PL File Extension

What is the .PL file type?

Primarily, the .pl extension relates to Perl and is conventionally assigned to Perl source-code files. Perl is a powerful interpreted script-oriented programming language, initially developed as a report-processing tool. Perl has a strong presence in the Unix/Linux world, especially on web servers, and is widely used for server-side string analysis. Perl is also ported to most platforms.

Thus, a typical .pl file is a plaintext file, directly readable and editable by a human with a text editor. Like with most source-code files, text inside a .pl file would be indented for easier comprehension. A PL file contains a source code of a Perl program, or script.

Text inside a PL file begins with a header defining a path to the Perl interpreter. To actually run, such a .pl script has to be 'fed' into a Perl interpreter, which will interpret the source code and execute the resulting machine code.

Besides the conventional .pl, Perl scripts can have any other extension. On web servers, Perl scripts are often placed in the '/cgi-bin' sub-directory with the .cgi (Common Gateway Interface) extension.

Also, the .pl extension can be used to identify another kind of plaintext source-code files, that is, those written in Prolog, a high-level declarative logic programming language mainly employed in artificial intelligence, machine linguistics etc. A Prolog .pl source-code file must be compiled before it can run.

Alternatively, the .pl extension can be used to denote Extended UNIX 2D/3D Color Plot files created and processed by BRL-CAD (Ballistic Research Laboratory, Computer-Aided Design), a well-established Unix-based cross-platform constructive solid geometry (CSG) system initially developed for ballistic and weapon-effect research.

Software to open or convert PL files

ActivePerl

 

MasterCook by Valusoft Cosmi

 

Notepad++ by Notepad++ Team

 

Bluefish by The Bluefish Developers

 

BrillKids Little Reader by BrillKids Inc.

 

Free File Viewer Pro

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