Testing PERL CGI code

Testing CGI code locally on a Windows XP system

To achieve this you need a Perl package and a HTTP service (webserver) installed on your PC.

There are plenty of servers to choose from but usually I would pick Apache.

Currently I know of three Perl distributions for Windows:

1. Active Perl
2. Indigo Perl
3. Strawberry Perl

Currently I would recommend installing Active Perl and Apache. 

I had been concerned about the problems involved in configuring these but there aren't any, Apache 2.2.9 came with a default configuration including a cgi-bin folder and Activeperl added itself to the path so it could be found automatically.

GD

I have been unable to build the Perl GD library, fortunately the Activeperl 5.10.0 distribution included GD as standard.

Testing CGI code locally on a Linux system

One obvious solution is simply to switch from MS Windows to Linux, as dual-boot systems are very easy.