| 1 | =for maintainers |
| 2 | Generated by perlmodlib.PL -- DO NOT EDIT! |
| 3 | |
| 4 | =head1 NAME |
| 5 | |
| 6 | perlmodlib - constructing new Perl modules and finding existing ones |
| 7 | |
| 8 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
| 9 | |
| 10 | =head1 THE PERL MODULE LIBRARY |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Many modules are included the Perl distribution. These are described |
| 13 | below, and all end in F<.pm>. You may discover compiled library |
| 14 | file (usually ending in F<.so>) or small pieces of modules to be |
| 15 | autoloaded (ending in F<.al>); these were automatically generated |
| 16 | by the installation process. You may also discover files in the |
| 17 | library directory that end in either F<.pl> or F<.ph>. These are |
| 18 | old libraries supplied so that old programs that use them still |
| 19 | run. The F<.pl> files will all eventually be converted into standard |
| 20 | modules, and the F<.ph> files made by B<h2ph> will probably end up |
| 21 | as extension modules made by B<h2xs>. (Some F<.ph> values may |
| 22 | already be available through the POSIX, Errno, or Fcntl modules.) |
| 23 | The B<pl2pm> file in the distribution may help in your conversion, |
| 24 | but it's just a mechanical process and therefore far from bulletproof. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | =head2 Pragmatic Modules |
| 27 | |
| 28 | They work somewhat like compiler directives (pragmata) in that they |
| 29 | tend to affect the compilation of your program, and thus will usually |
| 30 | work well only when used within a C<use>, or C<no>. Most of these |
| 31 | are lexically scoped, so an inner BLOCK may countermand them |
| 32 | by saying: |
| 33 | |
| 34 | no integer; |
| 35 | no strict 'refs'; |
| 36 | no warnings; |
| 37 | |
| 38 | which lasts until the end of that BLOCK. |
| 39 | |
| 40 | Some pragmas are lexically scoped--typically those that affect the |
| 41 | C<$^H> hints variable. Others affect the current package instead, |
| 42 | like C<use vars> and C<use subs>, which allow you to predeclare a |
| 43 | variables or subroutines within a particular I<file> rather than |
| 44 | just a block. Such declarations are effective for the entire file |
| 45 | for which they were declared. You cannot rescind them with C<no |
| 46 | vars> or C<no subs>. |
| 47 | |
| 48 | The following pragmas are defined (and have their own documentation). |
| 49 | |
| 50 | =over 12 |
| 51 | |
| 52 | =item attributes |
| 53 | |
| 54 | Get/set subroutine or variable attributes |
| 55 | |
| 56 | =item attrs |
| 57 | |
| 58 | Set/get attributes of a subroutine (deprecated) |
| 59 | |
| 60 | =item autouse |
| 61 | |
| 62 | Postpone load of modules until a function is used |
| 63 | |
| 64 | =item base |
| 65 | |
| 66 | Establish IS-A relationship with base class at compile time |
| 67 | |
| 68 | =item blib |
| 69 | |
| 70 | Use MakeMaker's uninstalled version of a package |
| 71 | |
| 72 | =item bytes |
| 73 | |
| 74 | Force byte semantics rather than character semantics |
| 75 | |
| 76 | =item charnames |
| 77 | |
| 78 | Define character names for C<\N{named}> string literal escapes. |
| 79 | |
| 80 | =item constant |
| 81 | |
| 82 | Declare constants |
| 83 | |
| 84 | =item diagnostics |
| 85 | |
| 86 | Perl compiler pragma to force verbose warning diagnostics |
| 87 | |
| 88 | =item encoding |
| 89 | |
| 90 | Pragma to control the conversion of legacy data into Unicode |
| 91 | |
| 92 | =item fields |
| 93 | |
| 94 | Compile-time class fields |
| 95 | |
| 96 | =item filetest |
| 97 | |
| 98 | Control the filetest permission operators |
| 99 | |
| 100 | =item if |
| 101 | |
| 102 | C<use> a Perl module if a condition holds |
| 103 | |
| 104 | =item integer |
| 105 | |
| 106 | Use integer arithmetic instead of floating point |
| 107 | |
| 108 | =item less |
| 109 | |
| 110 | Request less of something from the compiler |
| 111 | |
| 112 | =item locale |
| 113 | |
| 114 | Use and avoid POSIX locales for built-in operations |
| 115 | |
| 116 | =item open |
| 117 | |
| 118 | Set default disciplines for input and output |
| 119 | |
| 120 | =item ops |
| 121 | |
| 122 | Restrict unsafe operations when compiling |
| 123 | |
| 124 | =item overload |
| 125 | |
| 126 | Package for overloading perl operations |
| 127 | |
| 128 | =item re |
| 129 | |
| 130 | Alter regular expression behaviour |
| 131 | |
| 132 | =item sigtrap |
| 133 | |
| 134 | Enable simple signal handling |
| 135 | |
| 136 | =item sort |
| 137 | |
| 138 | Control sort() behaviour |
| 139 | |
| 140 | =item strict |
| 141 | |
| 142 | Restrict unsafe constructs |
| 143 | |
| 144 | =item subs |
| 145 | |
| 146 | Predeclare sub names |
| 147 | |
| 148 | =item threads |
| 149 | |
| 150 | Perl extension allowing use of interpreter based threads from perl |
| 151 | |
| 152 | =item utf8 |
| 153 | |
| 154 | Enable/disable UTF-8 (or UTF-EBCDIC) in source code |
| 155 | |
| 156 | =item vars |
| 157 | |
| 158 | Predeclare global variable names (obsolete) |
| 159 | |
| 160 | =item vmsish |
| 161 | |
| 162 | Control VMS-specific language features |
| 163 | |
| 164 | =item warnings |
| 165 | |
| 166 | Control optional warnings |
| 167 | |
| 168 | =item warnings::register |
| 169 | |
| 170 | Warnings import function |
| 171 | |
| 172 | =back |
| 173 | |
| 174 | =head2 Standard Modules |
| 175 | |
| 176 | Standard, bundled modules are all expected to behave in a well-defined |
| 177 | manner with respect to namespace pollution because they use the |
| 178 | Exporter module. See their own documentation for details. |
| 179 | |
| 180 | =over 12 |
| 181 | |
| 182 | =item AnyDBM_File |
| 183 | |
| 184 | Provide framework for multiple DBMs |
| 185 | |
| 186 | =item Attribute::Handlers |
| 187 | |
| 188 | Simpler definition of attribute handlers |
| 189 | |
| 190 | =item AutoLoader |
| 191 | |
| 192 | Load subroutines only on demand |
| 193 | |
| 194 | =item AutoSplit |
| 195 | |
| 196 | Split a package for autoloading |
| 197 | |
| 198 | =item B |
| 199 | |
| 200 | The Perl Compiler |
| 201 | |
| 202 | =item B::Asmdata |
| 203 | |
| 204 | Autogenerated data about Perl ops, used to generate bytecode |
| 205 | |
| 206 | =item B::Assembler |
| 207 | |
| 208 | Assemble Perl bytecode |
| 209 | |
| 210 | =item B::Bblock |
| 211 | |
| 212 | Walk basic blocks |
| 213 | |
| 214 | =item B::Bytecode |
| 215 | |
| 216 | Perl compiler's bytecode backend |
| 217 | |
| 218 | =item B::C |
| 219 | |
| 220 | Perl compiler's C backend |
| 221 | |
| 222 | =item B::CC |
| 223 | |
| 224 | Perl compiler's optimized C translation backend |
| 225 | |
| 226 | =item B::Concise |
| 227 | |
| 228 | Walk Perl syntax tree, printing concise info about ops |
| 229 | |
| 230 | =item B::Debug |
| 231 | |
| 232 | Walk Perl syntax tree, printing debug info about ops |
| 233 | |
| 234 | =item B::Deparse |
| 235 | |
| 236 | Perl compiler backend to produce perl code |
| 237 | |
| 238 | =item B::Disassembler |
| 239 | |
| 240 | Disassemble Perl bytecode |
| 241 | |
| 242 | =item B::Lint |
| 243 | |
| 244 | Perl lint |
| 245 | |
| 246 | =item B::Showlex |
| 247 | |
| 248 | Show lexical variables used in functions or files |
| 249 | |
| 250 | =item B::Stackobj |
| 251 | |
| 252 | Helper module for CC backend |
| 253 | |
| 254 | =item B::Stash |
| 255 | |
| 256 | Show what stashes are loaded |
| 257 | |
| 258 | =item B::Terse |
| 259 | |
| 260 | Walk Perl syntax tree, printing terse info about ops |
| 261 | |
| 262 | =item B::Xref |
| 263 | |
| 264 | Generates cross reference reports for Perl programs |
| 265 | |
| 266 | =item Benchmark |
| 267 | |
| 268 | Benchmark running times of Perl code |
| 269 | |
| 270 | =item ByteLoader |
| 271 | |
| 272 | Load byte compiled perl code |
| 273 | |
| 274 | =item CGI |
| 275 | |
| 276 | Simple Common Gateway Interface Class |
| 277 | |
| 278 | =item CGI::Apache |
| 279 | |
| 280 | Backward compatibility module for CGI.pm |
| 281 | |
| 282 | =item CGI::Carp |
| 283 | |
| 284 | CGI routines for writing to the HTTPD (or other) error log |
| 285 | |
| 286 | =item CGI::Cookie |
| 287 | |
| 288 | Interface to Netscape Cookies |
| 289 | |
| 290 | =item CGI::Fast |
| 291 | |
| 292 | CGI Interface for Fast CGI |
| 293 | |
| 294 | =item CGI::Pretty |
| 295 | |
| 296 | Module to produce nicely formatted HTML code |
| 297 | |
| 298 | =item CGI::Push |
| 299 | |
| 300 | Simple Interface to Server Push |
| 301 | |
| 302 | =item CGI::Switch |
| 303 | |
| 304 | Backward compatibility module for defunct CGI::Switch |
| 305 | |
| 306 | =item CGI::Util |
| 307 | |
| 308 | Internal utilities used by CGI module |
| 309 | |
| 310 | =item CPAN |
| 311 | |
| 312 | Query, download and build perl modules from CPAN sites |
| 313 | |
| 314 | =item CPAN::FirstTime |
| 315 | |
| 316 | Utility for CPAN::Config file Initialization |
| 317 | |
| 318 | =item CPAN::Nox |
| 319 | |
| 320 | Wrapper around CPAN.pm without using any XS module |
| 321 | |
| 322 | =item Carp |
| 323 | |
| 324 | Warn of errors (from perspective of caller) |
| 325 | |
| 326 | =item Carp::Heavy |
| 327 | |
| 328 | No user serviceable parts inside |
| 329 | |
| 330 | =item Class::ISA |
| 331 | |
| 332 | Report the search path for a class's ISA tree |
| 333 | |
| 334 | =item Class::Struct |
| 335 | |
| 336 | Declare struct-like datatypes as Perl classes |
| 337 | |
| 338 | =item Cwd |
| 339 | |
| 340 | Get pathname of current working directory |
| 341 | |
| 342 | =item DB |
| 343 | |
| 344 | Programmatic interface to the Perl debugging API (draft, subject to |
| 345 | |
| 346 | =item DB_File |
| 347 | |
| 348 | Perl5 access to Berkeley DB version 1.x |
| 349 | |
| 350 | =item Devel::SelfStubber |
| 351 | |
| 352 | Generate stubs for a SelfLoading module |
| 353 | |
| 354 | =item Digest |
| 355 | |
| 356 | Modules that calculate message digests |
| 357 | |
| 358 | =item DirHandle |
| 359 | |
| 360 | Supply object methods for directory handles |
| 361 | |
| 362 | =item Dumpvalue |
| 363 | |
| 364 | Provides screen dump of Perl data. |
| 365 | |
| 366 | =item Encode |
| 367 | |
| 368 | Character encodings |
| 369 | |
| 370 | =item English |
| 371 | |
| 372 | Use nice English (or awk) names for ugly punctuation variables |
| 373 | |
| 374 | =item Env |
| 375 | |
| 376 | Perl module that imports environment variables as scalars or arrays |
| 377 | |
| 378 | =item Exporter |
| 379 | |
| 380 | Implements default import method for modules |
| 381 | |
| 382 | =item Exporter::Heavy |
| 383 | |
| 384 | Exporter guts |
| 385 | |
| 386 | =item ExtUtils::Command |
| 387 | |
| 388 | Utilities to replace common UNIX commands in Makefiles etc. |
| 389 | |
| 390 | =item ExtUtils::Constant |
| 391 | |
| 392 | Generate XS code to import C header constants |
| 393 | |
| 394 | =item ExtUtils::Embed |
| 395 | |
| 396 | Utilities for embedding Perl in C/C++ applications |
| 397 | |
| 398 | =item ExtUtils::Install |
| 399 | |
| 400 | Install files from here to there |
| 401 | |
| 402 | =item ExtUtils::Installed |
| 403 | |
| 404 | Inventory management of installed modules |
| 405 | |
| 406 | =item ExtUtils::Liblist |
| 407 | |
| 408 | Determine libraries to use and how to use them |
| 409 | |
| 410 | =item ExtUtils::MM_BeOS |
| 411 | |
| 412 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
| 413 | |
| 414 | =item ExtUtils::MM_Cygwin |
| 415 | |
| 416 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
| 417 | |
| 418 | =item ExtUtils::MM_NW5 |
| 419 | |
| 420 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
| 421 | |
| 422 | =item ExtUtils::MM_OS2 |
| 423 | |
| 424 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
| 425 | |
| 426 | =item ExtUtils::MM_Unix |
| 427 | |
| 428 | Methods used by ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
| 429 | |
| 430 | =item ExtUtils::MM_VMS |
| 431 | |
| 432 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
| 433 | |
| 434 | =item ExtUtils::MM_Win32 |
| 435 | |
| 436 | Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
| 437 | |
| 438 | =item ExtUtils::MakeMaker |
| 439 | |
| 440 | Create an extension Makefile |
| 441 | |
| 442 | =item ExtUtils::Manifest |
| 443 | |
| 444 | Utilities to write and check a MANIFEST file |
| 445 | |
| 446 | =item ExtUtils::Mkbootstrap |
| 447 | |
| 448 | Make a bootstrap file for use by DynaLoader |
| 449 | |
| 450 | =item ExtUtils::Mksymlists |
| 451 | |
| 452 | Write linker options files for dynamic extension |
| 453 | |
| 454 | =item ExtUtils::Packlist |
| 455 | |
| 456 | Manage .packlist files |
| 457 | |
| 458 | =item ExtUtils::testlib |
| 459 | |
| 460 | Add blib/* directories to @INC |
| 461 | |
| 462 | =item Fatal |
| 463 | |
| 464 | Replace functions with equivalents which succeed or die |
| 465 | |
| 466 | =item Fcntl |
| 467 | |
| 468 | Load the C Fcntl.h defines |
| 469 | |
| 470 | =item File::Basename |
| 471 | |
| 472 | Split a pathname into pieces |
| 473 | |
| 474 | =item File::CheckTree |
| 475 | |
| 476 | Run many filetest checks on a tree |
| 477 | |
| 478 | =item File::Compare |
| 479 | |
| 480 | Compare files or filehandles |
| 481 | |
| 482 | =item File::Copy |
| 483 | |
| 484 | Copy files or filehandles |
| 485 | |
| 486 | =item File::DosGlob |
| 487 | |
| 488 | DOS like globbing and then some |
| 489 | |
| 490 | =item File::Find |
| 491 | |
| 492 | Traverse a directory tree. |
| 493 | |
| 494 | =item File::Path |
| 495 | |
| 496 | Create or remove directory trees |
| 497 | |
| 498 | =item File::Spec |
| 499 | |
| 500 | Portably perform operations on file names |
| 501 | |
| 502 | =item File::Spec::Cygwin |
| 503 | |
| 504 | Methods for Cygwin file specs |
| 505 | |
| 506 | =item File::Spec::Epoc |
| 507 | |
| 508 | Methods for Epoc file specs |
| 509 | |
| 510 | =item File::Spec::Functions |
| 511 | |
| 512 | Portably perform operations on file names |
| 513 | |
| 514 | =item File::Spec::Mac |
| 515 | |
| 516 | File::Spec for Mac OS (Classic) |
| 517 | |
| 518 | =item File::Spec::OS2 |
| 519 | |
| 520 | Methods for OS/2 file specs |
| 521 | |
| 522 | =item File::Spec::Unix |
| 523 | |
| 524 | File::Spec for Unix, base for other File::Spec modules |
| 525 | |
| 526 | =item File::Spec::VMS |
| 527 | |
| 528 | Methods for VMS file specs |
| 529 | |
| 530 | =item File::Spec::Win32 |
| 531 | |
| 532 | Methods for Win32 file specs |
| 533 | |
| 534 | =item File::Temp |
| 535 | |
| 536 | Return name and handle of a temporary file safely |
| 537 | |
| 538 | =item File::stat |
| 539 | |
| 540 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in stat() functions |
| 541 | |
| 542 | =item FileCache |
| 543 | |
| 544 | Keep more files open than the system permits |
| 545 | |
| 546 | =item FileHandle |
| 547 | |
| 548 | Supply object methods for filehandles |
| 549 | |
| 550 | =item Filter::Simple |
| 551 | |
| 552 | Simplified source filtering |
| 553 | |
| 554 | =item FindBin |
| 555 | |
| 556 | Locate directory of original perl script |
| 557 | |
| 558 | =item Getopt::Long |
| 559 | |
| 560 | Extended processing of command line options |
| 561 | |
| 562 | =item Getopt::Std |
| 563 | |
| 564 | Process single-character switches with switch clustering |
| 565 | |
| 566 | =item Hash::Util |
| 567 | |
| 568 | A selection of general-utility hash subroutines |
| 569 | |
| 570 | =item I18N::Collate |
| 571 | |
| 572 | Compare 8-bit scalar data according to the current locale |
| 573 | |
| 574 | =item I18N::LangTags |
| 575 | |
| 576 | Functions for dealing with RFC3066-style language tags |
| 577 | |
| 578 | =item I18N::LangTags::List |
| 579 | |
| 580 | Tags and names for human languages |
| 581 | |
| 582 | =item IO |
| 583 | |
| 584 | Load various IO modules |
| 585 | |
| 586 | =item IPC::Open2 |
| 587 | |
| 588 | Open a process for both reading and writing |
| 589 | |
| 590 | =item IPC::Open3 |
| 591 | |
| 592 | Open a process for reading, writing, and error handling |
| 593 | |
| 594 | =item Locale::Constants |
| 595 | |
| 596 | Constants for Locale codes |
| 597 | |
| 598 | =item Locale::Country |
| 599 | |
| 600 | ISO codes for country identification (ISO 3166) |
| 601 | |
| 602 | =item Locale::Currency |
| 603 | |
| 604 | ISO three letter codes for currency identification (ISO 4217) |
| 605 | |
| 606 | =item Locale::Language |
| 607 | |
| 608 | ISO two letter codes for language identification (ISO 639) |
| 609 | |
| 610 | =item Locale::Maketext |
| 611 | |
| 612 | Framework for localization |
| 613 | |
| 614 | =item Locale::Maketext::TPJ13 |
| 615 | |
| 616 | Article about software localization |
| 617 | |
| 618 | =item Locale::Script |
| 619 | |
| 620 | ISO codes for script identification (ISO 15924) |
| 621 | |
| 622 | =item Math::BigFloat |
| 623 | |
| 624 | Arbitrary size floating point math package |
| 625 | |
| 626 | =item Math::BigInt |
| 627 | |
| 628 | Arbitrary size integer math package |
| 629 | |
| 630 | =item Math::BigInt::Calc |
| 631 | |
| 632 | Pure Perl module to support Math::BigInt |
| 633 | |
| 634 | =item Math::Complex |
| 635 | |
| 636 | Complex numbers and associated mathematical functions |
| 637 | |
| 638 | =item Math::Trig |
| 639 | |
| 640 | Trigonometric functions |
| 641 | |
| 642 | =item Memoize |
| 643 | |
| 644 | Make your functions faster by trading space for time |
| 645 | |
| 646 | =item Memoize::AnyDBM_File |
| 647 | |
| 648 | Glue to provide EXISTS for AnyDBM_File for Storable use |
| 649 | |
| 650 | =item Memoize::Expire |
| 651 | |
| 652 | Plug-in module for automatic expiration of memoized values |
| 653 | |
| 654 | =item Memoize::ExpireFile |
| 655 | |
| 656 | Test for Memoize expiration semantics |
| 657 | |
| 658 | =item Memoize::ExpireTest |
| 659 | |
| 660 | Test for Memoize expiration semantics |
| 661 | |
| 662 | =item Memoize::NDBM_File |
| 663 | |
| 664 | Glue to provide EXISTS for NDBM_File for Storable use |
| 665 | |
| 666 | =item Memoize::SDBM_File |
| 667 | |
| 668 | Glue to provide EXISTS for SDBM_File for Storable use |
| 669 | |
| 670 | =item Memoize::Storable |
| 671 | |
| 672 | Store Memoized data in Storable database |
| 673 | |
| 674 | =item NDBM_File |
| 675 | |
| 676 | Tied access to ndbm files |
| 677 | |
| 678 | =item NEXT |
| 679 | |
| 680 | Provide a pseudo-class NEXT that allows method redispatch |
| 681 | |
| 682 | =item Net::Cmd |
| 683 | |
| 684 | Network Command class (as used by FTP, SMTP etc) |
| 685 | |
| 686 | =item Net::Config |
| 687 | |
| 688 | Local configuration data for libnet |
| 689 | |
| 690 | =item Net::Domain |
| 691 | |
| 692 | Attempt to evaluate the current host's internet name and domain |
| 693 | |
| 694 | =item Net::FTP |
| 695 | |
| 696 | FTP Client class |
| 697 | |
| 698 | =item Net::NNTP |
| 699 | |
| 700 | NNTP Client class |
| 701 | |
| 702 | =item Net::Netrc |
| 703 | |
| 704 | OO interface to users netrc file |
| 705 | |
| 706 | =item Net::POP3 |
| 707 | |
| 708 | Post Office Protocol 3 Client class (RFC1939) |
| 709 | |
| 710 | =item Net::Ping |
| 711 | |
| 712 | Check a remote host for reachability |
| 713 | |
| 714 | =item Net::SMTP |
| 715 | |
| 716 | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Client |
| 717 | |
| 718 | =item Net::Time |
| 719 | |
| 720 | Time and daytime network client interface |
| 721 | |
| 722 | =item Net::hostent |
| 723 | |
| 724 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in gethost*() functions |
| 725 | |
| 726 | =item Net::libnetFAQ |
| 727 | |
| 728 | Libnet Frequently Asked Questions |
| 729 | |
| 730 | =item Net::netent |
| 731 | |
| 732 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getnet*() functions |
| 733 | |
| 734 | =item Net::protoent |
| 735 | |
| 736 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getproto*() functions |
| 737 | |
| 738 | =item Net::servent |
| 739 | |
| 740 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getserv*() functions |
| 741 | |
| 742 | =item O |
| 743 | |
| 744 | Generic interface to Perl Compiler backends |
| 745 | |
| 746 | =item ODBM_File |
| 747 | |
| 748 | Tied access to odbm files |
| 749 | |
| 750 | =item Opcode |
| 751 | |
| 752 | Disable named opcodes when compiling perl code |
| 753 | |
| 754 | =item POSIX |
| 755 | |
| 756 | Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1 |
| 757 | |
| 758 | =item PerlIO |
| 759 | |
| 760 | On demand loader for PerlIO layers and root of PerlIO::* name space |
| 761 | |
| 762 | =item Pod::Checker |
| 763 | |
| 764 | Check pod documents for syntax errors |
| 765 | |
| 766 | =item Pod::Find |
| 767 | |
| 768 | Find POD documents in directory trees |
| 769 | |
| 770 | =item Pod::Functions |
| 771 | |
| 772 | Group Perl's functions a la perlfunc.pod |
| 773 | |
| 774 | =item Pod::Html |
| 775 | |
| 776 | Module to convert pod files to HTML |
| 777 | |
| 778 | =item Pod::InputObjects |
| 779 | |
| 780 | Objects representing POD input paragraphs, commands, etc. |
| 781 | |
| 782 | =item Pod::LaTeX |
| 783 | |
| 784 | Convert Pod data to formatted Latex |
| 785 | |
| 786 | =item Pod::Man |
| 787 | |
| 788 | Convert POD data to formatted *roff input |
| 789 | |
| 790 | =item Pod::ParseLink |
| 791 | |
| 792 | Parse an LE<lt>E<gt> formatting code in POD text |
| 793 | |
| 794 | =item Pod::ParseUtils |
| 795 | |
| 796 | Helpers for POD parsing and conversion |
| 797 | |
| 798 | =item Pod::Parser |
| 799 | |
| 800 | Base class for creating POD filters and translators |
| 801 | |
| 802 | =item Pod::Plainer |
| 803 | |
| 804 | Perl extension for converting Pod to old style Pod. |
| 805 | |
| 806 | =item Pod::Select |
| 807 | |
| 808 | Extract selected sections of POD from input |
| 809 | |
| 810 | =item Pod::Text |
| 811 | |
| 812 | Convert POD data to formatted ASCII text |
| 813 | |
| 814 | =item Pod::Text::Color |
| 815 | |
| 816 | Convert POD data to formatted color ASCII text |
| 817 | |
| 818 | =item Pod::Text::Overstrike |
| 819 | |
| 820 | Convert POD data to formatted overstrike text |
| 821 | |
| 822 | =item Pod::Text::Termcap |
| 823 | |
| 824 | Convert POD data to ASCII text with format escapes |
| 825 | |
| 826 | =item Pod::Usage |
| 827 | |
| 828 | Print a usage message from embedded pod documentation |
| 829 | |
| 830 | =item Pod::t::basic |
| 831 | |
| 832 | Test of various basic POD features in translators. |
| 833 | |
| 834 | =item SDBM_File |
| 835 | |
| 836 | Tied access to sdbm files |
| 837 | |
| 838 | =item Safe |
| 839 | |
| 840 | Compile and execute code in restricted compartments |
| 841 | |
| 842 | =item Search::Dict |
| 843 | |
| 844 | Search for key in dictionary file |
| 845 | |
| 846 | =item SelectSaver |
| 847 | |
| 848 | Save and restore selected file handle |
| 849 | |
| 850 | =item SelfLoader |
| 851 | |
| 852 | Load functions only on demand |
| 853 | |
| 854 | =item Shell |
| 855 | |
| 856 | Run shell commands transparently within perl |
| 857 | |
| 858 | =item Socket |
| 859 | |
| 860 | Load the C socket.h defines and structure manipulators |
| 861 | |
| 862 | =item Storable |
| 863 | |
| 864 | Persistency for perl data structures |
| 865 | |
| 866 | =item Switch |
| 867 | |
| 868 | A switch statement for Perl |
| 869 | |
| 870 | =item Symbol |
| 871 | |
| 872 | Manipulate Perl symbols and their names |
| 873 | |
| 874 | =item Term::ANSIColor |
| 875 | |
| 876 | Color screen output using ANSI escape sequences |
| 877 | |
| 878 | =item Term::Cap |
| 879 | |
| 880 | Perl termcap interface |
| 881 | |
| 882 | =item Term::Complete |
| 883 | |
| 884 | Perl word completion module |
| 885 | |
| 886 | =item Term::ReadLine |
| 887 | |
| 888 | Perl interface to various C<readline> packages. If |
| 889 | |
| 890 | =item Test |
| 891 | |
| 892 | Provides a simple framework for writing test scripts |
| 893 | |
| 894 | =item Test::Builder |
| 895 | |
| 896 | Backend for building test libraries |
| 897 | |
| 898 | =item Test::Harness |
| 899 | |
| 900 | Run perl standard test scripts with statistics |
| 901 | |
| 902 | =item Test::Harness::Assert |
| 903 | |
| 904 | Simple assert |
| 905 | |
| 906 | =item Test::Harness::Iterator |
| 907 | |
| 908 | Internal Test::Harness Iterator |
| 909 | |
| 910 | =item Test::Harness::Straps |
| 911 | |
| 912 | Detailed analysis of test results |
| 913 | |
| 914 | =item Test::More |
| 915 | |
| 916 | Yet another framework for writing test scripts |
| 917 | |
| 918 | =item Test::Simple |
| 919 | |
| 920 | Basic utilities for writing tests. |
| 921 | |
| 922 | =item Test::Tutorial |
| 923 | |
| 924 | A tutorial about writing really basic tests |
| 925 | |
| 926 | =item Text::Abbrev |
| 927 | |
| 928 | Create an abbreviation table from a list |
| 929 | |
| 930 | =item Text::Balanced |
| 931 | |
| 932 | Extract delimited text sequences from strings. |
| 933 | |
| 934 | =item Text::ParseWords |
| 935 | |
| 936 | Parse text into an array of tokens or array of arrays |
| 937 | |
| 938 | =item Text::Soundex |
| 939 | |
| 940 | Implementation of the Soundex Algorithm as Described by Knuth |
| 941 | |
| 942 | =item Text::Tabs |
| 943 | |
| 944 | Expand and unexpand tabs per the unix expand(1) and unexpand(1) |
| 945 | |
| 946 | =item Text::Wrap |
| 947 | |
| 948 | Line wrapping to form simple paragraphs |
| 949 | |
| 950 | =item Thread |
| 951 | |
| 952 | Manipulate threads in Perl |
| 953 | |
| 954 | =item Tie::Array |
| 955 | |
| 956 | Base class for tied arrays |
| 957 | |
| 958 | =item Tie::File |
| 959 | |
| 960 | Access the lines of a disk file via a Perl array |
| 961 | |
| 962 | =item Tie::Handle |
| 963 | |
| 964 | Base class definitions for tied handles |
| 965 | |
| 966 | =item Tie::Hash |
| 967 | |
| 968 | Base class definitions for tied hashes |
| 969 | |
| 970 | =item Tie::Memoize |
| 971 | |
| 972 | Add data to hash when needed |
| 973 | |
| 974 | =item Tie::RefHash |
| 975 | |
| 976 | Use references as hash keys |
| 977 | |
| 978 | =item Tie::Scalar |
| 979 | |
| 980 | Base class definitions for tied scalars |
| 981 | |
| 982 | =item Tie::SubstrHash |
| 983 | |
| 984 | Fixed-table-size, fixed-key-length hashing |
| 985 | |
| 986 | =item Time::Local |
| 987 | |
| 988 | Efficiently compute time from local and GMT time |
| 989 | |
| 990 | =item Time::gmtime |
| 991 | |
| 992 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in gmtime() function |
| 993 | |
| 994 | =item Time::localtime |
| 995 | |
| 996 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in localtime() function |
| 997 | |
| 998 | =item Time::tm |
| 999 | |
| 1000 | Internal object used by Time::gmtime and Time::localtime |
| 1001 | |
| 1002 | =item UNIVERSAL |
| 1003 | |
| 1004 | Base class for ALL classes (blessed references) |
| 1005 | |
| 1006 | =item Unicode::Collate |
| 1007 | |
| 1008 | Use UCA (Unicode Collation Algorithm) |
| 1009 | |
| 1010 | =item Unicode::UCD |
| 1011 | |
| 1012 | Unicode character database |
| 1013 | |
| 1014 | =item User::grent |
| 1015 | |
| 1016 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getgr*() functions |
| 1017 | |
| 1018 | =item User::pwent |
| 1019 | |
| 1020 | By-name interface to Perl's built-in getpw*() functions |
| 1021 | |
| 1022 | =item Win32 |
| 1023 | |
| 1024 | Interfaces to some Win32 API Functions |
| 1025 | |
| 1026 | =back |
| 1027 | |
| 1028 | To find out I<all> modules installed on your system, including |
| 1029 | those without documentation or outside the standard release, |
| 1030 | just do this: |
| 1031 | |
| 1032 | % find `perl -e 'print "@INC"'` -name '*.pm' -print |
| 1033 | |
| 1034 | They should all have their own documentation installed and accessible |
| 1035 | via your system man(1) command. If you do not have a B<find> |
| 1036 | program, you can use the Perl B<find2perl> program instead, which |
| 1037 | generates Perl code as output you can run through perl. If you |
| 1038 | have a B<man> program but it doesn't find your modules, you'll have |
| 1039 | to fix your manpath. See L<perl> for details. If you have no |
| 1040 | system B<man> command, you might try the B<perldoc> program. |
| 1041 | |
| 1042 | =head2 Extension Modules |
| 1043 | |
| 1044 | Extension modules are written in C (or a mix of Perl and C). They |
| 1045 | are usually dynamically loaded into Perl if and when you need them, |
| 1046 | but may also be linked in statically. Supported extension modules |
| 1047 | include Socket, Fcntl, and POSIX. |
| 1048 | |
| 1049 | Many popular C extension modules do not come bundled (at least, not |
| 1050 | completely) due to their sizes, volatility, or simply lack of time |
| 1051 | for adequate testing and configuration across the multitude of |
| 1052 | platforms on which Perl was beta-tested. You are encouraged to |
| 1053 | look for them on CPAN (described below), or using web search engines |
| 1054 | like Alta Vista or Deja News. |
| 1055 | |
| 1056 | =head1 CPAN |
| 1057 | |
| 1058 | CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network; it's a globally |
| 1059 | replicated trove of Perl materials, including documentation, style |
| 1060 | guides, tricks and traps, alternate ports to non-Unix systems and |
| 1061 | occasional binary distributions for these. Search engines for |
| 1062 | CPAN can be found at http://www.cpan.org/. |
| 1063 | |
| 1064 | Most importantly, CPAN includes around a thousand unbundled modules, |
| 1065 | some of which require a C compiler to build. Major categories of |
| 1066 | modules are: |
| 1067 | |
| 1068 | =over |
| 1069 | |
| 1070 | =item * |
| 1071 | |
| 1072 | Language Extensions and Documentation Tools |
| 1073 | |
| 1074 | =item * |
| 1075 | |
| 1076 | Development Support |
| 1077 | |
| 1078 | =item * |
| 1079 | |
| 1080 | Operating System Interfaces |
| 1081 | |
| 1082 | =item * |
| 1083 | |
| 1084 | Networking, Device Control (modems) and InterProcess Communication |
| 1085 | |
| 1086 | =item * |
| 1087 | |
| 1088 | Data Types and Data Type Utilities |
| 1089 | |
| 1090 | =item * |
| 1091 | |
| 1092 | Database Interfaces |
| 1093 | |
| 1094 | =item * |
| 1095 | |
| 1096 | User Interfaces |
| 1097 | |
| 1098 | =item * |
| 1099 | |
| 1100 | Interfaces to / Emulations of Other Programming Languages |
| 1101 | |
| 1102 | =item * |
| 1103 | |
| 1104 | File Names, File Systems and File Locking (see also File Handles) |
| 1105 | |
| 1106 | =item * |
| 1107 | |
| 1108 | String Processing, Language Text Processing, Parsing, and Searching |
| 1109 | |
| 1110 | =item * |
| 1111 | |
| 1112 | Option, Argument, Parameter, and Configuration File Processing |
| 1113 | |
| 1114 | =item * |
| 1115 | |
| 1116 | Internationalization and Locale |
| 1117 | |
| 1118 | =item * |
| 1119 | |
| 1120 | Authentication, Security, and Encryption |
| 1121 | |
| 1122 | =item * |
| 1123 | |
| 1124 | World Wide Web, HTML, HTTP, CGI, MIME |
| 1125 | |
| 1126 | =item * |
| 1127 | |
| 1128 | Server and Daemon Utilities |
| 1129 | |
| 1130 | =item * |
| 1131 | |
| 1132 | Archiving and Compression |
| 1133 | |
| 1134 | =item * |
| 1135 | |
| 1136 | Images, Pixmap and Bitmap Manipulation, Drawing, and Graphing |
| 1137 | |
| 1138 | =item * |
| 1139 | |
| 1140 | Mail and Usenet News |
| 1141 | |
| 1142 | =item * |
| 1143 | |
| 1144 | Control Flow Utilities (callbacks and exceptions etc) |
| 1145 | |
| 1146 | =item * |
| 1147 | |
| 1148 | File Handle and Input/Output Stream Utilities |
| 1149 | |
| 1150 | =item * |
| 1151 | |
| 1152 | Miscellaneous Modules |
| 1153 | |
| 1154 | =back |
| 1155 | |
| 1156 | Registered CPAN sites as of this writing include the following. |
| 1157 | You should try to choose one close to you: |
| 1158 | |
| 1159 | =head2 Africa |
| 1160 | |
| 1161 | =over 4 |
| 1162 | |
| 1163 | =item * |
| 1164 | |
| 1165 | South Africa |
| 1166 | |
| 1167 | ftp://ftp.is.co.za/programming/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1168 | ftp://ftp.mweb.co.za/pub/mirrors/cpan/ |
| 1169 | ftp://ftp.saix.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1170 | ftp://ftp.sun.ac.za/CPAN/ |
| 1171 | |
| 1172 | =back |
| 1173 | |
| 1174 | =head2 Asia |
| 1175 | |
| 1176 | =over 4 |
| 1177 | |
| 1178 | =item * |
| 1179 | |
| 1180 | China |
| 1181 | |
| 1182 | ftp://freesoft.cei.gov.cn/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1183 | http://www2.linuxforum.net/mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1184 | http://CPAN.pacific.net.hk/ |
| 1185 | ftp://ftp.pacific.net.hk/pub/mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1186 | http://cpan.shellhung.org/ |
| 1187 | ftp://ftp.shellhung.org/pub/CPAN |
| 1188 | |
| 1189 | =item * |
| 1190 | |
| 1191 | India |
| 1192 | |
| 1193 | http://cpan.in.freeos.com |
| 1194 | ftp://cpan.in.freeos.com/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1195 | |
| 1196 | =item * |
| 1197 | |
| 1198 | Indonesia |
| 1199 | |
| 1200 | http://cpan.itb.web.id/ |
| 1201 | ftp://mirrors.piksi.itb.ac.id/CPAN/ |
| 1202 | http://CPAN.mweb.co.id/ |
| 1203 | ftp://ftp.mweb.co.id/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1204 | |
| 1205 | =item * |
| 1206 | |
| 1207 | Israel |
| 1208 | |
| 1209 | http://www.iglu.org.il:/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1210 | ftp://ftp.iglu.org.il/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1211 | http://cpan.lerner.co.il/ |
| 1212 | http://bioinfo.weizmann.ac.il/pub/software/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1213 | ftp://bioinfo.weizmann.ac.il/pub/software/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1214 | |
| 1215 | =item * |
| 1216 | |
| 1217 | Japan |
| 1218 | |
| 1219 | ftp://ftp.u-aizu.ac.jp/pub/CPAN |
| 1220 | ftp://ftp.kddlabs.co.jp/CPAN/ |
| 1221 | http://mirror.nucba.ac.jp/mirror/Perl/ |
| 1222 | ftp://mirror.nucba.ac.jp/mirror/Perl/ |
| 1223 | ftp://ftp.meisei-u.ac.jp/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1224 | ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1225 | ftp://ftp.dti.ad.jp/pub/lang/CPAN/ |
| 1226 | ftp://ftp.ring.gr.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1227 | |
| 1228 | =item * |
| 1229 | |
| 1230 | Korea |
| 1231 | |
| 1232 | http://mirror.Mazic.org/pub/CPAN |
| 1233 | ftp://mirror.Mazic.org/pub/CPAN |
| 1234 | |
| 1235 | =item * |
| 1236 | |
| 1237 | Philippines |
| 1238 | |
| 1239 | http://www.adzu.edu.ph/CPAN |
| 1240 | |
| 1241 | =item * |
| 1242 | |
| 1243 | Russian Federation |
| 1244 | |
| 1245 | http://cpan.tomsk.ru |
| 1246 | ftp://cpan.tomsk.ru/pub/CPAN |
| 1247 | |
| 1248 | =item * |
| 1249 | |
| 1250 | Saudi Arabia |
| 1251 | |
| 1252 | ftp://ftp.isu.net.sa/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1253 | |
| 1254 | =item * |
| 1255 | |
| 1256 | Singapore |
| 1257 | |
| 1258 | http://cpan.hjc.edu.sg |
| 1259 | |
| 1260 | =item * |
| 1261 | |
| 1262 | South Korea |
| 1263 | |
| 1264 | http://CPAN.bora.net/ |
| 1265 | ftp://ftp.bora.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1266 | http://ftp.kornet.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1267 | ftp://ftp.kornet.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1268 | ftp://ftp.nuri.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1269 | |
| 1270 | =item * |
| 1271 | |
| 1272 | Taiwan |
| 1273 | |
| 1274 | ftp://coda.nctu.edu.tw/UNIX/perl/CPAN |
| 1275 | ftp://ftp.ee.ncku.edu.tw/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1276 | ftp://ftp1.sinica.edu.tw/pub1/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1277 | http://ftp.tku.edu.tw/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1278 | ftp://ftp.tku.edu.tw/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1279 | |
| 1280 | =item * |
| 1281 | |
| 1282 | Thailand |
| 1283 | |
| 1284 | http://download.nectec.or.th/CPAN/ |
| 1285 | ftp://ftp.nectec.or.th/pub/languages/CPAN/ |
| 1286 | ftp://ftp.cs.riubon.ac.th/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1287 | |
| 1288 | =back |
| 1289 | |
| 1290 | =head2 Central America |
| 1291 | |
| 1292 | =over 4 |
| 1293 | |
| 1294 | =item * |
| 1295 | |
| 1296 | Costa Rica |
| 1297 | |
| 1298 | ftp://ftp.linux.co.cr/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1299 | http://ftp.ucr.ac.cr/Unix/CPAN/ |
| 1300 | ftp://ftp.ucr.ac.cr/pub/Unix/CPAN/ |
| 1301 | |
| 1302 | =back |
| 1303 | |
| 1304 | =head2 Europe |
| 1305 | |
| 1306 | =over 4 |
| 1307 | |
| 1308 | =item * |
| 1309 | |
| 1310 | Austria |
| 1311 | |
| 1312 | ftp://ftp.tuwien.ac.at/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1313 | |
| 1314 | =item * |
| 1315 | |
| 1316 | Belgium |
| 1317 | |
| 1318 | http://ftp.easynet.be/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1319 | ftp://ftp.easynet.be/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1320 | http://cpan.skynet.be |
| 1321 | ftp://ftp.skynet.be/pub/CPAN |
| 1322 | ftp://ftp.kulnet.kuleuven.ac.be/pub/mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1323 | |
| 1324 | =item * |
| 1325 | |
| 1326 | Bulgaria |
| 1327 | |
| 1328 | ftp://ftp.ntrl.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1329 | |
| 1330 | =item * |
| 1331 | |
| 1332 | Croatia |
| 1333 | |
| 1334 | ftp://ftp.linux.hr/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1335 | |
| 1336 | =item * |
| 1337 | |
| 1338 | Czech Republic |
| 1339 | |
| 1340 | http://ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1341 | ftp://ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1342 | ftp://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/MIRRORS/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1343 | |
| 1344 | =item * |
| 1345 | |
| 1346 | Denmark |
| 1347 | |
| 1348 | http://mirrors.sunsite.dk/cpan/ |
| 1349 | ftp://sunsite.dk/mirrors/cpan/ |
| 1350 | http://www.cpan.dk/CPAN/ |
| 1351 | ftp://www.cpan.dk/ftp.cpan.org/CPAN/ |
| 1352 | |
| 1353 | =item * |
| 1354 | |
| 1355 | England |
| 1356 | |
| 1357 | http://www.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN |
| 1358 | ftp://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1359 | http://cpan.crazygreek.co.uk |
| 1360 | ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1361 | ftp://ftp.flirble.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1362 | ftp://ftp.plig.org/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1363 | ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/CPAN/ |
| 1364 | http://mirror.uklinux.net/CPAN/ |
| 1365 | ftp://mirror.uklinux.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1366 | ftp://usit.shef.ac.uk/pub/packages/CPAN/ |
| 1367 | |
| 1368 | =item * |
| 1369 | |
| 1370 | Estonia |
| 1371 | |
| 1372 | ftp://ftp.ut.ee/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1373 | |
| 1374 | =item * |
| 1375 | |
| 1376 | Finland |
| 1377 | |
| 1378 | ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1379 | http://cpan.kpnqwest.fi/ |
| 1380 | |
| 1381 | =item * |
| 1382 | |
| 1383 | France |
| 1384 | |
| 1385 | ftp://cpan.ftp.worldonline.fr/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1386 | http://cpan.mirrors.easynet.fr/ |
| 1387 | ftp://cpan.mirrors.easynet.fr/pub/ftp.cpan.org/ |
| 1388 | ftp://ftp.club-internet.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1389 | http://fr.cpan.org/ |
| 1390 | ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1391 | ftp://ftp.oleane.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1392 | ftp://ftp.pasteur.fr/pub/computing/CPAN/ |
| 1393 | http://cpan.cict.fr/ |
| 1394 | ftp://cpan.cict.fr/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1395 | ftp://ftp.uvsq.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1396 | |
| 1397 | =item * |
| 1398 | |
| 1399 | Germany |
| 1400 | |
| 1401 | ftp://ftp.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1402 | ftp://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1403 | ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/source/CPAN/ |
| 1404 | ftp://ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/CPAN |
| 1405 | ftp://ftp.gigabell.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1406 | http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1407 | ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1408 | ftp://ftp.uni-hamburg.de/pub/soft/lang/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1409 | ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1410 | http://cpan.noris.de/ |
| 1411 | ftp://cpan.noris.de/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1412 | ftp://ftp.mpi-sb.mpg.de/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1413 | ftp://ftp.gmd.de/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1414 | |
| 1415 | =item * |
| 1416 | |
| 1417 | Greece |
| 1418 | |
| 1419 | ftp://ftp.forthnet.gr/pub/languages/perl/CPAN |
| 1420 | ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/lang/perl/ |
| 1421 | |
| 1422 | =item * |
| 1423 | |
| 1424 | Hungary |
| 1425 | |
| 1426 | http://cpan.artifact.hu/ |
| 1427 | ftp://cpan.artifact.hu/CPAN/ |
| 1428 | http://ftp.kfki.hu/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1429 | ftp://ftp.kfki.hu/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1430 | |
| 1431 | =item * |
| 1432 | |
| 1433 | Iceland |
| 1434 | |
| 1435 | http://ftp.rhnet.is/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1436 | ftp://ftp.rhnet.is/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1437 | |
| 1438 | =item * |
| 1439 | |
| 1440 | Ireland |
| 1441 | |
| 1442 | http://cpan.indigo.ie/ |
| 1443 | ftp://cpan.indigo.ie/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1444 | http://sunsite.compapp.dcu.ie/pub/perl/ |
| 1445 | ftp://sunsite.compapp.dcu.ie/pub/perl/ |
| 1446 | |
| 1447 | =item * |
| 1448 | |
| 1449 | Italy |
| 1450 | |
| 1451 | http://cpan.nettuno.it/ |
| 1452 | http://gusp.dyndns.org/CPAN/ |
| 1453 | ftp://gusp.dyndns.org/pub/CPAN |
| 1454 | http://softcity.iol.it/cpan |
| 1455 | ftp://softcity.iol.it/pub/cpan |
| 1456 | ftp://ftp.unina.it/pub/Other/CPAN/ |
| 1457 | ftp://ftp.unipi.it/pub/mirror/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1458 | ftp://cis.uniRoma2.it/CPAN/ |
| 1459 | ftp://ftp.edisontel.it/pub/CPAN_Mirror/ |
| 1460 | ftp://ftp.flashnet.it/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1461 | |
| 1462 | =item * |
| 1463 | |
| 1464 | Latvia |
| 1465 | |
| 1466 | http://kvin.lv/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1467 | |
| 1468 | =item * |
| 1469 | |
| 1470 | Lithuania |
| 1471 | |
| 1472 | ftp://ftp.unix.lt/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1473 | |
| 1474 | =item * |
| 1475 | |
| 1476 | Netherlands |
| 1477 | |
| 1478 | ftp://download.xs4all.nl/pub/mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1479 | ftp://ftp.nl.uu.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1480 | ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1481 | http://cpan.cybercomm.nl/ |
| 1482 | ftp://mirror.cybercomm.nl/pub/cpan/ |
| 1483 | ftp://ftp.cpan.nl/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1484 | http://www.cs.uu.nl/mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1485 | ftp://ftp.cs.uu.nl/mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1486 | |
| 1487 | =item * |
| 1488 | |
| 1489 | Norway |
| 1490 | |
| 1491 | ftp://ftp.uninett.no/pub/languages/perl/CPAN |
| 1492 | ftp://ftp.uit.no/pub/languages/perl/cpan/ |
| 1493 | |
| 1494 | =item * |
| 1495 | |
| 1496 | Poland |
| 1497 | |
| 1498 | ftp://ftp.pk.edu.pl/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1499 | http://www.fic.uni.lodz.pl/pub/CPAN |
| 1500 | ftp://ftp.fic.uni.lodz.pl/pub/CPAN |
| 1501 | ftp://ftp.mega.net.pl/pub/mirrors/ftp.perl.com/ |
| 1502 | ftp://ftp.man.torun.pl/pub/doc/CPAN/ |
| 1503 | ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1504 | |
| 1505 | =item * |
| 1506 | |
| 1507 | Portugal |
| 1508 | |
| 1509 | ftp://ftp.ua.pt/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1510 | ftp://perl.di.uminho.pt/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1511 | http://cpan.ip.pt/ |
| 1512 | ftp://cpan.ip.pt/pub/perl/ |
| 1513 | ftp://ftp.ist.utl.pt/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1514 | http://cpan.ip.pt/ |
| 1515 | ftp://cpan.ip.pt/pub/cpan/ |
| 1516 | ftp://ftp.netc.pt/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1517 | ftp://ftp.up.pt/pub/CPAN |
| 1518 | |
| 1519 | =item * |
| 1520 | |
| 1521 | Romania |
| 1522 | |
| 1523 | ftp://archive.logicnet.ro/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/CPAN/ |
| 1524 | ftp://ftp.kappa.ro/pub/mirrors/ftp.perl.org/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1525 | ftp://ftp.dntis.ro/pub/cpan/ |
| 1526 | ftp://ftp.opsynet.com/cpan/ |
| 1527 | ftp://ftp.dnttm.ro/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1528 | ftp://ftp.lasting.ro/pub/CPAN |
| 1529 | ftp://ftp.timisoara.roedu.net/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1530 | |
| 1531 | =item * |
| 1532 | |
| 1533 | Russia |
| 1534 | |
| 1535 | ftp://ftp.chg.ru/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1536 | http://cpan.rinet.ru/ |
| 1537 | ftp://cpan.rinet.ru/pub/mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1538 | ftp://ftp.aha.ru/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1539 | http://cpan.sai.msu.ru/ |
| 1540 | ftp://ftp.sai.msu.su/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1541 | |
| 1542 | =item * |
| 1543 | |
| 1544 | Slovakia |
| 1545 | |
| 1546 | ftp://ftp.entry.sk/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1547 | |
| 1548 | =item * |
| 1549 | |
| 1550 | Slovenia |
| 1551 | |
| 1552 | ftp://ftp.arnes.si/software/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1553 | |
| 1554 | =item * |
| 1555 | |
| 1556 | Spain |
| 1557 | |
| 1558 | ftp://ftp.rediris.es/mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1559 | ftp://ftp.etse.urv.es/pub/perl/ |
| 1560 | |
| 1561 | =item * |
| 1562 | |
| 1563 | Sweden |
| 1564 | |
| 1565 | http://ftp.du.se/CPAN/ |
| 1566 | ftp://ftp.du.se/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1567 | ftp://mirror.dataphone.se/pub/CPAN |
| 1568 | ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1569 | |
| 1570 | =item * |
| 1571 | |
| 1572 | Switzerland |
| 1573 | |
| 1574 | ftp://ftp.danyk.ch/CPAN/ |
| 1575 | ftp://sunsite.cnlab-switch.ch/mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1576 | |
| 1577 | =item * |
| 1578 | |
| 1579 | Turkey |
| 1580 | |
| 1581 | ftp://sunsite.bilkent.edu.tr/pub/languages/CPAN/ |
| 1582 | |
| 1583 | =item * |
| 1584 | |
| 1585 | Ukraine |
| 1586 | |
| 1587 | http://cpan.org.ua/ |
| 1588 | ftp://cpan.org.ua/ |
| 1589 | ftp://ftp.perl.org.ua/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1590 | |
| 1591 | =back |
| 1592 | |
| 1593 | =head2 North America |
| 1594 | |
| 1595 | =over 4 |
| 1596 | |
| 1597 | =item * |
| 1598 | |
| 1599 | Canada |
| 1600 | |
| 1601 | =over 8 |
| 1602 | |
| 1603 | =item * |
| 1604 | |
| 1605 | Alberta |
| 1606 | |
| 1607 | http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/pub/Mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1608 | ftp://sunsite.ualberta.ca/pub/Mirror/CPAN/ |
| 1609 | |
| 1610 | =item * |
| 1611 | |
| 1612 | Manitoba |
| 1613 | |
| 1614 | http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1615 | ftp://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1616 | |
| 1617 | =item * |
| 1618 | |
| 1619 | Nova Scotia |
| 1620 | |
| 1621 | ftp://cpan.chebucto.ns.ca/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1622 | |
| 1623 | =item * |
| 1624 | |
| 1625 | Ontario |
| 1626 | |
| 1627 | ftp://ftp.crc.ca/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1628 | |
| 1629 | =item * |
| 1630 | |
| 1631 | Quebec |
| 1632 | |
| 1633 | http://cpan.mirror.smartworker.org/ |
| 1634 | ftp://cpan.mirror.smartworker.org/pub/CPAN |
| 1635 | |
| 1636 | =back |
| 1637 | |
| 1638 | =item * |
| 1639 | |
| 1640 | Mexico |
| 1641 | |
| 1642 | http://cpan.azc.uam.mx |
| 1643 | ftp://cpan.azc.uam.mx/mirrors/CPAN |
| 1644 | http://cpan.unam.mx/ |
| 1645 | ftp://cpan.unam.mx/pub/CPAN |
| 1646 | http://www.msg.com.mx/CPAN/ |
| 1647 | ftp://ftp.msg.com.mx/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1648 | |
| 1649 | =item * |
| 1650 | |
| 1651 | United States |
| 1652 | |
| 1653 | =over 8 |
| 1654 | |
| 1655 | =item * |
| 1656 | |
| 1657 | Alabama |
| 1658 | |
| 1659 | http://mirror.hiwaay.net/CPAN/ |
| 1660 | ftp://mirror.hiwaay.net/CPAN/ |
| 1661 | |
| 1662 | =item * |
| 1663 | |
| 1664 | California |
| 1665 | |
| 1666 | http://www.cpan.org/ |
| 1667 | ftp://cpan.valueclick.com/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1668 | http://mirrors.gossamer-threads.com/CPAN |
| 1669 | ftp://cpan.nas.nasa.gov/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1670 | ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/plan/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1671 | http://mirrors.kernel.org/cpan/ |
| 1672 | ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN |
| 1673 | http://cpan.digisle.net/ |
| 1674 | ftp://cpan.digisle.net/pub/CPAN |
| 1675 | http://www.linuxjar.com/CPAN |
| 1676 | ftp://linuxjar.com/pub/CPAN |
| 1677 | http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ |
| 1678 | http://download.sourceforge.net/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1679 | |
| 1680 | =item * |
| 1681 | |
| 1682 | Colorado |
| 1683 | |
| 1684 | ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1685 | |
| 1686 | =item * |
| 1687 | |
| 1688 | District of Columbia |
| 1689 | |
| 1690 | ftp://ftp.dc.us.telia.net/pub/cpan/ |
| 1691 | |
| 1692 | =item * |
| 1693 | |
| 1694 | Florida |
| 1695 | |
| 1696 | ftp://ftp.cise.ufl.edu/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1697 | http://mirror.csit.fsu.edu/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1698 | ftp://mirror.csit.fsu.edu/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1699 | |
| 1700 | =item * |
| 1701 | |
| 1702 | Illinois |
| 1703 | |
| 1704 | http://uiarchive.uiuc.edu/mirrors/ftp/cpan.cse.msu.edu/ |
| 1705 | ftp://uiarchive.uiuc.edu/mirrors/ftp/cpan.cse.msu.edu/ |
| 1706 | |
| 1707 | =item * |
| 1708 | |
| 1709 | Indiana |
| 1710 | |
| 1711 | ftp://ftp.uwsg.indiana.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1712 | http://cpan.nitco.com/ |
| 1713 | ftp://cpan.nitco.com/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1714 | http://archive.progeny.com/CPAN/ |
| 1715 | ftp://archive.progeny.com/CPAN/ |
| 1716 | ftp://cpan.in-span.net/ |
| 1717 | http://csociety-ftp.ecn.purdue.edu/pub/CPAN |
| 1718 | ftp://csociety-ftp.ecn.purdue.edu/pub/CPAN |
| 1719 | |
| 1720 | =item * |
| 1721 | |
| 1722 | Kentucky |
| 1723 | |
| 1724 | http://cpan.uky.edu/ |
| 1725 | ftp://cpan.uky.edu/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1726 | |
| 1727 | =item * |
| 1728 | |
| 1729 | Massachusetts |
| 1730 | |
| 1731 | ftp://ftp.ccs.neu.edu/net/mirrors/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1732 | http://cpan.mirrors.netnumina.com/ |
| 1733 | ftp://mirrors.netnumina.com/cpan/ |
| 1734 | ftp://ftp.iguide.com/pub/mirrors/packages/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1735 | |
| 1736 | =item * |
| 1737 | |
| 1738 | Michigan |
| 1739 | |
| 1740 | ftp://cpan.cse.msu.edu/ |
| 1741 | |
| 1742 | =item * |
| 1743 | |
| 1744 | New Jersey |
| 1745 | |
| 1746 | ftp://ftp.cpanel.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1747 | |
| 1748 | =item * |
| 1749 | |
| 1750 | New York |
| 1751 | |
| 1752 | ftp://ftp.freesoftware.com/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1753 | ftp://ftp.stealth.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1754 | http://www.rge.com/pub/languages/perl/ |
| 1755 | ftp://ftp.rge.com/pub/languages/perl/ |
| 1756 | ftp://mirrors.cloud9.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1757 | |
| 1758 | =item * |
| 1759 | |
| 1760 | North Carolina |
| 1761 | |
| 1762 | ftp://ftp.duke.edu/pub/perl/ |
| 1763 | |
| 1764 | =item * |
| 1765 | |
| 1766 | Ohio |
| 1767 | |
| 1768 | ftp://ftp.loaded.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1769 | |
| 1770 | =item * |
| 1771 | |
| 1772 | Oklahoma |
| 1773 | |
| 1774 | ftp://ftp.ou.edu/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1775 | |
| 1776 | =item * |
| 1777 | |
| 1778 | Oregon |
| 1779 | |
| 1780 | ftp://ftp.orst.edu/pub/CPAN |
| 1781 | |
| 1782 | =item * |
| 1783 | |
| 1784 | Pennsylvania |
| 1785 | |
| 1786 | http://ftp.epix.net/CPAN/ |
| 1787 | ftp://ftp.epix.net/pub/languages/perl/ |
| 1788 | http://mirrors.phenominet.com/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1789 | ftp://mirrors.phenominet.com/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1790 | ftp://carroll.cac.psu.edu/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1791 | |
| 1792 | =item * |
| 1793 | |
| 1794 | Tennessee |
| 1795 | |
| 1796 | ftp://ftp.sunsite.utk.edu/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1797 | |
| 1798 | =item * |
| 1799 | |
| 1800 | Texas |
| 1801 | |
| 1802 | http://ftp.sedl.org/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1803 | |
| 1804 | =item * |
| 1805 | |
| 1806 | Utah |
| 1807 | |
| 1808 | ftp://mirror.xmission.com/CPAN/ |
| 1809 | |
| 1810 | =item * |
| 1811 | |
| 1812 | Virginia |
| 1813 | |
| 1814 | http://mirrors.rcn.net/pub/lang/CPAN/ |
| 1815 | ftp://mirrors.rcn.net/pub/lang/CPAN/ |
| 1816 | ftp://ruff.cs.jmu.edu/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1817 | http://perl.Liquidation.com/CPAN/ |
| 1818 | |
| 1819 | =item * |
| 1820 | |
| 1821 | Washington |
| 1822 | |
| 1823 | http://cpan.llarian.net/ |
| 1824 | ftp://cpan.llarian.net/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1825 | http://cpan.mirrorcentral.com/ |
| 1826 | ftp://ftp.mirrorcentral.com/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1827 | ftp://ftp-mirror.internap.com/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1828 | |
| 1829 | =back |
| 1830 | |
| 1831 | =back |
| 1832 | |
| 1833 | =head2 Oceania |
| 1834 | |
| 1835 | =over 4 |
| 1836 | |
| 1837 | =item * |
| 1838 | |
| 1839 | Australia |
| 1840 | |
| 1841 | http://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1842 | ftp://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1843 | ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1844 | ftp://cpan.topend.com.au/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1845 | |
| 1846 | =item * |
| 1847 | |
| 1848 | New Zealand |
| 1849 | ftp://ftp.auckland.ac.nz/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1850 | |
| 1851 | =back |
| 1852 | |
| 1853 | =head2 South America |
| 1854 | |
| 1855 | =over 4 |
| 1856 | |
| 1857 | =item * |
| 1858 | |
| 1859 | Argentina |
| 1860 | |
| 1861 | ftp://mirrors.bannerlandia.com.ar/mirrors/CPAN/ |
| 1862 | |
| 1863 | =item * |
| 1864 | |
| 1865 | Brazil |
| 1866 | |
| 1867 | ftp://cpan.pop-mg.com.br/pub/CPAN/ |
| 1868 | ftp://ftp.matrix.com.br/pub/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1869 | |
| 1870 | =item * |
| 1871 | |
| 1872 | Chile |
| 1873 | |
| 1874 | ftp://ftp.psinet.cl/pub/programming/perl/CPAN/ |
| 1875 | ftp://sunsite.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/lang/perl/ |
| 1876 | |
| 1877 | =back |
| 1878 | |
| 1879 | |
| 1880 | For an up-to-date listing of CPAN sites, |
| 1881 | see http://www.cpan.org/SITES or ftp://www.cpan.org/SITES . |
| 1882 | |
| 1883 | =head1 Modules: Creation, Use, and Abuse |
| 1884 | |
| 1885 | (The following section is borrowed directly from Tim Bunce's modules |
| 1886 | file, available at your nearest CPAN site.) |
| 1887 | |
| 1888 | Perl implements a class using a package, but the presence of a |
| 1889 | package doesn't imply the presence of a class. A package is just a |
| 1890 | namespace. A class is a package that provides subroutines that can be |
| 1891 | used as methods. A method is just a subroutine that expects, as its |
| 1892 | first argument, either the name of a package (for "static" methods), |
| 1893 | or a reference to something (for "virtual" methods). |
| 1894 | |
| 1895 | A module is a file that (by convention) provides a class of the same |
| 1896 | name (sans the .pm), plus an import method in that class that can be |
| 1897 | called to fetch exported symbols. This module may implement some of |
| 1898 | its methods by loading dynamic C or C++ objects, but that should be |
| 1899 | totally transparent to the user of the module. Likewise, the module |
| 1900 | might set up an AUTOLOAD function to slurp in subroutine definitions on |
| 1901 | demand, but this is also transparent. Only the F<.pm> file is required to |
| 1902 | exist. See L<perlsub>, L<perltoot>, and L<AutoLoader> for details about |
| 1903 | the AUTOLOAD mechanism. |
| 1904 | |
| 1905 | =head2 Guidelines for Module Creation |
| 1906 | |
| 1907 | =over 4 |
| 1908 | |
| 1909 | =item * |
| 1910 | |
| 1911 | Do similar modules already exist in some form? |
| 1912 | |
| 1913 | If so, please try to reuse the existing modules either in whole or |
| 1914 | by inheriting useful features into a new class. If this is not |
| 1915 | practical try to get together with the module authors to work on |
| 1916 | extending or enhancing the functionality of the existing modules. |
| 1917 | A perfect example is the plethora of packages in perl4 for dealing |
| 1918 | with command line options. |
| 1919 | |
| 1920 | If you are writing a module to expand an already existing set of |
| 1921 | modules, please coordinate with the author of the package. It |
| 1922 | helps if you follow the same naming scheme and module interaction |
| 1923 | scheme as the original author. |
| 1924 | |
| 1925 | =item * |
| 1926 | |
| 1927 | Try to design the new module to be easy to extend and reuse. |
| 1928 | |
| 1929 | Try to C<use warnings;> (or C<use warnings qw(...);>). |
| 1930 | Remember that you can add C<no warnings qw(...);> to individual blocks |
| 1931 | of code that need less warnings. |
| 1932 | |
| 1933 | Use blessed references. Use the two argument form of bless to bless |
| 1934 | into the class name given as the first parameter of the constructor, |
| 1935 | e.g.,: |
| 1936 | |
| 1937 | sub new { |
| 1938 | my $class = shift; |
| 1939 | return bless {}, $class; |
| 1940 | } |
| 1941 | |
| 1942 | or even this if you'd like it to be used as either a static |
| 1943 | or a virtual method. |
| 1944 | |
| 1945 | sub new { |
| 1946 | my $self = shift; |
| 1947 | my $class = ref($self) || $self; |
| 1948 | return bless {}, $class; |
| 1949 | } |
| 1950 | |
| 1951 | Pass arrays as references so more parameters can be added later |
| 1952 | (it's also faster). Convert functions into methods where |
| 1953 | appropriate. Split large methods into smaller more flexible ones. |
| 1954 | Inherit methods from other modules if appropriate. |
| 1955 | |
| 1956 | Avoid class name tests like: C<die "Invalid" unless ref $ref eq 'FOO'>. |
| 1957 | Generally you can delete the C<eq 'FOO'> part with no harm at all. |
| 1958 | Let the objects look after themselves! Generally, avoid hard-wired |
| 1959 | class names as far as possible. |
| 1960 | |
| 1961 | Avoid C<< $r->Class::func() >> where using C<@ISA=qw(... Class ...)> and |
| 1962 | C<< $r->func() >> would work (see L<perlbot> for more details). |
| 1963 | |
| 1964 | Use autosplit so little used or newly added functions won't be a |
| 1965 | burden to programs that don't use them. Add test functions to |
| 1966 | the module after __END__ either using AutoSplit or by saying: |
| 1967 | |
| 1968 | eval join('',<main::DATA>) || die $@ unless caller(); |
| 1969 | |
| 1970 | Does your module pass the 'empty subclass' test? If you say |
| 1971 | C<@SUBCLASS::ISA = qw(YOURCLASS);> your applications should be able |
| 1972 | to use SUBCLASS in exactly the same way as YOURCLASS. For example, |
| 1973 | does your application still work if you change: C<$obj = new YOURCLASS;> |
| 1974 | into: C<$obj = new SUBCLASS;> ? |
| 1975 | |
| 1976 | Avoid keeping any state information in your packages. It makes it |
| 1977 | difficult for multiple other packages to use yours. Keep state |
| 1978 | information in objects. |
| 1979 | |
| 1980 | Always use B<-w>. |
| 1981 | |
| 1982 | Try to C<use strict;> (or C<use strict qw(...);>). |
| 1983 | Remember that you can add C<no strict qw(...);> to individual blocks |
| 1984 | of code that need less strictness. |
| 1985 | |
| 1986 | Always use B<-w>. |
| 1987 | |
| 1988 | Follow the guidelines in the perlstyle(1) manual. |
| 1989 | |
| 1990 | Always use B<-w>. |
| 1991 | |
| 1992 | =item * |
| 1993 | |
| 1994 | Some simple style guidelines |
| 1995 | |
| 1996 | The perlstyle manual supplied with Perl has many helpful points. |
| 1997 | |
| 1998 | Coding style is a matter of personal taste. Many people evolve their |
| 1999 | style over several years as they learn what helps them write and |
| 2000 | maintain good code. Here's one set of assorted suggestions that |
| 2001 | seem to be widely used by experienced developers: |
| 2002 | |
| 2003 | Use underscores to separate words. It is generally easier to read |
| 2004 | $var_names_like_this than $VarNamesLikeThis, especially for |
| 2005 | non-native speakers of English. It's also a simple rule that works |
| 2006 | consistently with VAR_NAMES_LIKE_THIS. |
| 2007 | |
| 2008 | Package/Module names are an exception to this rule. Perl informally |
| 2009 | reserves lowercase module names for 'pragma' modules like integer |
| 2010 | and strict. Other modules normally begin with a capital letter and |
| 2011 | use mixed case with no underscores (need to be short and portable). |
| 2012 | |
| 2013 | You may find it helpful to use letter case to indicate the scope |
| 2014 | or nature of a variable. For example: |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | $ALL_CAPS_HERE constants only (beware clashes with Perl vars) |
| 2017 | $Some_Caps_Here package-wide global/static |
| 2018 | $no_caps_here function scope my() or local() variables |
| 2019 | |
| 2020 | Function and method names seem to work best as all lowercase. |
| 2021 | e.g., C<< $obj->as_string() >>. |
| 2022 | |
| 2023 | You can use a leading underscore to indicate that a variable or |
| 2024 | function should not be used outside the package that defined it. |
| 2025 | |
| 2026 | =item * |
| 2027 | |
| 2028 | Select what to export. |
| 2029 | |
| 2030 | Do NOT export method names! |
| 2031 | |
| 2032 | Do NOT export anything else by default without a good reason! |
| 2033 | |
| 2034 | Exports pollute the namespace of the module user. If you must |
| 2035 | export try to use @EXPORT_OK in preference to @EXPORT and avoid |
| 2036 | short or common names to reduce the risk of name clashes. |
| 2037 | |
| 2038 | Generally anything not exported is still accessible from outside the |
| 2039 | module using the ModuleName::item_name (or C<< $blessed_ref->method >>) |
| 2040 | syntax. By convention you can use a leading underscore on names to |
| 2041 | indicate informally that they are 'internal' and not for public use. |
| 2042 | |
| 2043 | (It is actually possible to get private functions by saying: |
| 2044 | C<my $subref = sub { ... }; &$subref;>. But there's no way to call that |
| 2045 | directly as a method, because a method must have a name in the symbol |
| 2046 | table.) |
| 2047 | |
| 2048 | As a general rule, if the module is trying to be object oriented |
| 2049 | then export nothing. If it's just a collection of functions then |
| 2050 | @EXPORT_OK anything but use @EXPORT with caution. |
| 2051 | |
| 2052 | =item * |
| 2053 | |
| 2054 | Select a name for the module. |
| 2055 | |
| 2056 | This name should be as descriptive, accurate, and complete as |
| 2057 | possible. Avoid any risk of ambiguity. Always try to use two or |
| 2058 | more whole words. Generally the name should reflect what is special |
| 2059 | about what the module does rather than how it does it. Please use |
| 2060 | nested module names to group informally or categorize a module. |
| 2061 | There should be a very good reason for a module not to have a nested name. |
| 2062 | Module names should begin with a capital letter. |
| 2063 | |
| 2064 | Having 57 modules all called Sort will not make life easy for anyone |
| 2065 | (though having 23 called Sort::Quick is only marginally better :-). |
| 2066 | Imagine someone trying to install your module alongside many others. |
| 2067 | If in any doubt ask for suggestions in comp.lang.perl.misc. |
| 2068 | |
| 2069 | If you are developing a suite of related modules/classes it's good |
| 2070 | practice to use nested classes with a common prefix as this will |
| 2071 | avoid namespace clashes. For example: Xyz::Control, Xyz::View, |
| 2072 | Xyz::Model etc. Use the modules in this list as a naming guide. |
| 2073 | |
| 2074 | If adding a new module to a set, follow the original author's |
| 2075 | standards for naming modules and the interface to methods in |
| 2076 | those modules. |
| 2077 | |
| 2078 | If developing modules for private internal or project specific use, |
| 2079 | that will never be released to the public, then you should ensure |
| 2080 | that their names will not clash with any future public module. You |
| 2081 | can do this either by using the reserved Local::* category or by |
| 2082 | using a category name that includes an underscore like Foo_Corp::*. |
| 2083 | |
| 2084 | To be portable each component of a module name should be limited to |
| 2085 | 11 characters. If it might be used on MS-DOS then try to ensure each is |
| 2086 | unique in the first 8 characters. Nested modules make this easier. |
| 2087 | |
| 2088 | =item * |
| 2089 | |
| 2090 | Have you got it right? |
| 2091 | |
| 2092 | How do you know that you've made the right decisions? Have you |
| 2093 | picked an interface design that will cause problems later? Have |
| 2094 | you picked the most appropriate name? Do you have any questions? |
| 2095 | |
| 2096 | The best way to know for sure, and pick up many helpful suggestions, |
| 2097 | is to ask someone who knows. Comp.lang.perl.misc is read by just about |
| 2098 | all the people who develop modules and it's the best place to ask. |
| 2099 | |
| 2100 | All you need to do is post a short summary of the module, its |
| 2101 | purpose and interfaces. A few lines on each of the main methods is |
| 2102 | probably enough. (If you post the whole module it might be ignored |
| 2103 | by busy people - generally the very people you want to read it!) |
| 2104 | |
| 2105 | Don't worry about posting if you can't say when the module will be |
| 2106 | ready - just say so in the message. It might be worth inviting |
| 2107 | others to help you, they may be able to complete it for you! |
| 2108 | |
| 2109 | =item * |
| 2110 | |
| 2111 | README and other Additional Files. |
| 2112 | |
| 2113 | It's well known that software developers usually fully document the |
| 2114 | software they write. If, however, the world is in urgent need of |
| 2115 | your software and there is not enough time to write the full |
| 2116 | documentation please at least provide a README file containing: |
| 2117 | |
| 2118 | =over 10 |
| 2119 | |
| 2120 | =item * |
| 2121 | |
| 2122 | A description of the module/package/extension etc. |
| 2123 | |
| 2124 | =item * |
| 2125 | |
| 2126 | A copyright notice - see below. |
| 2127 | |
| 2128 | =item * |
| 2129 | |
| 2130 | Prerequisites - what else you may need to have. |
| 2131 | |
| 2132 | =item * |
| 2133 | |
| 2134 | How to build it - possible changes to Makefile.PL etc. |
| 2135 | |
| 2136 | =item * |
| 2137 | |
| 2138 | How to install it. |
| 2139 | |
| 2140 | =item * |
| 2141 | |
| 2142 | Recent changes in this release, especially incompatibilities |
| 2143 | |
| 2144 | =item * |
| 2145 | |
| 2146 | Changes / enhancements you plan to make in the future. |
| 2147 | |
| 2148 | =back |
| 2149 | |
| 2150 | If the README file seems to be getting too large you may wish to |
| 2151 | split out some of the sections into separate files: INSTALL, |
| 2152 | Copying, ToDo etc. |
| 2153 | |
| 2154 | =over 4 |
| 2155 | |
| 2156 | =item * |
| 2157 | |
| 2158 | Adding a Copyright Notice. |
| 2159 | |
| 2160 | How you choose to license your work is a personal decision. |
| 2161 | The general mechanism is to assert your Copyright and then make |
| 2162 | a declaration of how others may copy/use/modify your work. |
| 2163 | |
| 2164 | Perl, for example, is supplied with two types of licence: The GNU |
| 2165 | GPL and The Artistic Licence (see the files README, Copying, and |
| 2166 | Artistic). Larry has good reasons for NOT just using the GNU GPL. |
| 2167 | |
| 2168 | My personal recommendation, out of respect for Larry, Perl, and the |
| 2169 | Perl community at large is to state something simply like: |
| 2170 | |
| 2171 | Copyright (c) 1995 Your Name. All rights reserved. |
| 2172 | This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or |
| 2173 | modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. |
| 2174 | |
| 2175 | This statement should at least appear in the README file. You may |
| 2176 | also wish to include it in a Copying file and your source files. |
| 2177 | Remember to include the other words in addition to the Copyright. |
| 2178 | |
| 2179 | =item * |
| 2180 | |
| 2181 | Give the module a version/issue/release number. |
| 2182 | |
| 2183 | To be fully compatible with the Exporter and MakeMaker modules you |
| 2184 | should store your module's version number in a non-my package |
| 2185 | variable called $VERSION. This should be a floating point |
| 2186 | number with at least two digits after the decimal (i.e., hundredths, |
| 2187 | e.g, C<$VERSION = "0.01">). Don't use a "1.3.2" style version. |
| 2188 | See L<Exporter> for details. |
| 2189 | |
| 2190 | It may be handy to add a function or method to retrieve the number. |
| 2191 | Use the number in announcements and archive file names when |
| 2192 | releasing the module (ModuleName-1.02.tar.Z). |
| 2193 | See perldoc ExtUtils::MakeMaker.pm for details. |
| 2194 | |
| 2195 | =item * |
| 2196 | |
| 2197 | How to release and distribute a module. |
| 2198 | |
| 2199 | It's good idea to post an announcement of the availability of your |
| 2200 | module (or the module itself if small) to the comp.lang.perl.announce |
| 2201 | Usenet newsgroup. This will at least ensure very wide once-off |
| 2202 | distribution. |
| 2203 | |
| 2204 | If possible, register the module with CPAN. You should |
| 2205 | include details of its location in your announcement. |
| 2206 | |
| 2207 | Some notes about ftp archives: Please use a long descriptive file |
| 2208 | name that includes the version number. Most incoming directories |
| 2209 | will not be readable/listable, i.e., you won't be able to see your |
| 2210 | file after uploading it. Remember to send your email notification |
| 2211 | message as soon as possible after uploading else your file may get |
| 2212 | deleted automatically. Allow time for the file to be processed |
| 2213 | and/or check the file has been processed before announcing its |
| 2214 | location. |
| 2215 | |
| 2216 | FTP Archives for Perl Modules: |
| 2217 | |
| 2218 | Follow the instructions and links on: |
| 2219 | |
| 2220 | http://www.cpan.org/modules/00modlist.long.html |
| 2221 | http://www.cpan.org/modules/04pause.html |
| 2222 | |
| 2223 | or upload to one of these sites: |
| 2224 | |
| 2225 | https://pause.kbx.de/pause/ |
| 2226 | http://pause.perl.org/pause/ |
| 2227 | |
| 2228 | and notify <modules@perl.org>. |
| 2229 | |
| 2230 | By using the WWW interface you can ask the Upload Server to mirror |
| 2231 | your modules from your ftp or WWW site into your own directory on |
| 2232 | CPAN! |
| 2233 | |
| 2234 | Please remember to send me an updated entry for the Module list! |
| 2235 | |
| 2236 | =item * |
| 2237 | |
| 2238 | Take care when changing a released module. |
| 2239 | |
| 2240 | Always strive to remain compatible with previous released versions. |
| 2241 | Otherwise try to add a mechanism to revert to the |
| 2242 | old behavior if people rely on it. Document incompatible changes. |
| 2243 | |
| 2244 | =back |
| 2245 | |
| 2246 | =back |
| 2247 | |
| 2248 | =head2 Guidelines for Converting Perl 4 Library Scripts into Modules |
| 2249 | |
| 2250 | =over 4 |
| 2251 | |
| 2252 | =item * |
| 2253 | |
| 2254 | There is no requirement to convert anything. |
| 2255 | |
| 2256 | If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Perl 4 library scripts should |
| 2257 | continue to work with no problems. You may need to make some minor |
| 2258 | changes (like escaping non-array @'s in double quoted strings) but |
| 2259 | there is no need to convert a .pl file into a Module for just that. |
| 2260 | |
| 2261 | =item * |
| 2262 | |
| 2263 | Consider the implications. |
| 2264 | |
| 2265 | All Perl applications that make use of the script will need to |
| 2266 | be changed (slightly) if the script is converted into a module. Is |
| 2267 | it worth it unless you plan to make other changes at the same time? |
| 2268 | |
| 2269 | =item * |
| 2270 | |
| 2271 | Make the most of the opportunity. |
| 2272 | |
| 2273 | If you are going to convert the script to a module you can use the |
| 2274 | opportunity to redesign the interface. The guidelines for module |
| 2275 | creation above include many of the issues you should consider. |
| 2276 | |
| 2277 | =item * |
| 2278 | |
| 2279 | The pl2pm utility will get you started. |
| 2280 | |
| 2281 | This utility will read *.pl files (given as parameters) and write |
| 2282 | corresponding *.pm files. The pl2pm utilities does the following: |
| 2283 | |
| 2284 | =over 10 |
| 2285 | |
| 2286 | =item * |
| 2287 | |
| 2288 | Adds the standard Module prologue lines |
| 2289 | |
| 2290 | =item * |
| 2291 | |
| 2292 | Converts package specifiers from ' to :: |
| 2293 | |
| 2294 | =item * |
| 2295 | |
| 2296 | Converts die(...) to croak(...) |
| 2297 | |
| 2298 | =item * |
| 2299 | |
| 2300 | Several other minor changes |
| 2301 | |
| 2302 | =back |
| 2303 | |
| 2304 | Being a mechanical process pl2pm is not bullet proof. The converted |
| 2305 | code will need careful checking, especially any package statements. |
| 2306 | Don't delete the original .pl file till the new .pm one works! |
| 2307 | |
| 2308 | =back |
| 2309 | |
| 2310 | =head2 Guidelines for Reusing Application Code |
| 2311 | |
| 2312 | =over 4 |
| 2313 | |
| 2314 | =item * |
| 2315 | |
| 2316 | Complete applications rarely belong in the Perl Module Library. |
| 2317 | |
| 2318 | =item * |
| 2319 | |
| 2320 | Many applications contain some Perl code that could be reused. |
| 2321 | |
| 2322 | Help save the world! Share your code in a form that makes it easy |
| 2323 | to reuse. |
| 2324 | |
| 2325 | =item * |
| 2326 | |
| 2327 | Break-out the reusable code into one or more separate module files. |
| 2328 | |
| 2329 | =item * |
| 2330 | |
| 2331 | Take the opportunity to reconsider and redesign the interfaces. |
| 2332 | |
| 2333 | =item * |
| 2334 | |
| 2335 | In some cases the 'application' can then be reduced to a small |
| 2336 | |
| 2337 | fragment of code built on top of the reusable modules. In these cases |
| 2338 | the application could invoked as: |
| 2339 | |
| 2340 | % perl -e 'use Module::Name; method(@ARGV)' ... |
| 2341 | or |
| 2342 | % perl -mModule::Name ... (in perl5.002 or higher) |
| 2343 | |
| 2344 | =back |
| 2345 | |
| 2346 | =head1 NOTE |
| 2347 | |
| 2348 | Perl does not enforce private and public parts of its modules as you may |
| 2349 | have been used to in other languages like C++, Ada, or Modula-17. Perl |
| 2350 | doesn't have an infatuation with enforced privacy. It would prefer |
| 2351 | that you stayed out of its living room because you weren't invited, not |
| 2352 | because it has a shotgun. |
| 2353 | |
| 2354 | The module and its user have a contract, part of which is common law, |
| 2355 | and part of which is "written". Part of the common law contract is |
| 2356 | that a module doesn't pollute any namespace it wasn't asked to. The |
| 2357 | written contract for the module (A.K.A. documentation) may make other |
| 2358 | provisions. But then you know when you C<use RedefineTheWorld> that |
| 2359 | you're redefining the world and willing to take the consequences. |