perl programmers{{Citation needed|date=March 2019}} as a piece of [[Perl#Perl pastimes|Perl poetry]]. Written in Perl 3, the poem is able to be [[Execution (computing)|executed]] as a program. 

"Black Perl" has been discussed in several scholarly works,<ref>{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|305162869}} |last=Segura |first=Cynthia Anne |date=2004 |title=Perls of wisdom: Computer language and Perl poetry }}{{pn|date=February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kerr |first=Chris |title=Poetry and contemporary visual culture: = Lyrik und zeitgenössische Visuelle Kultur |last2=Holden |first2=Daniel |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-129933-4 |editor-last=Korecka |editor-first=Magdalena Elisabeth |series=Poetry in the digital age |location=Berlin |page=172 |chapter=Optimizing Code for Performance: Reading ./code --poetry |editor-last2=Vorrath |editor-first2=Wiebke}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tomasula |first1=Steve |title=Our Tools Make Us (And Our Literature) Post: Essai édité par Jean-Yves Pellegrin (Université Paris-Sorbonne) |journal=Transatlantica |date=30 December 2014 |issue=2 |doi=10.4000/transatlantica.7102 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and is considered an example of [[generative literature]], a genre of [[electronic literature]].

== Attribution ==
When posted to the <code>comp.lang.perl</code> newsgroup the poem was attributed to "a person who wishes to remain anonymous".<ref name=":0">{{cite book
 |first1=Larry
 |last1=Wall
 |first2=Tom
 |last2=Christiansen
 |first3=Jon
 |last3=Orwant
 |date=July 2000
 |title=Programming Perl, Third Edition
 |publisher=O'Reilly
 |page=649
 |isbn=0-596-00027-8 }}</ref> Sharon Rauenzahn ([[née]] Hopkins), another Perl poet, has been suspected to be the author but has since denied the claim.<ref>{{cite newsgroup 
 | title = Re: Forking a bunch of processes...
 | author = Sharon Hopkins
 | date = 1993-04-16
 | newsgroup = comp.lang.perl
 | message-id= 1993Apr16.233742.21214@cheshire.oxy.edu
 | url = https://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&selm=1993Apr16.233742.21214@cheshire.oxy.edu
 | accessdate = December 5, 2014
}}</ref>

== Result of program execution ==
When executed, "Black Perl" exits on line one, upon reaching the function [http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/exit.html exit]. The remaining lines are parsed by the Perl interpreter but never actually executed. The program produces no output.

Though it will not parse under [[Perl 5]], multiple independent updates to "Black Perl" to make it parsable in Perl 5 have been published.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=237465 |title=Black Perl updated for Perl 5 |author=jonadab |date=2003-02-21 |accessdate=2007-09-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=578707 |title=Black Perl Revisited |author=Ovid |date=2006-10-17 |accessdate=2007-09-15}}</ref>

== "Black Perl" ==
<syntaxhighlight lang="perl">
BEFOREHAND: close door, each window & exit; wait until time.
    open spellbook, study, read (scan, select, tell us);
write it, print the hex while each watches,
    reverse its length, write again;
    kill spiders, pop them, chop, split, kill them.
        unlink arms, shift, wait & listen (listening, wait),
sort the flock (then, warn the "goats" & kill the "sheep");
    kill them, dump qualms, shift moralities,
    values aside, each one;
        die sheep! die to reverse the system
        you accept (reject, respect);
next step,
    kill the next sacrifice, each sacrifice,
    wait, redo ritual until "all the spirits are pleased";
    do it ("as they say").
do it(*everyone***must***participate***in***forbidden**s*e*x*).
return last victim; package body;
    exit crypt (time, times & "half a time") & close it,
    select (quickly) & warn your next victim;
AFTERWORDS: tell nobody.
    wait, wait until time;
    wait until next year, next decade;
        sleep, sleep, die yourself,
        die at last
</syntaxhighlight>

== See also ==
* [[Digital poetry]]
* [[PerlMonks]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:American poems]]
[[Category:Perl]]
[[Category:1990 poems]]
[[Category:1990s electronic literature works]]