Perl functions A-Z
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
- abs - absolute value function
 - accept - accept an incoming socket connect
 - alarm - schedule a SIGALRM
 - atan2 - arctangent of Y/X in the range -PI to PI
 
B
- bind - binds an address to a socket
 - binmode - prepare binary files for I/O
 - bless - create an object
 - break -
 
C
- caller - get context of the current subroutine call
 - chdir - change your current working directory
 - chmod - changes the permissions on a list of files
 - chomp - remove a trailing record separator from a string
 - chop - remove the last character from a string
 - chown - change the owership on a list of files
 - chr - get character this number represents
 - chroot - make directory new root for path lookups
 - close - close file (or pipe or socket) handle
 - closedir - close directory handle
 - connect - connect to a remote socket
 - continue - optional trailing block in a while or foreach
 - cos - cosine function
 - crypt - one-way passwd-style encryption
 
D
- dbmclose - breaks binding on a tied dbm file
 - dbmopen - create binding on a tied dbm file
 - defined - test whether a value, variable, or function is defined
 - delete - deletes a value from a hash
 - die - raise an exception or bail out
 - do - turn a BLOCK into a TERM
 - dump - create an immediate core dump
 
E
- each - retrieve the next key/value pair from a hash
 - endgrent - be done using group file
 - endhostent - be done using hosts file
 - endnetent - be done using networks file
 - endprotoent - be done using protocols file
 - endpwent - be done using passwd file
 - endservent - be done using services file
 - eof - test a filehandle for its end
 - eval - catch exceptions or compile and run code
 - exec - abandon this program to run another
 - exists - test whether a hash key is present
 - exit - terminate this program
 - exp - raise I
to a power  
F
- fcntl - file control system call
 - fileno - return file descriptor from filehandle
 - flock - lock an entire file with an advisory lock
 - fork - create a new process just like this one
 - format - declare a picture format with use by the write() function
 - formline - internal function used for formats
 
G
- getc - get the next character from the filehandle
 - getgrent - get next group record
 - getgrgid - get group record given group user ID
 - getgrnam - get group record given group name
 - gethostbyaddr - get host record given its address
 - gethostbyname - get host record given name
 - gethostent - get next hosts record
 - getlogin - return who logged in at this tty
 - getnetbyaddr - get network record given its address
 - getnetbyname - get networks record given name
 - getnetent - get next networks record
 - getpeername - find the other end of a socket connection
 - getpgrp - get process group
 - getppid - get parent process ID
 - getpriority - get current nice value
 - getprotobyname - get protocol record given name
 - getprotobynumber - get protocol record numeric protocol
 - getprotoent - get next protocols record
 - getpwent - get next passwd record
 - getpwnam - get passwd record given user login name
 - getpwuid - get passwd record given user ID
 - getservbyname - get services record given its name
 - getservbyport - get services record given numeric port
 - getservent - get next services record
 - getsockname - retrieve the sockaddr for a given socket
 - getsockopt - get socket options on a given socket
 - glob - expand filenames using wildcards
 - gmtime - convert UNIX time into record or string using Greenwich time
 - goto - create spaghetti code
 - grep - locate elements in a list test true against a given criterion
 
H
- hex - convert a string to a hexadecimal number
 
I
- import - patch a module's namespace into your own
 - index - find a substring within a string
 - int - get the integer portion of a number
 - ioctl - system-dependent device control system call
 
J
- join - join a list into a string using a separator
 
K
L
- last - exit a block prematurely
 - lc - return lower-case version of a string
 - lcfirst - return a string with just the next letter in lower case
 - length - return the number of bytes in a string
 - link - create a hard link in the filesytem
 - listen - register your socket as a server
 - local - create a temporary value for a global variable (dynamic scoping)
 - localtime - convert UNIX time into record or string using local time
 - lock - get a thread lock on a variable, subroutine, or method
 - log - retrieve the natural logarithm for a number
 - lstat - stat a symbolic link
 
M
- m - match a string with a regular expression pattern
 - map - apply a change to a list to get back a new list with the changes
 - mkdir - create a directory
 - msgctl - SysV IPC message control operations
 - msgget - get SysV IPC message queue
 - msgrcv - receive a SysV IPC message from a message queue
 - msgsnd - send a SysV IPC message to a message queue
 - my - declare and assign a local variable (lexical scoping)
 
N
O
- oct - convert a string to an octal number
 - open - open a file, pipe, or descriptor
 - opendir - open a directory
 - ord - find a character's numeric representation
 - our - declare and assign a package variable (lexical scoping)
 
P
- pack - convert a list into a binary representation
 - package - declare a separate global namespace
 - pipe - open a pair of connected filehandles
 - pop - remove the last element from an array and return it
 - pos - find or set the offset for the last/next m//g search
 - print - output a list to a filehandle
 - printf - output a formatted list to a filehandle
 - prototype - get the prototype (if any) of a subroutine
 - push - append one or more elements to an array
 
Q
- q - singly quote a string
 - qq - doubly quote a string
 - qr - Compile pattern
 - quotemeta - quote regular expression magic characters
 - qw - quote a list of words
 - qx - backquote quote a string
 
R
- rand - retrieve the next pseudorandom number
 - read - fixed-length buffered input from a filehandle
 - readdir - get a directory from a directory handle
 - readline - fetch a record from a file
 - readlink - determine where a symbolic link is pointing
 - readpipe - execute a system command and collect standard output
 - recv - receive a message over a Socket
 - redo - start this loop iteration over again
 - ref - find out the type of thing being referenced
 - rename - change a filename
 - require - load in external functions from a library at runtime
 - reset - clear all variables of a given name
 - return - get out of a function early
 - reverse - flip a string or a list
 - rewinddir - reset directory handle
 - rindex - right-to-left substring search
 - rmdir - remove a directory
 
S
- s - replace a pattern with a string
 - say -
 - scalar - force a scalar context
 - seek - reposition file pointer for random-access I/O
 - seekdir - reposition directory pointer
 - select - reset default output or do I/O multiplexing
 - semctl - SysV semaphore control operations
 - semget - get set of SysV semaphores
 - semop - SysV semaphore operations
 - send - send a message over a socket
 - setgrent - prepare group file for use
 - sethostent - prepare hosts file for use
 - setnetent - prepare networks file for use
 - setpgrp - set the process group of a process
 - setpriority - set a process's nice value
 - setprotoent - prepare protocols file for use
 - setpwent - prepare passwd file for use
 - setservent - prepare services file for use
 - setsockopt - set some socket options
 - shift - remove the first element of an array, and return it
 - shmctl - SysV shared memory operations
 - shmget - get SysV shared memory segment identifier
 - shmread - read SysV shared memory
 - shmwrite - write SysV shared memory
 - shutdown - close down just half of a socket connection
 - sin - return the sine of a number
 - sleep - block for some number of seconds
 - socket - create a socket
 - socketpair - create a pair of sockets
 - sort - sort a list of values
 - splice - add or remove elements anywhere in an array
 - split - split up a string using a regexp delimiter
 - sprintf - formatted print into a string
 - sqrt - square root function
 - srand - seed the random number generator
 - stat - get a file's status information
 - state -
 - study - optimize input data for repeated searches
 - sub - declare a subroutine, possibly anonymously
 - substr - get or alter a portion of a stirng
 - symlink - create a symbolic link to a file
 - syscall - execute an arbitrary system call
 - sysopen - open a file, pipe, or descriptor
 - sysread - fixed-length unbuffered input from a filehandle
 - sysseek - position I/O pointer on handle used with sysread and syswrite
 - system - run a separate program
 - syswrite - fixed-length unbuffered output to a filehandle
 
T
- tell - get current seekpointer on a filehandle
 - telldir - get current seekpointer on a directory handle
 - tie - bind a variable to an object class
 - tied - get a reference to the object underlying a tied variable
 - time - return number of seconds since 1970
 - times - return elapsed time for self and child processes
 - tr - transliterate a string
 - truncate - shorten a file
 
U
- uc - return upper-case version of a string
 - ucfirst - return a string with just the next letter in upper case
 - umask - set file creation mode mask
 - undef - remove a variable or function definition
 - unlink - remove one link to a file
 - unpack - convert binary structure into normal perl variables
 - unshift - prepend more elements to the beginning of a list
 - untie - break a tie binding to a variable
 - use - load in a module at compile time
 - utime - set a file's last access and modify times
 
V
W
- wait - wait for any child process to die
 - waitpid - wait for a particular child process to die
 - wantarray - get void vs scalar vs list context of current subroutine call
 - warn - print debugging info
 - write - print a picture record
 
X
- -X - a file test (-r, -x, etc)
 
Y
- y - transliterate a string
 
  
