This article introduces Perl (practical extraction and report language), then covers four new developments, and concludes with a listing of Perl resources. Developments include: JPL (term derived from Java and .pl), a toolkit which combines Java and Perl; Perl for Win32 by ActiveState, which allows one to write and run Perl scripts on 32-bit Windows; PerlScript, a web scripting language; and MacPerl, a version of Perl for MacOS. Both novices and experts can benefit from the resources provided within and at the end of this article. The article was originally published on cnet.com and is currently available at the author's Web page.