Learning Perl on Win32 Systems

Colophon

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The animal on the cover of Learning Perl on Win32 Systems is a wall gecko. Geckos are a very large and diverse family of lizards, with approximately 670 species. The wall gecko is found in North Africa, southern parts of Spain, France, and Italy, the Canary Islands, and some South Pacific islands. Their wide distribution is largely due to geckos stowing away aboard cargo ships. Wall geckos regularly live among humans, making their homes in the crevices of houses.

As their name implies, wall geckos can climb walls with ease, a skill they share with other geckos. Contrary to long-held opinion, they do not have suction cup-like fingers and toes. Instead, they have microscopic, hooked cells covering their digits. The cells hook into any tiny crevice or irregularity in a surface, even glass.

Geckos are the only reptiles that make extensive use of their voices. They communicate danger, attract mates, and mark territory using a range of chirps, squeaks, and barks. If caught, a gecko can break off a section of its tail using muscular contraction, which severs a tail vertebra. The tail will regenerate, but can never again be broken off at that particular site.

Wall geckos, which are nocturnal, have excellent vision. They have no eyelids, just ...