Include Perl in Java

Question

Is there any way to execute perl code without having to use Runtime.getRuntime.exec(\"...\"); (parse in java app)?

Answer 1

Inline::Perl is the accepted way. But there's also Jerl which may be run from a JAR.

Here's an example without using the VM wrapper (which is not so fun).

Here's some examples using the jerlWrapper class to make it easier to code:

import jerlWrapper.perlVM;

public final class HelloWorld  {

    /* keeping it simple */
    private static String helloWorldPerl = "print 'Hello World '.$].\"\n\";";

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        perlVM helloJavaPerl = new perlVM(helloWorldPerl);  
        helloJavaPerl.run();
    }
}

or

import jerlWrapper.perlVM;

public final class TimeTest  {

    /*  The (ugly) way to retrieve time within perl, with all the
     *  extra addition to make it worth reading afterwards.
     */
    private static String testProggie = new String(
            "my ($sec, $min, $hr, $day, $mon, $year) = localtime;"+
            "printf(\"%02d/%02d/%04d %02d:%02d:%02d\n\", "+
            "       $mon, $day + 1, 1900 + $year, $hr, $min, $sec);"
    );

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        perlVM helloJavaPerl = new perlVM(testProggie);     
        boolean isSuccessful = helloJavaPerl.run();
        if (isSuccessful) {
            System.out.print(helloJavaPerl.getOutput());
        }
    }
}