How has support for shebangs and portability changed across recent Perl versions?

Support for shebangs (#!) in Perl has evolved over recent versions, focusing on improving portability across different systems. The appearance of shebangs at the top of script files allows systems to know which interpreter to use to execute the script. With new versions of Perl, the shebang has become more flexible and forgiving, accommodating a variety of operating systems and environments.

In older versions of Perl, shebangs were often limited to specific paths, which could lead to issues in environments where Perl was installed in non-standard locations. Recent updates have introduced better handling of shebang lines, allowing for greater compatibility and ease of use.

As a result, specifying the path to Perl can now be done in a more portable manner, making scripts easier to run across different systems without needing manual adjustments. Developers are encouraged to use:

This shebang line leverages the env command to locate the Perl interpreter in the user's PATH, enhancing portability.