The objective of this assignment is to report on the features behind the design of a programming language. (Perl) Scripting language with extensive report generating facilities.

The report should follow standard formatting for technical reports. This includes a cover page, an introduction, a background section, as many sections needed to cover the relevant topics, a conclusion, and a list of references. The report is 3-6 page range.

The report should contain information on the following:

A short history of the language, including which languages it may have been based on and which languages it may have subsequently influenced. This may be part of the introduction or the background.

The main objective or feature of the language. Why was this language invented?

An evaluation of whether the language met its goals.

Any machine dependent characteristics of importance or interest.

Any syntactic or semantic details of interest. Show how the syntax or semantics is particularly suited (or not suited) to the objectives. DO NOT just list all of the syntax of the language. You are not trying to reproduce a language reference manual.

For example, an if-statement is only interesting if it has unique syntax or semantics. On the other hand, the absence of a common syntactic structure like an if-statement is interesting to note.

For languages, interesting issues we have examined in class as general features of languages. For example, built-in types scoping rules, etc. Again, do not just list everything about the language. We are interested in the differences between languages. For example, what makes this language different from the languages we have already studied?

Finally, the report should conclude with a discussion of why you would or would not use this language. That is, give a 'personal opinion' to the features and capabilities of the language. It is perfectly acceptable to decide that you would never use the language.