Android learns Perl

In addition to Lua, Python, JRuby and BeanShell, Google's Android smartphone operating system now also speaks Perl. The current 0.11 release of the Android Scripting Extension (ASE) contains an interpreter for the time-honoured scripting language. Perl 5.10 was implemented at the beginning of August.

The ASE repository offers both a ZIP file with installable components and the source code tree. A mini example demonstrates how to use the included Android module to produce a standard greeting:

use Android;
my $a = Android->new();
$a->makeToast("Hello, Android!");

It remains to be seen how far the Android interfaces are supported. The already existing ASE languages Python and Lua still have their limitations.

See also:

• MIPS port of Android open sourced, a report from The H.
• Google Android "Donut" will not include multi-touch, a report from The H.

(crve)