Edit File: perlmodlib.pod
=for maintainers Generated by perlmodlib.PL -- DO NOT EDIT! =head1 NAME perlmodlib - constructing new Perl modules and finding existing ones =head1 THE PERL MODULE LIBRARY Many modules are included in the Perl distribution. These are described below, and all end in F<.pm>. You may discover compiled library files (usually ending in F<.so>) or small pieces of modules to be autoloaded (ending in F<.al>); these were automatically generated by the installation process. You may also discover files in the library directory that end in either F<.pl> or F<.ph>. These are old libraries supplied so that old programs that use them still run. The F<.pl> files will all eventually be converted into standard modules, and the F<.ph> files made by B<h2ph> will probably end up as extension modules made by B<h2xs>. (Some F<.ph> values may already be available through the POSIX, Errno, or Fcntl modules.) The B<pl2pm> file in the distribution may help in your conversion, but it's just a mechanical process and therefore far from bulletproof. =head2 Pragmatic Modules They work somewhat like compiler directives (pragmata) in that they tend to affect the compilation of your program, and thus will usually work well only when used within a C<use>, or C<no>. Most of these are lexically scoped, so an inner BLOCK may countermand them by saying: no integer; no strict 'refs'; no warnings; which lasts until the end of that BLOCK. Some pragmas are lexically scoped--typically those that affect the C<$^H> hints variable. Others affect the current package instead, like C<use vars> and C<use subs>, which allow you to predeclare a variables or subroutines within a particular I<file> rather than just a block. Such declarations are effective for the entire file for which they were declared. You cannot rescind them with C<no vars> or C<no subs>. The following pragmas are defined (and have their own documentation). =over 12 =item arybase Set indexing base via $[ =item attributes Get/set subroutine or variable attributes =item autodie Replace functions with ones that succeed or die with lexical scope =item autodie::exception Exceptions from autodying functions. =item autodie::exception::system Exceptions from autodying system(). =item autodie::hints Provide hints about user subroutines to autodie =item autouse Postpone load of modules until a function is used =item base Establish an ISA relationship with base classes at compile time =item bigint Transparent BigInteger support for Perl =item bignum Transparent BigNumber support for Perl =item bigrat Transparent BigNumber/BigRational support for Perl =item blib Use MakeMaker's uninstalled version of a package =item bytes Force byte semantics rather than character semantics =item charnames Access to Unicode character names and named character sequences; also define character names =item constant Declare constants =item deprecate Perl pragma for deprecating the core version of a module =item diagnostics Produce verbose warning diagnostics =item encoding Allows you to write your script in non-ascii or non-utf8 =item encoding::warnings Warn on implicit encoding conversions =item feature Enable new features =item fields Compile-time class fields =item filetest Control the filetest permission operators =item if C<use> a Perl module if a condition holds =item inc::latest Use modules bundled in inc/ if they are newer than installed ones =item integer Use integer arithmetic instead of floating point =item less Request less of something =item lib Manipulate @INC at compile time =item locale Use or avoid POSIX locales for built-in operations =item mro Method Resolution Order =item open Set default PerlIO layers for input and output =item ops Restrict unsafe operations when compiling =item overload Package for overloading Perl operations =item overloading Lexically control overloading =item parent Establish an ISA relationship with base classes at compile time =item perldoc Look up Perl documentation in Pod format. =item perlfaq Frequently asked questions about Perl =item perlfaq1 General Questions About Perl =item perlfaq2 Obtaining and Learning about Perl =item perlfaq3 Programming Tools =item perlfaq4 Data Manipulation =item perlfaq5 Files and Formats =item perlfaq6 Regular Expressions =item perlfaq7 General Perl Language Issues =item perlfaq8 System Interaction =item perlfaq9 Web, Email and Networking =item perlfunc Perl builtin functions =item perlglossary Perl Glossary =item perlpodspeccopy Plain Old Documentation: format specification and notes =item perlvarcopy Perl predefined variables =item perlxs XS language reference manual =item perlxstut Tutorial for writing XSUBs =item perlxstypemap Perl XS C/Perl type mapping =item re Alter regular expression behaviour =item sigtrap Enable simple signal handling =item sort Control sort() behaviour =item strict Restrict unsafe constructs =item subs Predeclare sub names =item threads Perl interpreter-based threads =item threads::shared Perl extension for sharing data structures between threads =item utf8 Enable/disable UTF-8 (or UTF-EBCDIC) in source code =item vars Predeclare global variable names (obsolete) =item version Perl extension for Version Objects =item vmsish Control VMS-specific language features =item warnings Control optional warnings =item warnings::register Warnings import function =back =head2 Standard Modules Standard, bundled modules are all expected to behave in a well-defined manner with respect to namespace pollution because they use the Exporter module. See their own documentation for details. It's possible that not all modules listed below are installed on your system. For example, the GDBM_File module will not be installed if you don't have the gdbm library. =over 12 =item AnyDBM_File Provide framework for multiple DBMs =item App::Cpan Easily interact with CPAN from the command line =item App::Prove Implements the C<prove> command. =item App::Prove::State State storage for the C<prove> command. =item App::Prove::State::Result Individual test suite results. =item App::Prove::State::Result::Test Individual test results. =item Archive::Extract A generic archive extracting mechanism =item Archive::Tar Module for manipulations of tar archives =item Archive::Tar::File A subclass for in-memory extracted file from Archive::Tar =item Attribute::Handlers Simpler definition of attribute handlers =item AutoLoader Load subroutines only on demand =item AutoSplit Split a package for autoloading =item B The Perl Compiler Backend =item B::Concise Walk Perl syntax tree, printing concise info about ops =item B::Debug Walk Perl syntax tree, printing debug info about ops =item B::Deparse Perl compiler backend to produce perl code =item B::Lint Perl lint =item B::Lint::Debug Adds debugging stringification to B:: =item B::Showlex Show lexical variables used in functions or files =item B::Terse Walk Perl syntax tree, printing terse info about ops =item B::Xref Generates cross reference reports for Perl programs =item Benchmark Benchmark running times of Perl code =item C<Socket> Networking constants and support functions =item CGI Handle Common Gateway Interface requests and responses =item CGI::Apache Backward compatibility module for CGI.pm =item CGI::Carp CGI routines for writing to the HTTPD (or other) error log =item CGI::Cookie Interface to HTTP Cookies =item CGI::Fast CGI Interface for Fast CGI =item CGI::Pretty Module to produce nicely formatted HTML code =item CGI::Push Simple Interface to Server Push =item CGI::Switch Backward compatibility module for defunct CGI::Switch =item CGI::Util Internal utilities used by CGI module =item CORE Namespace for Perl's core routines =item CPAN Query, download and build perl modules from CPAN sites =item CPAN::API::HOWTO A recipe book for programming with CPAN.pm =item CPAN::Debug Internal debugging for CPAN.pm =item CPAN::Distroprefs Read and match distroprefs =item CPAN::FirstTime Utility for CPAN::Config file Initialization =item CPAN::HandleConfig Internal configuration handling for CPAN.pm =item CPAN::Kwalify Interface between CPAN.pm and Kwalify.pm =item CPAN::Meta The distribution metadata for a CPAN dist =item CPAN::Meta::Converter Convert CPAN distribution metadata structures =item CPAN::Meta::Feature An optional feature provided by a CPAN distribution =item CPAN::Meta::History History of CPAN Meta Spec changes =item CPAN::Meta::Prereqs A set of distribution prerequisites by phase and type =item CPAN::Meta::Requirements A set of version requirements for a CPAN dist =item CPAN::Meta::Spec Specification for CPAN distribution metadata =item CPAN::Meta::Validator Validate CPAN distribution metadata structures =item CPAN::Meta::YAML Read and write a subset of YAML for CPAN Meta files =item CPAN::Nox Wrapper around CPAN.pm without using any XS module =item CPAN::Queue Internal queue support for CPAN.pm =item CPAN::Tarzip Internal handling of tar archives for CPAN.pm =item CPAN::Version Utility functions to compare CPAN versions =item CPANPLUS API & CLI access to the CPAN mirrors =item CPANPLUS::Backend Programmer's interface to CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Backend::RV Return value objects =item CPANPLUS::Config Configuration defaults and heuristics for CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Configure Configuration for CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Dist Base class for plugins =item CPANPLUS::Dist::Autobundle Distribution class for installation snapshots =item CPANPLUS::Dist::Base Base class for custom distribution classes =item CPANPLUS::Dist::Build CPANPLUS plugin to install packages that use Build.PL =item CPANPLUS::Dist::Build::Constants Constants for CPANPLUS::Dist::Build =item CPANPLUS::Dist::MM Distribution class for MakeMaker related modules =item CPANPLUS::Dist::Sample Sample code to create your own Dist::* plugin =item CPANPLUS::Error Error handling for CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::FAQ CPANPLUS Frequently Asked Questions =item CPANPLUS::Hacking Developing CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Internals CPANPLUS internals =item CPANPLUS::Internals::Extract Internals for archive extraction =item CPANPLUS::Internals::Fetch Internals for fetching files =item CPANPLUS::Internals::Report Internals for sending test reports =item CPANPLUS::Internals::Search Internals for searching for modules =item CPANPLUS::Internals::Source Internals for updating source files =item CPANPLUS::Internals::Source::Memory In memory implementation =item CPANPLUS::Internals::Source::SQLite SQLite implementation =item CPANPLUS::Internals::Utils Convenience functions for CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Module CPAN module objects for CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Module::Author CPAN author object for CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Module::Author::Fake Dummy author object for CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Module::Checksums Checking the checksum of a distribution =item CPANPLUS::Module::Fake Fake module object for internal use =item CPANPLUS::Selfupdate Self-updating for CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Shell Base class for CPANPLUS shells =item CPANPLUS::Shell::Classic CPAN.pm emulation for CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Shell::Default The default CPANPLUS shell =item CPANPLUS::Shell::Default::Plugins::CustomSource Add custom sources to CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Shell::Default::Plugins::HOWTO Documentation on how to write your own plugins =item CPANPLUS::Shell::Default::Plugins::Remote Connect to a remote CPANPLUS =item CPANPLUS::Shell::Default::Plugins::Source Read in CPANPLUS commands =item Carp Alternative warn and die for modules =item Class::Struct Declare struct-like datatypes as Perl classes =item Compress::Raw::Bzip2 Low-Level Interface to bzip2 compression library =item Compress::Raw::Zlib Low-Level Interface to zlib compression library =item Compress::Zlib Interface to zlib compression library =item Config Access Perl configuration information =item Cwd Get pathname of current working directory =item DB Programmatic interface to the Perl debugging API =item DBM_Filter Filter DBM keys/values =item DBM_Filter::compress Filter for DBM_Filter =item DBM_Filter::encode Filter for DBM_Filter =item DBM_Filter::int32 Filter for DBM_Filter =item DBM_Filter::null Filter for DBM_Filter =item DBM_Filter::utf8 Filter for DBM_Filter =item DB_File Perl5 access to Berkeley DB version 1.x =item Data::Dumper Stringified perl data structures, suitable for both printing and C<eval> =item Devel::InnerPackage Find all the inner packages of a package =item Devel::PPPort Perl/Pollution/Portability =item Devel::Peek A data debugging tool for the XS programmer =item Devel::SelfStubber Generate stubs for a SelfLoading module =item Digest Modules that calculate message digests =item Digest::MD5 Perl interface to the MD5 Algorithm =item Digest::SHA Perl extension for SHA-1/224/256/384/512 =item Digest::base Digest base class =item Digest::file Calculate digests of files =item DirHandle Supply object methods for directory handles =item Dumpvalue Provides screen dump of Perl data. =item DynaLoader Dynamically load C libraries into Perl code =item Encode Character encodings in Perl =item Encode::Alias Alias definitions to encodings =item Encode::Byte Single Byte Encodings =item Encode::CJKConstants Internally used by Encode::??::ISO_2022_* =item Encode::CN China-based Chinese Encodings =item Encode::CN::HZ Internally used by Encode::CN =item Encode::Config Internally used by Encode =item Encode::EBCDIC EBCDIC Encodings =item Encode::Encoder Object Oriented Encoder =item Encode::Encoding Encode Implementation Base Class =item Encode::GSM0338 ESTI GSM 03.38 Encoding =item Encode::Guess Guesses encoding from data =item Encode::JP Japanese Encodings =item Encode::JP::H2Z Internally used by Encode::JP::2022_JP* =item Encode::JP::JIS7 Internally used by Encode::JP =item Encode::KR Korean Encodings =item Encode::KR::2022_KR Internally used by Encode::KR =item Encode::MIME::Header MIME 'B' and 'Q' header encoding =item Encode::MIME::Name Internally used by Encode =item Encode::PerlIO A detailed document on Encode and PerlIO =item Encode::Supported Encodings supported by Encode =item Encode::Symbol Symbol Encodings =item Encode::TW Taiwan-based Chinese Encodings =item Encode::Unicode Various Unicode Transformation Formats =item Encode::Unicode::UTF7 UTF-7 encoding =item English Use nice English (or awk) names for ugly punctuation variables =item Env Perl module that imports environment variables as scalars or arrays =item Errno System errno constants =item Exporter Implements default import method for modules =item Exporter::Heavy Exporter guts =item ExtUtils::CBuilder Compile and link C code for Perl modules =item ExtUtils::CBuilder::Platform::Windows Builder class for Windows platforms =item ExtUtils::Command Utilities to replace common UNIX commands in Makefiles etc. =item ExtUtils::Command::MM Commands for the MM's to use in Makefiles =item ExtUtils::Constant Generate XS code to import C header constants =item ExtUtils::Constant::Base Base class for ExtUtils::Constant objects =item ExtUtils::Constant::Utils Helper functions for ExtUtils::Constant =item ExtUtils::Constant::XS Generate C code for XS modules' constants. =item ExtUtils::Embed Utilities for embedding Perl in C/C++ applications =item ExtUtils::Install Install files from here to there =item ExtUtils::Installed Inventory management of installed modules =item ExtUtils::Liblist Determine libraries to use and how to use them =item ExtUtils::MM OS adjusted ExtUtils::MakeMaker subclass =item ExtUtils::MM_AIX AIX specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix =item ExtUtils::MM_Any Platform-agnostic MM methods =item ExtUtils::MM_BeOS Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker =item ExtUtils::MM_Cygwin Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker =item ExtUtils::MM_DOS DOS specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix =item ExtUtils::MM_Darwin Special behaviors for OS X =item ExtUtils::MM_MacOS Once produced Makefiles for MacOS Classic =item ExtUtils::MM_NW5 Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker =item ExtUtils::MM_OS2 Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker =item ExtUtils::MM_QNX QNX specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix =item ExtUtils::MM_UWIN U/WIN specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix =item ExtUtils::MM_Unix Methods used by ExtUtils::MakeMaker =item ExtUtils::MM_VMS Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker =item ExtUtils::MM_VOS VOS specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix =item ExtUtils::MM_Win32 Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker =item ExtUtils::MM_Win95 Method to customize MakeMaker for Win9X =item ExtUtils::MY ExtUtils::MakeMaker subclass for customization =item ExtUtils::MakeMaker Create a module Makefile =item ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Config Wrapper around Config.pm =item ExtUtils::MakeMaker::FAQ Frequently Asked Questions About MakeMaker =item ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Tutorial Writing a module with MakeMaker =item ExtUtils::Manifest Utilities to write and check a MANIFEST file =item ExtUtils::Mkbootstrap Make a bootstrap file for use by DynaLoader =item ExtUtils::Mksymlists Write linker options files for dynamic extension =item ExtUtils::Packlist Manage .packlist files =item ExtUtils::ParseXS Converts Perl XS code into C code =item ExtUtils::ParseXS::Constants Initialization values for some globals =item ExtUtils::ParseXS::Utilities Subroutines used with ExtUtils::ParseXS =item ExtUtils::Typemaps Read/Write/Modify Perl/XS typemap files =item ExtUtils::Typemaps::Cmd Quick commands for handling typemaps =item ExtUtils::Typemaps::InputMap Entry in the INPUT section of a typemap =item ExtUtils::Typemaps::OutputMap Entry in the OUTPUT section of a typemap =item ExtUtils::Typemaps::Type Entry in the TYPEMAP section of a typemap =item ExtUtils::XSSymSet Keep sets of symbol names palatable to the VMS linker =item ExtUtils::testlib Add blib/* directories to @INC =item Fatal Replace functions with equivalents which succeed or die =item Fcntl Load the C Fcntl.h defines =item File::Basename Parse file paths into directory, filename and suffix. =item File::CheckTree Run many filetest checks on a tree =item File::Compare Compare files or filehandles =item File::Copy Copy files or filehandles =item File::DosGlob DOS like globbing and then some =item File::Fetch A generic file fetching mechanism =item File::Find Traverse a directory tree. =item File::Glob Perl extension for BSD glob routine =item File::GlobMapper Extend File Glob to Allow Input and Output Files =item File::Path Create or remove directory trees =item File::Spec Portably perform operations on file names =item File::Spec::Cygwin Methods for Cygwin file specs =item File::Spec::Epoc Methods for Epoc file specs =item File::Spec::Functions Portably perform operations on file names =item File::Spec::Mac File::Spec for Mac OS (Classic) =item File::Spec::OS2 Methods for OS/2 file specs =item File::Spec::Unix File::Spec for Unix, base for other File::Spec modules =item File::Spec::VMS Methods for VMS file specs =item File::Spec::Win32 Methods for Win32 file specs =item File::Temp Return name and handle of a temporary file safely =item File::stat By-name interface to Perl's built-in stat() functions =item FileCache Keep more files open than the system permits =item FileHandle Supply object methods for filehandles =item Filter::Simple Simplified source filtering =item Filter::Util::Call Perl Source Filter Utility Module =item FindBin Locate directory of original perl script =item GDBM_File Perl5 access to the gdbm library. =item Getopt::Long Extended processing of command line options =item Getopt::Std Process single-character switches with switch clustering =item HTTP::Tiny A small, simple, correct HTTP/1.1 client =item Hash::Util A selection of general-utility hash subroutines =item Hash::Util::FieldHash Support for Inside-Out Classes =item I18N::Collate Compare 8-bit scalar data according to the current locale =item I18N::LangTags Functions for dealing with RFC3066-style language tags =item I18N::LangTags::Detect Detect the user's language preferences =item I18N::LangTags::List Tags and names for human languages =item I18N::Langinfo Query locale information =item IO Load various IO modules =item IO::Compress::Base Base Class for IO::Compress modules =item IO::Compress::Bzip2 Write bzip2 files/buffers =item IO::Compress::Deflate Write RFC 1950 files/buffers =item IO::Compress::FAQ Frequently Asked Questions about IO::Compress =item IO::Compress::Gzip Write RFC 1952 files/buffers =item IO::Compress::RawDeflate Write RFC 1951 files/buffers =item IO::Compress::Zip Write zip files/buffers =item IO::Dir Supply object methods for directory handles =item IO::File Supply object methods for filehandles =item IO::Handle Supply object methods for I/O handles =item IO::Pipe Supply object methods for pipes =item IO::Poll Object interface to system poll call =item IO::Seekable Supply seek based methods for I/O objects =item IO::Select OO interface to the select system call =item IO::Socket Object interface to socket communications =item IO::Socket::INET Object interface for AF_INET domain sockets =item IO::Socket::UNIX Object interface for AF_UNIX domain sockets =item IO::Uncompress::AnyInflate Uncompress zlib-based (zip, gzip) file/buffer =item IO::Uncompress::AnyUncompress Uncompress gzip, zip, bzip2 or lzop file/buffer =item IO::Uncompress::Base Base Class for IO::Uncompress modules =item IO::Uncompress::Bunzip2 Read bzip2 files/buffers =item IO::Uncompress::Gunzip Read RFC 1952 files/buffers =item IO::Uncompress::Inflate Read RFC 1950 files/buffers =item IO::Uncompress::RawInflate Read RFC 1951 files/buffers =item IO::Uncompress::Unzip Read zip files/buffers =item IO::Zlib IO:: style interface to L<Compress::Zlib> =item IPC::Cmd Finding and running system commands made easy =item IPC::Msg SysV Msg IPC object class =item IPC::Open2 Open a process for both reading and writing using open2() =item IPC::Open3 Open a process for reading, writing, and error handling using open3() =item IPC::Semaphore SysV Semaphore IPC object class =item IPC::SharedMem SysV Shared Memory IPC object class =item IPC::SysV System V IPC constants and system calls =item JSON::PP JSON::XS compatible pure-Perl module. =item JSON::PP::Boolean Dummy module providing JSON::PP::Boolean =item List::Util A selection of general-utility list subroutines =item List::Util::XS Indicate if List::Util was compiled with a C compiler =item Locale::Codes A distribution of modules to handle locale codes =item Locale::Codes::API A description of the callable function in each module =item Locale::Codes::Changes Details changes to Locale::Codes =item Locale::Codes::Constants Constants for Locale codes =item Locale::Codes::Country Standard codes for country identification =item Locale::Codes::Country_Codes Country codes for the Locale::Codes::Country module =item Locale::Codes::Country_Retired Retired country codes for the Locale::Codes::Country module =item Locale::Codes::Currency Standard codes for currency identification =item Locale::Codes::Currency_Codes Currency codes for the Locale::Codes::Currency module =item Locale::Codes::Currency_Retired Retired currency codes for the Locale::Codes::Currency module =item Locale::Codes::LangExt Standard codes for language extension identification =item Locale::Codes::LangExt_Codes Langext codes for the Locale::Codes::LangExt module =item Locale::Codes::LangExt_Retired Retired langext codes for the Locale::Codes::LangExt module =item Locale::Codes::LangFam Standard codes for language extension identification =item Locale::Codes::LangFam_Codes Langfam codes for the Locale::Codes::LangFam module =item Locale::Codes::LangFam_Retired Retired langfam codes for the Locale::Codes::LangFam module =item Locale::Codes::LangVar Standard codes for language variation identification =item Locale::Codes::LangVar_Codes Langvar codes for the Locale::Codes::LangVar module =item Locale::Codes::LangVar_Retired Retired langvar codes for the Locale::Codes::LangVar module =item Locale::Codes::Language Standard codes for language identification =item Locale::Codes::Language_Codes Language codes for the Locale::Codes::Language module =item Locale::Codes::Language_Retired Retired language codes for the Locale::Codes::Language module =item Locale::Codes::Script Standard codes for script identification =item Locale::Codes::Script_Codes Script codes for the Locale::Codes::Script module =item Locale::Codes::Script_Retired Retired script codes for the Locale::Codes::Script module =item Locale::Country Standard codes for country identification =item Locale::Currency Standard codes for currency identification =item Locale::Language Standard codes for language identification =item Locale::Maketext Framework for localization =item Locale::Maketext::Cookbook Recipes for using Locale::Maketext =item Locale::Maketext::Guts Deprecated module to load Locale::Maketext utf8 code =item Locale::Maketext::GutsLoader Deprecated module to load Locale::Maketext utf8 code =item Locale::Maketext::Simple Simple interface to Locale::Maketext::Lexicon =item Locale::Maketext::TPJ13 Article about software localization =item Locale::Script Standard codes for script identification =item Log::Message A generic message storing mechanism; =item Log::Message::Config Configuration options for Log::Message =item Log::Message::Handlers Message handlers for Log::Message =item Log::Message::Item Message objects for Log::Message =item Log::Message::Simple Simplified interface to Log::Message =item MIME::Base64 Encoding and decoding of base64 strings =item MIME::QuotedPrint Encoding and decoding of quoted-printable strings =item Math::BigFloat Arbitrary size floating point math package =item Math::BigInt Arbitrary size integer/float math package =item Math::BigInt::Calc Pure Perl module to support Math::BigInt =item Math::BigInt::CalcEmu Emulate low-level math with BigInt code =item Math::BigInt::FastCalc Math::BigInt::Calc with some XS for more speed =item Math::BigRat Arbitrary big rational numbers =item Math::Complex Complex numbers and associated mathematical functions =item Math::Trig Trigonometric functions =item Memoize Make functions faster by trading space for time =item Memoize::AnyDBM_File Glue to provide EXISTS for AnyDBM_File for Storable use =item Memoize::Expire Plug-in module for automatic expiration of memoized values =item Memoize::ExpireFile Test for Memoize expiration semantics =item Memoize::ExpireTest Test for Memoize expiration semantics =item Memoize::NDBM_File Glue to provide EXISTS for NDBM_File for Storable use =item Memoize::SDBM_File Glue to provide EXISTS for SDBM_File for Storable use =item Memoize::Storable Store Memoized data in Storable database =item Module::Build Build and install Perl modules =item Module::Build::API API Reference for Module Authors =item Module::Build::Authoring Authoring Module::Build modules =item Module::Build::Base Default methods for Module::Build =item Module::Build::Bundling How to bundle Module::Build with a distribution =item Module::Build::Compat Compatibility with ExtUtils::MakeMaker =item Module::Build::ConfigData Configuration for Module::Build =item Module::Build::Cookbook Examples of Module::Build Usage =item Module::Build::ModuleInfo DEPRECATED =item Module::Build::Notes Create persistent distribution configuration modules =item Module::Build::PPMMaker Perl Package Manager file creation =item Module::Build::Platform::Amiga Builder class for Amiga platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::Default Stub class for unknown platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::EBCDIC Builder class for EBCDIC platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::MPEiX Builder class for MPEiX platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::MacOS Builder class for MacOS platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::RiscOS Builder class for RiscOS platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::Unix Builder class for Unix platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::VMS Builder class for VMS platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::VOS Builder class for VOS platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::Windows Builder class for Windows platforms =item Module::Build::Platform::aix Builder class for AIX platform =item Module::Build::Platform::cygwin Builder class for Cygwin platform =item Module::Build::Platform::darwin Builder class for Mac OS X platform =item Module::Build::Platform::os2 Builder class for OS/2 platform =item Module::Build::Version DEPRECATED =item Module::Build::YAML DEPRECATED =item Module::CoreList What modules shipped with versions of perl =item Module::Load Runtime require of both modules and files =item Module::Load::Conditional Looking up module information / loading at runtime =item Module::Loaded Mark modules as loaded or unloaded =item Module::Metadata Gather package and POD information from perl module files =item Module::Pluggable Automatically give your module the ability to have plugins =item Module::Pluggable::Object Automatically give your module the ability to have plugins =item NDBM_File Tied access to ndbm files =item NEXT Provide a pseudo-class NEXT (et al) that allows method redispatch =item Net::Cmd Network Command class (as used by FTP, SMTP etc) =item Net::Config Local configuration data for libnet =item Net::Domain Attempt to evaluate the current host's internet name and domain =item Net::FTP FTP Client class =item Net::NNTP NNTP Client class =item Net::Netrc OO interface to users netrc file =item Net::POP3 Post Office Protocol 3 Client class (RFC1939) =item Net::Ping Check a remote host for reachability =item Net::SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Client =item Net::Time Time and daytime network client interface =item Net::hostent By-name interface to Perl's built-in gethost*() functions =item Net::libnetFAQ Libnet Frequently Asked Questions =item Net::netent By-name interface to Perl's built-in getnet*() functions =item Net::protoent By-name interface to Perl's built-in getproto*() functions =item Net::servent By-name interface to Perl's built-in getserv*() functions =item O Generic interface to Perl Compiler backends =item ODBM_File Tied access to odbm files =item Object::Accessor Interface to create per object accessors =item Opcode Disable named opcodes when compiling perl code =item POSIX Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1 =item Package::Constants List all constants declared in a package =item Params::Check A generic input parsing/checking mechanism. =item Parse::CPAN::Meta Parse META.yml and META.json CPAN metadata files =item Perl::OSType Map Perl operating system names to generic types =item PerlIO On demand loader for PerlIO layers and root of PerlIO::* name space =item PerlIO::encoding Encoding layer =item PerlIO::mmap Memory mapped IO =item PerlIO::scalar In-memory IO, scalar IO =item PerlIO::via Helper class for PerlIO layers implemented in perl =item PerlIO::via::QuotedPrint PerlIO layer for quoted-printable strings =item Pod::Checker Check pod documents for syntax errors =item Pod::Escapes For resolving Pod EE<lt>...E<gt> sequences =item Pod::Find Find POD documents in directory trees =item Pod::Functions Group Perl's functions a la perlfunc.pod =item Pod::Html Module to convert pod files to HTML =item Pod::InputObjects Objects representing POD input paragraphs, commands, etc. =item Pod::LaTeX Convert Pod data to formatted Latex =item Pod::Man Convert POD data to formatted *roff input =item Pod::ParseLink Parse an LE<lt>E<gt> formatting code in POD text =item Pod::ParseUtils Helpers for POD parsing and conversion =item Pod::Parser Base class for creating POD filters and translators =item Pod::Perldoc Look up Perl documentation in Pod format. =item Pod::Perldoc::BaseTo Base for Pod::Perldoc formatters =item Pod::Perldoc::GetOptsOO Customized option parser for Pod::Perldoc =item Pod::Perldoc::ToANSI Render Pod with ANSI color escapes =item Pod::Perldoc::ToChecker Let Perldoc check Pod for errors =item Pod::Perldoc::ToMan Let Perldoc render Pod as man pages =item Pod::Perldoc::ToNroff Let Perldoc convert Pod to nroff =item Pod::Perldoc::ToPod Let Perldoc render Pod as ... Pod! =item Pod::Perldoc::ToRtf Let Perldoc render Pod as RTF =item Pod::Perldoc::ToTerm Render Pod with terminal escapes =item Pod::Perldoc::ToText Let Perldoc render Pod as plaintext =item Pod::Perldoc::ToTk Let Perldoc use Tk::Pod to render Pod =item Pod::Perldoc::ToXml Let Perldoc render Pod as XML =item Pod::PlainText Convert POD data to formatted ASCII text =item Pod::Select Extract selected sections of POD from input =item Pod::Simple Framework for parsing Pod =item Pod::Simple::Checker Check the Pod syntax of a document =item Pod::Simple::Debug Put Pod::Simple into trace/debug mode =item Pod::Simple::DumpAsText Dump Pod-parsing events as text =item Pod::Simple::DumpAsXML Turn Pod into XML =item Pod::Simple::HTML Convert Pod to HTML =item Pod::Simple::HTMLBatch Convert several Pod files to several HTML files =item Pod::Simple::LinkSection Represent "section" attributes of L codes =item Pod::Simple::Methody Turn Pod::Simple events into method calls =item Pod::Simple::PullParser A pull-parser interface to parsing Pod =item Pod::Simple::PullParserEndToken End-tokens from Pod::Simple::PullParser =item Pod::Simple::PullParserStartToken Start-tokens from Pod::Simple::PullParser =item Pod::Simple::PullParserTextToken Text-tokens from Pod::Simple::PullParser =item Pod::Simple::PullParserToken Tokens from Pod::Simple::PullParser =item Pod::Simple::RTF Format Pod as RTF =item Pod::Simple::Search Find POD documents in directory trees =item Pod::Simple::SimpleTree Parse Pod into a simple parse tree =item Pod::Simple::Subclassing Write a formatter as a Pod::Simple subclass =item Pod::Simple::Text Format Pod as plaintext =item Pod::Simple::TextContent Get the text content of Pod =item Pod::Simple::XHTML Format Pod as validating XHTML =item Pod::Simple::XMLOutStream Turn Pod into XML =item Pod::Text Convert POD data to formatted ASCII text =item Pod::Text::Color Convert POD data to formatted color ASCII text =item Pod::Text::Termcap Convert POD data to ASCII text with format escapes =item Pod::Usage Print a usage message from embedded pod documentation =item SDBM_File Tied access to sdbm files =item Safe Compile and execute code in restricted compartments =item Scalar::Util A selection of general-utility scalar subroutines =item Search::Dict Look - search for key in dictionary file =item SelectSaver Save and restore selected file handle =item SelfLoader Load functions only on demand =item Storable Persistence for Perl data structures =item Symbol Manipulate Perl symbols and their names =item Sys::Hostname Try every conceivable way to get hostname =item Sys::Syslog Perl interface to the UNIX syslog(3) calls =item Sys::Syslog::Win32 Win32 support for Sys::Syslog =item TAP::Base Base class that provides common functionality to L<TAP::Parser> =item TAP::Formatter::Base Base class for harness output delegates =item TAP::Formatter::Color Run Perl test scripts with color =item TAP::Formatter::Console Harness output delegate for default console output =item TAP::Formatter::Console::ParallelSession Harness output delegate for parallel console output =item TAP::Formatter::Console::Session Harness output delegate for default console output =item TAP::Formatter::File Harness output delegate for file output =item TAP::Formatter::File::Session Harness output delegate for file output =item TAP::Formatter::Session Abstract base class for harness output delegate =item TAP::Harness Run test scripts with statistics =item TAP::Object Base class that provides common functionality to all C<TAP::*> modules =item TAP::Parser Parse L<TAP|Test::Harness::TAP> output =item TAP::Parser::Aggregator Aggregate TAP::Parser results =item TAP::Parser::Grammar A grammar for the Test Anything Protocol. =item TAP::Parser::Iterator Base class for TAP source iterators =item TAP::Parser::Iterator::Array Iterator for array-based TAP sources =item TAP::Parser::Iterator::Process Iterator for process-based TAP sources =item TAP::Parser::Iterator::Stream Iterator for filehandle-based TAP sources =item TAP::Parser::IteratorFactory Figures out which SourceHandler objects to use for a given Source =item TAP::Parser::Multiplexer Multiplex multiple TAP::Parsers =item TAP::Parser::Result Base class for TAP::Parser output objects =item TAP::Parser::Result::Bailout Bailout result token. =item TAP::Parser::Result::Comment Comment result token. =item TAP::Parser::Result::Plan Plan result token. =item TAP::Parser::Result::Pragma TAP pragma token. =item TAP::Parser::Result::Test Test result token. =item TAP::Parser::Result::Unknown Unknown result token. =item TAP::Parser::Result::Version TAP syntax version token. =item TAP::Parser::Result::YAML YAML result token. =item TAP::Parser::ResultFactory Factory for creating TAP::Parser output objects =item TAP::Parser::Scheduler Schedule tests during parallel testing =item TAP::Parser::Scheduler::Job A single testing job. =item TAP::Parser::Scheduler::Spinner A no-op job. =item TAP::Parser::Source A TAP source & meta data about it =item TAP::Parser::SourceHandler Base class for different TAP source handlers =item TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::Executable Stream output from an executable TAP source =item TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::File Stream TAP from a text file. =item TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::Handle Stream TAP from an IO::Handle or a GLOB. =item TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::Perl Stream TAP from a Perl executable =item TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::RawTAP Stream output from raw TAP in a scalar/array ref. =item TAP::Parser::Utils Internal TAP::Parser utilities =item TAP::Parser::YAMLish::Reader Read YAMLish data from iterator =item TAP::Parser::YAMLish::Writer Write YAMLish data =item Term::ANSIColor Color screen output using ANSI escape sequences =item Term::Cap Perl termcap interface =item Term::Complete Perl word completion module =item Term::ReadLine Perl interface to various C<readline> packages. =item Term::UI Term::ReadLine UI made easy =item Term::UI::History History function =item Test Provides a simple framework for writing test scripts =item Test::Builder Backend for building test libraries =item Test::Builder::Module Base class for test modules =item Test::Builder::Tester Test testsuites that have been built with =item Test::Builder::Tester::Color Turn on colour in Test::Builder::Tester =item Test::Harness Run Perl standard test scripts with statistics =item Test::More Yet another framework for writing test scripts =item Test::Simple Basic utilities for writing tests. =item Test::Tutorial A tutorial about writing really basic tests =item Text::Abbrev Abbrev - create an abbreviation table from a list =item Text::Balanced Extract delimited text sequences from strings. =item Text::ParseWords Parse text into an array of tokens or array of arrays =item Text::Soundex Implementation of the soundex algorithm. =item Text::Tabs Expand and unexpand tabs per the unix expand(1) and unexpand(1) =item Text::Wrap Line wrapping to form simple paragraphs =item Thread Manipulate threads in Perl (for old code only) =item Thread::Queue Thread-safe queues =item Thread::Semaphore Thread-safe semaphores =item Tie::Array Base class for tied arrays =item Tie::File Access the lines of a disk file via a Perl array =item Tie::Handle Base class definitions for tied handles =item Tie::Hash Base class definitions for tied hashes =item Tie::Hash::NamedCapture Named regexp capture buffers =item Tie::Memoize Add data to hash when needed =item Tie::RefHash Use references as hash keys =item Tie::Scalar Base class definitions for tied scalars =item Tie::StdHandle Base class definitions for tied handles =item Tie::SubstrHash Fixed-table-size, fixed-key-length hashing =item Time::HiRes High resolution alarm, sleep, gettimeofday, interval timers =item Time::Local Efficiently compute time from local and GMT time =item Time::Piece Object Oriented time objects =item Time::Seconds A simple API to convert seconds to other date values =item Time::gmtime By-name interface to Perl's built-in gmtime() function =item Time::localtime By-name interface to Perl's built-in localtime() function =item Time::tm Internal object used by Time::gmtime and Time::localtime =item UNIVERSAL Base class for ALL classes (blessed references) =item Unicode::Collate Unicode Collation Algorithm =item Unicode::Collate::CJK::Big5 Weighting CJK Unified Ideographs =item Unicode::Collate::CJK::GB2312 Weighting CJK Unified Ideographs =item Unicode::Collate::CJK::JISX0208 Weighting JIS KANJI for Unicode::Collate =item Unicode::Collate::CJK::Korean Weighting CJK Unified Ideographs =item Unicode::Collate::CJK::Pinyin Weighting CJK Unified Ideographs =item Unicode::Collate::CJK::Stroke Weighting CJK Unified Ideographs =item Unicode::Collate::Locale Linguistic tailoring for DUCET via Unicode::Collate =item Unicode::Normalize Unicode Normalization Forms =item Unicode::UCD Unicode character database =item User::grent By-name interface to Perl's built-in getgr*() functions =item User::pwent By-name interface to Perl's built-in getpw*() functions =item VMS::DCLsym Perl extension to manipulate DCL symbols =item VMS::Stdio Standard I/O functions via VMS extensions =item Version::Requirements A set of version requirements for a CPAN dist =item Win32API::File Low-level access to Win32 system API calls for files/dirs. =item Win32CORE Win32 CORE function stubs =item XS::APItest Test the perl C API =item XS::Typemap Module to test the XS typemaps distributed with perl =item XSLoader Dynamically load C libraries into Perl code =item version::Internals Perl extension for Version Objects =back To find out I<all> modules installed on your system, including those without documentation or outside the standard release, just use the following command (under the default win32 shell, double quotes should be used instead of single quotes). % perl -MFile::Find=find -MFile::Spec::Functions -Tlwe \ 'find { wanted => sub { print canonpath $_ if /\.pm\z/ }, no_chdir => 1 }, @INC' (The -T is here to prevent '.' from being listed in @INC.) They should all have their own documentation installed and accessible via your system man(1) command. If you do not have a B<find> program, you can use the Perl B<find2perl> program instead, which generates Perl code as output you can run through perl. If you have a B<man> program but it doesn't find your modules, you'll have to fix your manpath. See L<perl> for details. If you have no system B<man> command, you might try the B<perldoc> program. Note also that the command C<perldoc perllocal> gives you a (possibly incomplete) list of the modules that have been further installed on your system. (The perllocal.pod file is updated by the standard MakeMaker install process.) =head2 Extension Modules Extension modules are written in C (or a mix of Perl and C). They are usually dynamically loaded into Perl if and when you need them, but may also be linked in statically. Supported extension modules include Socket, Fcntl, and POSIX. Many popular C extension modules do not come bundled (at least, not completely) due to their sizes, volatility, or simply lack of time for adequate testing and configuration across the multitude of platforms on which Perl was beta-tested. You are encouraged to look for them on CPAN (described below), or using web search engines like Alta Vista or Google. =head1 CPAN CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network; it's a globally replicated trove of Perl materials, including documentation, style guides, tricks and traps, alternate ports to non-Unix systems and occasional binary distributions for these. Search engines for CPAN can be found at http://www.cpan.org/ Most importantly, CPAN includes around a thousand unbundled modules, some of which require a C compiler to build. Major categories of modules are: =over =item * Language Extensions and Documentation Tools =item * Development Support =item * Operating System Interfaces =item * Networking, Device Control (modems) and InterProcess Communication =item * Data Types and Data Type Utilities =item * Database Interfaces =item * User Interfaces =item * Interfaces to / Emulations of Other Programming Languages =item * File Names, File Systems and File Locking (see also File Handles) =item * String Processing, Language Text Processing, Parsing, and Searching =item * Option, Argument, Parameter, and Configuration File Processing =item * Internationalization and Locale =item * Authentication, Security, and Encryption =item * World Wide Web, HTML, HTTP, CGI, MIME =item * Server and Daemon Utilities =item * Archiving and Compression =item * Images, Pixmap and Bitmap Manipulation, Drawing, and Graphing =item * Mail and Usenet News =item * Control Flow Utilities (callbacks and exceptions etc) =item * File Handle and Input/Output Stream Utilities =item * Miscellaneous Modules =back The list of the registered CPAN sites follows. Please note that the sorting order is alphabetical on fields: Continent | |-->Country | |-->[state/province] | |-->ftp | |-->[http] and thus the North American servers happen to be listed between the European and the South American sites. Registered CPAN sites =for maintainers Generated by Porting/make_modlib_cpan.pl =head2 Africa =over 4 =item South Africa http://cpan.mirror.ac.za/ ftp://cpan.mirror.ac.za/ http://mirror.is.co.za/pub/cpan/ ftp://ftp.is.co.za/pub/cpan/ ftp://ftp.saix.net/pub/CPAN/ =back =head2 Asia =over 4 =item China http://cpan.wenzk.com/ =item Hong Kong http://ftp.cuhk.edu.hk/pub/packages/perl/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.cuhk.edu.hk/pub/packages/perl/CPAN/ http://mirrors.geoexpat.com/cpan/ =item India http://perlmirror.indialinks.com/ =item Indonesia http://cpan.biz.net.id/ http://komo.vlsm.org/CPAN/ ftp://komo.vlsm.org/CPAN/ http://cpan.cermin.lipi.go.id/ ftp://cermin.lipi.go.id/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.pesat.net.id/ =item Japan ftp://ftp.u-aizu.ac.jp/pub/CPAN ftp://ftp.kddilabs.jp/CPAN/ http://ftp.nara.wide.ad.jp/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.nara.wide.ad.jp/pub/CPAN/ http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.dti.ad.jp/pub/lang/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.ring.gr.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ http://ftp.riken.jp/lang/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.riken.jp/lang/CPAN/ http://ftp.yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp/pub/lang/cpan/ ftp://ftp.yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp/pub/lang/cpan/ =item Republic of Korea http://ftp.kaist.ac.kr/pub/CPAN ftp://ftp.kaist.ac.kr/pub/CPAN http://cpan.mirror.cdnetworks.com/ ftp://cpan.mirror.cdnetworks.com/CPAN/ http://cpan.sarang.net/ ftp://cpan.sarang.net/CPAN/ =item Russia http://cpan.tomsk.ru/ ftp://cpan.tomsk.ru/ =item Singapore http://mirror.averse.net/pub/CPAN ftp://mirror.averse.net/pub/CPAN http://cpan.mirror.choon.net/ http://cpan.oss.eznetsols.org ftp://ftp.oss.eznetsols.org/cpan =item Taiwan http://ftp.cse.yzu.edu.tw/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.cse.yzu.edu.tw/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.nctu.edu.tw/ ftp://cpan.nctu.edu.tw/ ftp://ftp.ncu.edu.tw/CPAN/ http://cpan.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ ftp://cpan.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/Unix/Lang/CPAN/ http://cpan.stu.edu.tw ftp://ftp.stu.edu.tw/CPAN http://ftp.stu.edu.tw/CPAN ftp://ftp.stu.edu.tw/pub/CPAN http://cpan.cs.pu.edu.tw/ ftp://cpan.cs.pu.edu.tw/pub/CPAN =item Thailand http://mirrors.issp.co.th/cpan/ ftp://mirrors.issp.co.th/cpan/ http://mirror.yourconnect.com/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.yourconnect.com/CPAN/ =item Turkey http://cpan.gazi.edu.tr/ =back =head2 Central America =over 4 =item Costa Rica http://mirrors.ucr.ac.cr/CPAN/ ftp://mirrors.ucr.ac.cr/CPAN/ =back =head2 Europe =over 4 =item Austria http://cpan.inode.at/ ftp://cpan.inode.at http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/languages/perl/CPAN/ ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at/pub/CPAN/ =item Belgium http://ftp.belnet.be/mirror/ftp.cpan.org/ ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirror/ftp.cpan.org/ http://ftp.easynet.be/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.weepee.org/ =item Bosnia and Herzegovina http://cpan.blic.net/ =item Bulgaria http://cpan.cbox.biz/ ftp://cpan.cbox.biz/cpan/ http://cpan.digsys.bg/ ftp://ftp.digsys.bg/pub/CPAN =item Croatia http://ftp.carnet.hr/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.carnet.hr/pub/CPAN/ =item Czech Republic ftp://ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/CPAN/ http://archive.cpan.cz/ =item Denmark http://mirrors.dotsrc.org/cpan ftp://mirrors.dotsrc.org/cpan/ http://www.cpan.dk/ http://mirror.uni-c.dk/pub/CPAN/ =item Finland ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ http://mirror.eunet.fi/CPAN =item France http://cpan.enstimac.fr/ ftp://ftp.inria.fr/pub/CPAN/ http://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/mirrors/cpan/ ftp://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/mirrors/cpan/ ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ http://mir2.ovh.net/ftp.cpan.org ftp://mir1.ovh.net/ftp.cpan.org ftp://ftp.oleane.net/pub/CPAN/ http://ftp.crihan.fr/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/ ftp://ftp.crihan.fr/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/ http://ftp.u-strasbg.fr/CPAN ftp://ftp.u-strasbg.fr/CPAN http://cpan.cict.fr/ ftp://cpan.cict.fr/pub/CPAN/ =item Germany ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/unix/languages/perl/ http://mirrors.softliste.de/cpan/ ftp://ftp.rub.de/pub/CPAN/ http://www.planet-elektronik.de/CPAN/ http://ftp.hosteurope.de/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.hosteurope.de/pub/CPAN/ http://www.mirrorspace.org/cpan/ http://mirror.netcologne.de/cpan/ ftp://mirror.netcologne.de/cpan/ ftp://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/ http://ftp-stud.hs-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/CPAN/ ftp://ftp-stud.hs-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/CPAN/ http://mirrors.zerg.biz/cpan/ http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/ http://cpan.mirror.clusters.kg/ http://cpan.mirror.iphh.net/ ftp://cpan.mirror.iphh.net/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.mirroring.de/ http://mirror.informatik.uni-mannheim.de/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.informatik.uni-mannheim.de/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ http://www.chemmedia.de/mirrors/CPAN/ http://ftp.cw.net/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.cw.net/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.cpantesters.org/ ftp://cpan.cpantesters.org/CPAN/ http://cpan.mirrored.de/ ftp://mirror.petamem.com/CPAN/ http://cpan.noris.de/ ftp://cpan.noris.de/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.mpi-sb.mpg.de/pub/perl/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.gmd.de/mirrors/CPAN/ =item Greece ftp://ftp.forthnet.gr/pub/languages/perl/CPAN ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/lang/perl/ http://cpan.cc.uoc.gr/ ftp://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/CPAN/ =item Hungary http://cpan.mirrors.enexis.hu/ ftp://cpan.mirrors.enexis.hu/mirrors/cpan/ http://cpan.hu/ =item Iceland http://ftp.rhnet.is/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.rhnet.is/pub/CPAN/ =item Ireland http://ftp.esat.net/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.esat.net/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ http://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.perl.org/pub/CPAN ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.perl.org/pub/CPAN =item Italy http://bo.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/CPAN/ http://cpan.panu.it/ ftp://ftp.panu.it/pub/mirrors/perl/CPAN/ =item Latvia http://kvin.lv/pub/CPAN/ =item Lithuania http://ftp.litnet.lt/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.litnet.lt/pub/CPAN/ =item Malta http://cpan.waldonet.net.mt/ =item Netherlands ftp://ftp.quicknet.nl/pub/CPAN/ http://mirror.hostfuss.com/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.hostfuss.com/CPAN/ http://mirrors3.kernel.org/cpan/ ftp://mirrors3.kernel.org/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.mirror.versatel.nl/ ftp://ftp.mirror.versatel.nl/cpan/ ftp://download.xs4all.nl/pub/mirror/CPAN/ http://mirror.leaseweb.com/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.leaseweb.com/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.cpan.nl/pub/CPAN/ http://archive.cs.uu.nl/mirror/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.cs.uu.nl/mirror/CPAN/ http://luxitude.net/cpan/ =item Norway ftp://ftp.uninett.no/pub/languages/perl/CPAN ftp://ftp.uit.no/pub/languages/perl/cpan/ =item Poland http://piotrkosoft.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.piotrkosoft.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ http://ftp.man.poznan.pl/pub/CPAN ftp://ftp.man.poznan.pl/pub/CPAN ftp://ftp.ps.pl/pub/CPAN/ ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.tpnet.pl/d4/CPAN/ =item Portugal http://cpan.dei.uc.pt/ ftp://ftp.dei.uc.pt/pub/CPAN ftp://ftp.ist.utl.pt/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.perl.pt/ http://cpan.ip.pt/ ftp://cpan.ip.pt/pub/cpan/ http://mirrors.nfsi.pt/CPAN/ ftp://mirrors.nfsi.pt/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.dcc.fc.up.pt/ =item Romania http://ftp.astral.ro/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.astral.ro/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.lug.ro/CPAN http://mirrors.xservers.ro/CPAN/ http://mirrors.hostingromania.ro/ftp.cpan.org/ ftp://ftp.hostingromania.ro/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/ ftp://ftp.iasi.roedu.net/pub/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/ =item Russia ftp://ftp.aha.ru/CPAN/ http://cpan.rinet.ru/ ftp://cpan.rinet.ru/pub/mirror/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.SpringDaemons.com/pub/CPAN/ http://mirror.rol.ru/CPAN/ http://ftp.silvernet.ru/CPAN/ http://ftp.spbu.ru/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.spbu.ru/CPAN/ =item Slovakia http://cpan.fyxm.net/ =item Slovenia http://www.klevze.si/cpan =item Spain http://osl.ugr.es/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.rediris.es/mirror/CPAN/ http://ftp.gui.uva.es/sites/cpan.org/ ftp://ftp.gui.uva.es/sites/cpan.org/ =item Sweden http://mirrors4.kernel.org/cpan/ ftp://mirrors4.kernel.org/pub/CPAN/ =item Switzerland http://cpan.mirror.solnet.ch/ ftp://ftp.solnet.ch/mirror/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.adwired.ch/CPAN/ http://mirror.switch.ch/ftp/mirror/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.switch.ch/mirror/CPAN/ =item Ukraine http://cpan.makeperl.org/ ftp://cpan.makeperl.org/pub/CPAN http://cpan.org.ua/ http://cpan.gafol.net/ ftp://ftp.gafol.net/pub/cpan/ =item United Kingdom http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ http://mirror.tje.me.uk/pub/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/ ftp://mirror.tje.me.uk/pub/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/ http://www.mirror.8086.net/sites/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.mirror.8086.net/sites/CPAN/ http://cpan.mirror.anlx.net/ ftp://ftp.mirror.anlx.net/CPAN/ http://mirror.bytemark.co.uk/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.bytemark.co.uk/CPAN/ http://cpan.etla.org/ ftp://cpan.etla.org/pub/CPAN ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/CPAN/ http://mirror.sov.uk.goscomb.net/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.sov.uk.goscomb.net/pub/CPAN/ http://ftp.plig.net/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.plig.net/pub/CPAN/ http://ftp.ticklers.org/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.ticklers.org/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.mirrors.uk2.net/ ftp://mirrors.uk2.net/pub/CPAN/ http://mirror.ox.ac.uk/sites/www.cpan.org/ ftp://mirror.ox.ac.uk/sites/www.cpan.org/ =back =head2 North America =over 4 =item Bahamas http://www.securehost.com/mirror/CPAN/ =item Canada http://cpan.arcticnetwork.ca ftp://mirror.arcticnetwork.ca/pub/CPAN http://cpan.sunsite.ualberta.ca/ ftp://cpan.sunsite.ualberta.ca/pub/CPAN/ http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/ ftp://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/ http://arwen.cs.dal.ca/mirror/CPAN/ ftp://arwen.cs.dal.ca/pub/mirror/CPAN/ http://CPAN.mirror.rafal.ca/ ftp://CPAN.mirror.rafal.ca/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.nrc.ca/pub/CPAN/ http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/pub/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/pub/CPAN/ =item Mexico http://www.msg.com.mx/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.msg.com.mx/pub/CPAN/ =item United States =over 8 =item Alabama http://mirror.hiwaay.net/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.hiwaay.net/CPAN/ =item Arizona http://cpan.ezarticleinformation.com/ =item California http://cpan.knowledgematters.net/ http://cpan.binkerton.com/ http://cpan.develooper.com/ http://mirrors.gossamer-threads.com/CPAN http://cpan.schatt.com/ http://mirrors.kernel.org/cpan/ ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN http://mirrors2.kernel.org/cpan/ ftp://mirrors2.kernel.org/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan.mirror.facebook.net/ http://mirrors1.kernel.org/cpan/ ftp://mirrors1.kernel.org/pub/CPAN/ http://cpan-sj.viaverio.com/ ftp://cpan-sj.viaverio.com/pub/CPAN/ http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ =item Florida ftp://ftp.cise.ufl.edu/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ http://mirror.atlantic.net/pub/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.atlantic.net/pub/CPAN/ =item Idaho http://mirror.its.uidaho.edu/pub/cpan/ ftp://mirror.its.uidaho.edu/cpan/ =item Illinois http://cpan.mirrors.hoobly.com/ http://cpan.uchicago.edu/pub/CPAN/ ftp://cpan.uchicago.edu/pub/CPAN/ http://mirrors.servercentral.net/CPAN/ http://www.stathy.com/CPAN/ ftp://www.stathy.com/CPAN/ =item Indiana ftp://ftp.uwsg.iu.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ http://cpan.netnitco.net/ ftp://cpan.netnitco.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ http://ftp.ndlug.nd.edu/pub/perl/ ftp://ftp.ndlug.nd.edu/pub/perl/ =item Massachusetts http://mirrors.ccs.neu.edu/CPAN/ =item Michigan http://ftp.wayne.edu/cpan/ ftp://ftp.wayne.edu/cpan/ =item Minnesota http://cpan.msi.umn.edu/ =item New Jersey http://mirror.datapipe.net/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.datapipe.net/pub/CPAN/ =item New York http://mirrors.24-7-solutions.net/pub/CPAN/ ftp://mirrors.24-7-solutions.net/pub/CPAN/ http://mirror.cc.columbia.edu/pub/software/cpan/ ftp://mirror.cc.columbia.edu/pub/software/cpan/ http://cpan.belfry.net/ http://cpan.erlbaum.net/ ftp://cpan.erlbaum.net/CPAN/ http://cpan.hexten.net/ ftp://cpan.hexten.net/ ftp://mirror.nyi.net/CPAN/ http://mirror.rit.edu/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.rit.edu/CPAN/ =item North Carolina http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/mirrors/CPAN ftp://ftp.ncsu.edu/pub/mirror/CPAN/ =item Oregon http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/CPAN/ =item Pennsylvania http://ftp.epix.net/CPAN/ ftp://ftp.epix.net/pub/languages/perl/ http://cpan.pair.com/ ftp://cpan.pair.com/pub/CPAN/ =item South Carolina http://cpan.mirror.clemson.edu/ =item Tennessee http://mira.sunsite.utk.edu/CPAN/ =item Texas http://mirror.uta.edu/CPAN =item Utah ftp://mirror.xmission.com/CPAN/ =item Virginia http://cpan-du.viaverio.com/ ftp://cpan-du.viaverio.com/pub/CPAN/ http://perl.secsup.org/ ftp://perl.secsup.org/pub/perl/ ftp://mirror.cogentco.com/pub/CPAN/ =item Washington http://cpan.llarian.net/ ftp://cpan.llarian.net/pub/CPAN/ ftp://ftp-mirror.internap.com/pub/CPAN/ =item Wisconsin http://cpan.mirrors.tds.net ftp://cpan.mirrors.tds.net/pub/CPAN http://mirror.sit.wisc.edu/pub/CPAN/ ftp://mirror.sit.wisc.edu/pub/CPAN/ =back =back =head2 Oceania =over 4 =item Australia http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/cpan/ ftp://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/cpan/ http://cpan.mirror.aussiehq.net.au/ http://mirror.as24220.net/cpan/ ftp://mirror.as24220.net/cpan/ =item New Zealand ftp://ftp.auckland.ac.nz/pub/perl/CPAN/ http://cpan.inspire.net.nz ftp://cpan.inspire.net.nz/cpan http://cpan.catalyst.net.nz/CPAN/ ftp://cpan.catalyst.net.nz/pub/CPAN/ =back =head2 South America =over 4 =item Argentina http://cpan.patan.com.ar/ http://cpan.localhost.net.ar ftp://mirrors.localhost.net.ar/pub/mirrors/CPAN =item Brazil ftp://cpan.pop-mg.com.br/pub/CPAN/ http://ftp.pucpr.br/CPAN ftp://ftp.pucpr.br/CPAN http://cpan.kinghost.net/ =item Chile http://cpan.dcc.uchile.cl/ ftp://cpan.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/lang/cpan/ =item Colombia http://www.laqee.unal.edu.co/CPAN/ =back =head2 RSYNC Mirrors mirror.as24220.net::cpan cpan.inode.at::CPAN gd.tuwien.ac.at::CPAN ftp.belnet.be::packages/cpan rsync.linorg.usp.br::CPAN rsync.arcticnetwork.ca::CPAN CPAN.mirror.rafal.ca::CPAN mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca::CPAN theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca::CPAN www.laqee.unal.edu.co::CPAN mirror.uni-c.dk::CPAN rsync.nic.funet.fi::CPAN rsync://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/mirrors/cpan/ mir1.ovh.net::CPAN miroir-francais.fr::cpan ftp.crihan.fr::CPAN rsync://mirror.cict.fr/cpan/ rsync://mirror.netcologne.de/cpan/ ftp-stud.hs-esslingen.de::CPAN/ ftp.gwdg.de::FTP/languages/perl/CPAN/ cpan.mirror.iphh.net::CPAN cpan.cpantesters.org::cpan cpan.hu::CPAN komo.vlsm.org::CPAN mirror.unej.ac.id::cpan ftp.esat.net::/pub/languages/perl/CPAN ftp.heanet.ie::mirrors/ftp.perl.org/pub/CPAN rsync.panu.it::CPAN cpan.fastbull.org::CPAN ftp.kddilabs.jp::cpan ftp.nara.wide.ad.jp::cpan/ rsync://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/CPAN/ rsync://ftp.riken.jp/cpan/ mirror.linuxiso.kz::CPAN rsync://mirrors3.kernel.org/mirrors/CPAN/ rsync://rsync.osmirror.nl/cpan/ mirror.leaseweb.com::CPAN cpan.nautile.nc::CPAN mirror.icis.pcz.pl::CPAN piotrkosoft.net::mirrors/CPAN rsync://cpan.perl.pt/ ftp.kaist.ac.kr::cpan cpan.sarang.net::CPAN mirror.averse.net::cpan rsync.oss.eznetsols.org mirror.ac.za::cpan ftp.is.co.za::IS-Mirror/ftp.cpan.org/ rsync://ftp.gui.uva.es/cpan/ rsync://mirrors4.kernel.org/mirrors/CPAN/ ftp.solnet.ch::CPAN ftp.ulak.net.tr::CPAN gafol.net::cpan rsync.mirrorservice.org::ftp.funet.fi/pub/ rsync://rsync.mirror.8086.net/CPAN/ rsync.mirror.anlx.net::CPAN mirror.bytemark.co.uk::CPAN ftp.plig.net::CPAN rsync://ftp.ticklers.org:CPAN/ mirrors.ibiblio.org::CPAN cpan-du.viaverio.com::CPAN mirror.hiwaay.net::CPAN rsync://mira.sunsite.utk.edu/CPAN/ cpan.mirrors.tds.net::CPAN mirror.its.uidaho.edu::cpan rsync://mirror.cc.columbia.edu::cpan/ ftp.fxcorporate.com::CPAN rsync.atlantic.net::CPAN mirrors.kernel.org::mirrors/CPAN rsync://mirrors2.kernel.org/mirrors/CPAN/ cpan.pair.com::CPAN rsync://mirror.rit.edu/CPAN/ rsync://mirror.facebook.net/cpan/ rsync://mirrors1.kernel.org/mirrors/CPAN/ cpan-sj.viaverio.com::CPAN For an up-to-date listing of CPAN sites, see http://www.cpan.org/SITES or ftp://www.cpan.org/SITES . =head1 Modules: Creation, Use, and Abuse (The following section is borrowed directly from Tim Bunce's modules file, available at your nearest CPAN site.) Perl implements a class using a package, but the presence of a package doesn't imply the presence of a class. A package is just a namespace. A class is a package that provides subroutines that can be used as methods. A method is just a subroutine that expects, as its first argument, either the name of a package (for "static" methods), or a reference to something (for "virtual" methods). A module is a file that (by convention) provides a class of the same name (sans the .pm), plus an import method in that class that can be called to fetch exported symbols. This module may implement some of its methods by loading dynamic C or C++ objects, but that should be totally transparent to the user of the module. Likewise, the module might set up an AUTOLOAD function to slurp in subroutine definitions on demand, but this is also transparent. Only the F<.pm> file is required to exist. See L<perlsub>, L<perlobj>, and L<AutoLoader> for details about the AUTOLOAD mechanism. =head2 Guidelines for Module Creation =over 4 =item * Do similar modules already exist in some form? If so, please try to reuse the existing modules either in whole or by inheriting useful features into a new class. If this is not practical try to get together with the module authors to work on extending or enhancing the functionality of the existing modules. A perfect example is the plethora of packages in perl4 for dealing with command line options. If you are writing a module to expand an already existing set of modules, please coordinate with the author of the package. It helps if you follow the same naming scheme and module interaction scheme as the original author. =item * Try to design the new module to be easy to extend and reuse. Try to C<use warnings;> (or C<use warnings qw(...);>). Remember that you can add C<no warnings qw(...);> to individual blocks of code that need less warnings. Use blessed references. Use the two argument form of bless to bless into the class name given as the first parameter of the constructor, e.g.,: sub new { my $class = shift; return bless {}, $class; } or even this if you'd like it to be used as either a static or a virtual method. sub new { my $self = shift; my $class = ref($self) || $self; return bless {}, $class; } Pass arrays as references so more parameters can be added later (it's also faster). Convert functions into methods where appropriate. Split large methods into smaller more flexible ones. Inherit methods from other modules if appropriate. Avoid class name tests like: C<die "Invalid" unless ref $ref eq 'FOO'>. Generally you can delete the C<eq 'FOO'> part with no harm at all. Let the objects look after themselves! Generally, avoid hard-wired class names as far as possible. Avoid C<< $r->Class::func() >> where using C<@ISA=qw(... Class ...)> and C<< $r->func() >> would work. Use autosplit so little used or newly added functions won't be a burden to programs that don't use them. Add test functions to the module after __END__ either using AutoSplit or by saying: eval join('',<main::DATA>) || die $@ unless caller(); Does your module pass the 'empty subclass' test? If you say C<@SUBCLASS::ISA = qw(YOURCLASS);> your applications should be able to use SUBCLASS in exactly the same way as YOURCLASS. For example, does your application still work if you change: C<< $obj = YOURCLASS->new(); >> into: C<< $obj = SUBCLASS->new(); >> ? Avoid keeping any state information in your packages. It makes it difficult for multiple other packages to use yours. Keep state information in objects. Always use B<-w>. Try to C<use strict;> (or C<use strict qw(...);>). Remember that you can add C<no strict qw(...);> to individual blocks of code that need less strictness. Always use B<-w>. Follow the guidelines in L<perlstyle>. Always use B<-w>. =item * Some simple style guidelines The perlstyle manual supplied with Perl has many helpful points. Coding style is a matter of personal taste. Many people evolve their style over several years as they learn what helps them write and maintain good code. Here's one set of assorted suggestions that seem to be widely used by experienced developers: Use underscores to separate words. It is generally easier to read $var_names_like_this than $VarNamesLikeThis, especially for non-native speakers of English. It's also a simple rule that works consistently with VAR_NAMES_LIKE_THIS. Package/Module names are an exception to this rule. Perl informally reserves lowercase module names for 'pragma' modules like integer and strict. Other modules normally begin with a capital letter and use mixed case with no underscores (need to be short and portable). You may find it helpful to use letter case to indicate the scope or nature of a variable. For example: $ALL_CAPS_HERE constants only (beware clashes with Perl vars) $Some_Caps_Here package-wide global/static $no_caps_here function scope my() or local() variables Function and method names seem to work best as all lowercase. e.g., C<< $obj->as_string() >>. You can use a leading underscore to indicate that a variable or function should not be used outside the package that defined it. =item * Select what to export. Do NOT export method names! Do NOT export anything else by default without a good reason! Exports pollute the namespace of the module user. If you must export try to use @EXPORT_OK in preference to @EXPORT and avoid short or common names to reduce the risk of name clashes. Generally anything not exported is still accessible from outside the module using the ModuleName::item_name (or C<< $blessed_ref->method >>) syntax. By convention you can use a leading underscore on names to indicate informally that they are 'internal' and not for public use. (It is actually possible to get private functions by saying: C<my $subref = sub { ... }; &$subref;>. But there's no way to call that directly as a method, because a method must have a name in the symbol table.) As a general rule, if the module is trying to be object oriented then export nothing. If it's just a collection of functions then @EXPORT_OK anything but use @EXPORT with caution. =item * Select a name for the module. This name should be as descriptive, accurate, and complete as possible. Avoid any risk of ambiguity. Always try to use two or more whole words. Generally the name should reflect what is special about what the module does rather than how it does it. Please use nested module names to group informally or categorize a module. There should be a very good reason for a module not to have a nested name. Module names should begin with a capital letter. Having 57 modules all called Sort will not make life easy for anyone (though having 23 called Sort::Quick is only marginally better :-). Imagine someone trying to install your module alongside many others. If in any doubt ask for suggestions in comp.lang.perl.misc. If you are developing a suite of related modules/classes it's good practice to use nested classes with a common prefix as this will avoid namespace clashes. For example: Xyz::Control, Xyz::View, Xyz::Model etc. Use the modules in this list as a naming guide. If adding a new module to a set, follow the original author's standards for naming modules and the interface to methods in those modules. If developing modules for private internal or project specific use, that will never be released to the public, then you should ensure that their names will not clash with any future public module. You can do this either by using the reserved Local::* category or by using a category name that includes an underscore like Foo_Corp::*. To be portable each component of a module name should be limited to 11 characters. If it might be used on MS-DOS then try to ensure each is unique in the first 8 characters. Nested modules make this easier. =item * Have you got it right? How do you know that you've made the right decisions? Have you picked an interface design that will cause problems later? Have you picked the most appropriate name? Do you have any questions? The best way to know for sure, and pick up many helpful suggestions, is to ask someone who knows. Comp.lang.perl.misc is read by just about all the people who develop modules and it's the best place to ask. All you need to do is post a short summary of the module, its purpose and interfaces. A few lines on each of the main methods is probably enough. (If you post the whole module it might be ignored by busy people - generally the very people you want to read it!) Don't worry about posting if you can't say when the module will be ready - just say so in the message. It might be worth inviting others to help you, they may be able to complete it for you! =item * README and other Additional Files. It's well known that software developers usually fully document the software they write. If, however, the world is in urgent need of your software and there is not enough time to write the full documentation please at least provide a README file containing: =over 10 =item * A description of the module/package/extension etc. =item * A copyright notice - see below. =item * Prerequisites - what else you may need to have. =item * How to build it - possible changes to Makefile.PL etc. =item * How to install it. =item * Recent changes in this release, especially incompatibilities =item * Changes / enhancements you plan to make in the future. =back If the README file seems to be getting too large you may wish to split out some of the sections into separate files: INSTALL, Copying, ToDo etc. =over 4 =item * Adding a Copyright Notice. How you choose to license your work is a personal decision. The general mechanism is to assert your Copyright and then make a declaration of how others may copy/use/modify your work. Perl, for example, is supplied with two types of licence: The GNU GPL and The Artistic Licence (see the files README, Copying, and Artistic, or L<perlgpl> and L<perlartistic>). Larry has good reasons for NOT just using the GNU GPL. My personal recommendation, out of respect for Larry, Perl, and the Perl community at large is to state something simply like: Copyright (c) 1995 Your Name. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. This statement should at least appear in the README file. You may also wish to include it in a Copying file and your source files. Remember to include the other words in addition to the Copyright. =item * Give the module a version/issue/release number. To be fully compatible with the Exporter and MakeMaker modules you should store your module's version number in a non-my package variable called $VERSION. This should be a positive floating point number with at least two digits after the decimal (i.e., hundredths, e.g, C<$VERSION = "0.01">). Don't use a "1.3.2" style version. See L<Exporter> for details. It may be handy to add a function or method to retrieve the number. Use the number in announcements and archive file names when releasing the module (ModuleName-1.02.tar.Z). See perldoc ExtUtils::MakeMaker.pm for details. =item * How to release and distribute a module. It's good idea to post an announcement of the availability of your module (or the module itself if small) to the comp.lang.perl.announce Usenet newsgroup. This will at least ensure very wide once-off distribution. If possible, register the module with CPAN. You should include details of its location in your announcement. Some notes about ftp archives: Please use a long descriptive file name that includes the version number. Most incoming directories will not be readable/listable, i.e., you won't be able to see your file after uploading it. Remember to send your email notification message as soon as possible after uploading else your file may get deleted automatically. Allow time for the file to be processed and/or check the file has been processed before announcing its location. FTP Archives for Perl Modules: Follow the instructions and links on: http://www.cpan.org/modules/00modlist.long.html http://www.cpan.org/modules/04pause.html or upload to one of these sites: https://pause.kbx.de/pause/ http://pause.perl.org/ and notify <modules@perl.org>. By using the WWW interface you can ask the Upload Server to mirror your modules from your ftp or WWW site into your own directory on CPAN! Please remember to send me an updated entry for the Module list! =item * Take care when changing a released module. Always strive to remain compatible with previous released versions. Otherwise try to add a mechanism to revert to the old behavior if people rely on it. Document incompatible changes. =back =back =head2 Guidelines for Converting Perl 4 Library Scripts into Modules =over 4 =item * There is no requirement to convert anything. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Perl 4 library scripts should continue to work with no problems. You may need to make some minor changes (like escaping non-array @'s in double quoted strings) but there is no need to convert a .pl file into a Module for just that. =item * Consider the implications. All Perl applications that make use of the script will need to be changed (slightly) if the script is converted into a module. Is it worth it unless you plan to make other changes at the same time? =item * Make the most of the opportunity. If you are going to convert the script to a module you can use the opportunity to redesign the interface. The guidelines for module creation above include many of the issues you should consider. =item * The pl2pm utility will get you started. This utility will read *.pl files (given as parameters) and write corresponding *.pm files. The pl2pm utilities does the following: =over 10 =item * Adds the standard Module prologue lines =item * Converts package specifiers from ' to :: =item * Converts die(...) to croak(...) =item * Several other minor changes =back Being a mechanical process pl2pm is not bullet proof. The converted code will need careful checking, especially any package statements. Don't delete the original .pl file till the new .pm one works! =back =head2 Guidelines for Reusing Application Code =over 4 =item * Complete applications rarely belong in the Perl Module Library. =item * Many applications contain some Perl code that could be reused. Help save the world! Share your code in a form that makes it easy to reuse. =item * Break-out the reusable code into one or more separate module files. =item * Take the opportunity to reconsider and redesign the interfaces. =item * In some cases the 'application' can then be reduced to a small fragment of code built on top of the reusable modules. In these cases the application could invoked as: % perl -e 'use Module::Name; method(@ARGV)' ... or % perl -mModule::Name ... (in perl5.002 or higher) =back =head1 NOTE Perl does not enforce private and public parts of its modules as you may have been used to in other languages like C++, Ada, or Modula-17. Perl doesn't have an infatuation with enforced privacy. It would prefer that you stayed out of its living room because you weren't invited, not because it has a shotgun. The module and its user have a contract, part of which is common law, and part of which is "written". Part of the common law contract is that a module doesn't pollute any namespace it wasn't asked to. The written contract for the module (A.K.A. documentation) may make other provisions. But then you know when you C<use RedefineTheWorld> that you're redefining the world and willing to take the consequences.