Install "Command Line Tools for Xcode", either directly or
through Xcode, both available from
Apple Developer downloads
(free registration required). Xcode can also be installed through the
App Store application.
Open the Terminal.app (found in Applications -> Utilities)
and copy & paste the command below into it (then press the
'return' key):
curl -L https://xrl.us/installperlosx | bash
Once this is finished (it takes several minutes), quit the
Terminal app.
If you are interested in the details of the setup above...
To build and install Perl and many of the thousands of useful
Perl modules you need to have a compiler. For macOS the
easiest way to get a compiler is to install
"Command Line Tools for Xcode" (about 100 Megs), either directly or
through Xcode (several Gigs), both available from
Apple Developer downloads.
Xcode is also available through the
App
Store application. Some versions of the macOS install DVD or SSD come with the
'developer tools', which contains Xcode. Only the 'unix tools' section
of Xcode is actually required, no specific version of Xcode is needed,
the latest is available directly through the App Store.
To interact with the command line and run Perl commands, a terminal
application is needed. macOS comes with Terminal.app by default, there are
alternatives
available as well.
macOS uses .bash_profile, but most other systems (and instructions) look
for .bashrc, this code sets up .bash_profile to also run anything
in .bashrc. There are other
differences but these are not important to us.
The Perlbrew website lists many
of it's advantages. We recommend it here because it separates your
installation from the system Perl, this makes upgrading your OS less likely
to cause issues with your own Perl setup. It also means you can use a newer
Perl than the default one which comes with your OS.