Active State Komodo is easy to download, and free to use for a 30-day period; installation was easy and fast. I’m pleased that I’ve found this tool as I struggle to learn Perl. I’m teaching myself Perl, for the fourth or fifth time. Things have not worked out well before because I didn’t concentrate, or I didn’t do the homework, or for various other reasons. However, the single most important reason I have failed in previous attempts is because I was unable to spot all my errors such as missing semicolons or brackets, etc.

Now I’m using Active State Komodo. I’m a novice coder and I understand Komodo is useful for PHP, Python, and Ruby as well; however, I know nothing about those applications. I do know a little about Perl and want to be able to construct simple scripts to parse spreadsheets or HTML text. Or, perhaps I’d like to use off-the-shelf scripts and link them together to help me understand text patterns in my own writing. So far, Komodo has been a wonderful find. I’m not sure if debug is the correct term for an uncompiled language, but that is how I think of the help that Komodo provides. I can run scripts and a little window shows me where errors might be in my script. Komodo even tries to guess what type of error I have made and alerts me with a note suggesting syntax, or improperly defined variables, etc.

I have been using Komodo for free. I’m not sure what I will do now that my 30-day trial period is coming to an end. I need to look over the fine print of the Komodo agreement and see if I can continue to use Komodo for free for personal use, or if I need to register. I have limited funds and, if possible, hope to continue using Komodo for a few months as I learn Perl. If I can gain a bit more ability in Perl, I will be happy to pay the $29.95 fee for the Komodo personal edition because, I’ll always need a little as I manipulate Perl scripts. Active State Komodo