prime_generator.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;

print $_,$/ for prime_generator(1000);


sub prime_generator {
    my $limit = shift;
    return (2) if $limit <= 2;

    my @nums;
    for (1..$limit) {
        $nums[$_] = 1;
    }

    @nums[0,1] = (0, 0);
   
    my $prime = 2;
  SIEVE:
    while (1) {
        my $picker = $prime + $prime;
        while ($picker <= $limit) {
            $nums[$picker] = 0;
            $picker += $prime;
        }

        for ($prime+1..$limit) {
            if ($nums[$_] == 1) {
                $prime = $_;
                next SIEVE;
            }
            else {
                last SIEVE;
            }
        }
    }

    return grep { $nums[$_] } 1..$limit;
}