Editing The Perl Lazarus Workshop (section)

== wxPerl: placing wxWidgets in Perl hands ==

The Perl binding itself is distributed as <code>Wx</code> and is commonly called wxPerl.

wxPerl allows a Perl program to create and control wxWidgets objects: applications, frames, panels, dialogs, buttons, text controls, lists, grids, notebooks, menus, status bars, timers, drawing contexts, and the many other facilities supplied by wxWidgets.

This means the Perl programmer can bring existing Perl abilities directly into an event-driven desktop application.

The database layer may still use DBI.

The web client may still use familiar HTTP and JSON modules.

The parser may still be the parser already tested in a command-line program or server process.

The validation rules may still live in ordinary Perl modules.

wxPerl does not require the craftsman to abandon the language in which the underlying work is already expressed. It gives that work a graphical point of contact with the user.

The renewed ability to install and build wxPerl on current Windows environments owes much to the wxPerl revival work led by Johan Vromans and assisted by others who tested, corrected, and documented the modern build path.<ref>[https://dev.to/sciurius/wxperl-revival-5fde Johan Vromans, “wxPerl Revival”]</ref>

The Perl Lazarus Project builds on that labor. It is not a claim to have independently recreated wxPerl. It is an effort to carry the revived binding further into a repeatable development, packaging, and distribution practice.

The first verification after installation should therefore be visible and concrete. <code>Wx::Demo</code> provides examples of many available controls and facilities, while a minimal application verifies that Perl can create a frame and enter the wxWidgets event loop.

The third essay, [[Raising a Working wxPerl Shop on Windows]], will perform that verification in detail.