Perl is best known for its regexp capabilities. Other scripting languages have their own strong suit but if you want to parse some log files, Perl does the quick and dirty job.

Advantages: * Portability: Perl code that doesn't use system specific features can be run on any platform, and these days almost every operating systems support it. So, for example, if you write an utility that renames files in a complete directory tree according to some rule, you will be able to run it on Windows and Unix (Linux, Solaris, AIX, BSD, etc), and probably Mac OS too. But if you write an utility that changes file permissions, you might run into problems, because file permission are implemented differently on different systems. * String processing and especially Regular expression support: Perl is a winner in everything related to string processing. Its regular expression support is the most versatile in existence and seamlessly integrated into the language. (In fact, it is so good, that Perl has set a new standard for regular expression, which is now emulated in many other programs and languages). * CPAN: www.cpan.org has a huge collection of free and reusable Perl code for many purposes - Science, system administration, Mathematics, Biology, foreign languages, database access, networking, etc. * It is a beautiful language that combines the best features from many other languages and is very easy to learn if you approach it properly. But that's also a matter of taste. Disadvantages: * You can't easily create a binary image ("exe") from a Perl file. It's not a serious problem on Unix, but it might be a problem on Windows. There are some utilities which can do it, but they are neither free nor portable. * If you want to run your program on a different computer, you can't always be sure that Perl is installed everywhere. It is common enough on most modern Linux and Solaris installations, although some system administrators choose to not install it for various reasons. On Windows, though, it is not so common and you need to install it. The installation is easy to get and free, but it needs to be done before you can run anything. * Moreover, if you write a script which uses modules from CPAN, and want to run it on another computer, you need to install all the modules on that other computer, which can be a drag.

PERL is highly optimised langauage and it is good language to deal with web , some task are very easy to do in perl as compare to other language due to its inbuilt packages . Web applications can be easily developed in perl and require less efforts than any other web language . its feature like pattern matching,regular expressions,oops,special variables,system variables,networking and platform independency are very efficient for writing good code in less time