How can I create a binary file in Perl?

Question

For example, I want to create a file called sample.bin and put a number, like 255, so that 255 is saved in the file as little-endian, FF 00. Or 3826 to F2 0E.

Answer 1

Yes, use binmode

For your entertainment (if not education) my very first attempt at creating a binary file included binmode STDOUT and the following:

sub output_word {
    $word = $_[0];
    $lsb  = $word % 256;
    $msb  = int($word/256);
    print OUT chr($lsb) . chr($msb);
    return $word;
} 

FOR PITY'S SAKE DON'T USE THIS CODE! It comes from a time when I didn't know any better.

It could be argued I still don't, but it's reproduced here to show that you can control the order of the bytes, even with brain-dead methods, and because I need to 'fess up.

A better method would be to use pack as Adam Batkin suggested.

I think I committed the atrocity above in Perl 4. It was a long time ago. I wish I could forget it...