One of the biggest benefits of using SDL is that it allows portable media applications to be written without having to be concerned with specific implmentations of media libraries for each target platform. Bringing Perl into the picture takes the portability one step further, allowing media-rich applications to be written in a high-level language that can be targeted to a number of platforms. While programming using SDL requires knowledge of C and access to a C compiler, using SDL_perl does not. This greatly decreases the amount of time it takes to get something up on the screen and working.

So get ready to dive into game development! Ars explores the art of SDL game programming with Perl. A dynamic, high-level scripting language and powerful open source SDL bindings make it possible to produce sophisticated games without a lot of effort or overhead.