


PERLMODLIB(1)    Perl Programmers Reference Guide   PERLMODLIB(1)


NAME
       perlmodlib - constructing new Perl modules and finding
       existing ones

THE PERL MODULE LIBRARY
       Many modules are included in the Perl distribution.  These
       are described below, and all end in .pm.  You may discover
       compiled library files (usually ending in .so) or small
       pieces of modules to be autoloaded (ending in .al); these
       were automatically generated by the installation process.
       You may also discover files in the library directory that
       end in either .pl or .ph.  These are old libraries
       supplied so that old programs that use them still run.
       The .pl files will all eventually be converted into
       standard modules, and the .ph files made by h2ph will
       probably end up as extension modules made by h2xs.  (Some
       .ph values may already be available through the POSIX,
       Errno, or Fcntl modules.)  The pl2pm file in the
       distribution may help in your conversion, but it's just a
       mechanical process and therefore far from bulletproof.

   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
       "use", or "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 $^H hints variable.  Others affect the current
       package instead, like "use vars" and "use subs", which
       allow you to predeclare a variables or subroutines within
       a particular file rather than just a block.  Such
       declarations are effective for the entire file for which
       they were declared.  You cannot rescind them with "no
       vars" or "no subs".

       The following pragmas are defined (and have their own
       documentation).

       attributes  Get/set subroutine or variable attributes

       attrs       Set/get attributes of a subroutine
                   (deprecated)

       autodie     Replace functions with ones that succeed or
                   die with lexical scope




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PERLMODLIB(1)    Perl Programmers Reference Guide   PERLMODLIB(1)


       autodie::exception
                   Exceptions from autodying functions.

       autodie::exception::system
                   Exceptions from autodying system().

       autodie::hints
                   Provide hints about user subroutines to
                   autodie

       autouse     Postpone load of modules until a function is
                   used

       base        Establish an ISA relationship with base
                   classes at compile time

       bigint      Transparent BigInteger support for Perl

       bignum      Transparent BigNumber support for Perl

       bigrat      Transparent BigNumber/BigRational support for
                   Perl

       blib        Use MakeMaker's uninstalled version of a
                   package

       bytes       Force byte semantics rather than character
                   semantics

       charnames   Define character names for "\N{named}" string
                   literal escapes

       constant    Declare constants

       diagnostics Produce verbose warning diagnostics

       encoding    Allows you to write your script in non-ascii
                   or non-utf8

       encoding::warnings
                   Warn on implicit encoding conversions

       feature     Enable new syntactic features

       fields      Compile-time class fields

       filetest    Control the filetest permission operators

       if          "use" a Perl module if a condition holds

       integer     Use integer arithmetic instead of floating
                   point

       less        Request less of something



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       lib         Manipulate @INC at compile time

       locale      Use and avoid POSIX locales for built-in
                   operations

       mro         Method Resolution Order

       open        Set default PerlIO layers for input and output

       ops         Restrict unsafe operations when compiling

       overload    Package for overloading Perl operations

       overloading Lexically control overloading

       parent      Establish an ISA relationship with base
                   classes at compile time

       re          Alter regular expression behaviour

       sigtrap     Enable simple signal handling

       sort        Control sort() behaviour

       strict      Restrict unsafe constructs

       subs        Predeclare sub names

       threads     Perl interpreter-based threads

       threads::shared
                   Perl extension for sharing data structures
                   between threads

       utf8        Enable/disable UTF-8 (or UTF-EBCDIC) in source
                   code

       vars        Predeclare global variable names (obsolete)

       version     Perl extension for Version Objects

       vmsish      Control VMS-specific language features

       warnings    Control optional warnings

       warnings::register
                   Warnings import function

   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.




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       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.

       AnyDBM_File Provide framework for multiple DBMs

       App::Prove  Implements the "prove" command.

       App::Prove::State
                   State storage for the "prove" command.

       App::Prove::State::Result
                   Individual test suite results.

       App::Prove::State::Result::Test
                   Individual test results.

       Archive::Extract
                   A generic archive extracting mechanism

       Archive::Tar
                   Module for manipulations of tar archives

       Archive::Tar::File
                   A subclass for in-memory extracted file from
                   Archive::Tar

       Attribute::Handlers
                   Simpler definition of attribute handlers

       AutoLoader  Load subroutines only on demand

       AutoSplit   Split a package for autoloading

       B           The Perl Compiler

       B::Concise  Walk Perl syntax tree, printing concise info
                   about ops

       B::Debug    Walk Perl syntax tree, printing debug info
                   about ops

       B::Deparse  Perl compiler backend to produce perl code

       B::Lint     Perl lint

       B::Lint::Debug
                   Adds debugging stringification to B::

       B::Showlex  Show lexical variables used in functions or
                   files

       B::Terse    Walk Perl syntax tree, printing terse info



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                   about ops

       B::Xref     Generates cross reference reports for Perl
                   programs

       Benchmark   Benchmark running times of Perl code

       CGI         Handle Common Gateway Interface requests and
                   responses

       CGI::Apache Backward compatibility module for CGI.pm

       CGI::Carp   CGI routines for writing to the HTTPD (or
                   other) error log

       CGI::Cookie Interface to Netscape Cookies

       CGI::Fast   CGI Interface for Fast CGI

       CGI::Pretty Module to produce nicely formatted HTML code

       CGI::Push   Simple Interface to Server Push

       CGI::Switch Backward compatibility module for defunct
                   CGI::Switch

       CGI::Util   Internal utilities used by CGI module

       CORE        Pseudo-namespace for Perl's core routines

       CPAN        Query, download and build perl modules from
                   CPAN sites

       CPAN::API::HOWTO
                   A recipe book for programming with CPAN.pm

       CPAN::Distroprefs
                   Read and match distroprefs

       CPAN::FirstTime
                   Utility for CPAN::Config file Initialization

       CPAN::Kwalify
                   Interface between CPAN.pm and Kwalify.pm

       CPAN::Nox   Wrapper around CPAN.pm without using any XS
                   module

       CPAN::Version
                   Utility functions to compare CPAN versions

       CPANPLUS    API & CLI access to the CPAN mirrors





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       CPANPLUS::Backend
                   Programmer's interface to the CPANPLUS module

       CPANPLUS::Backend::RV
                   Return value objects for multi-module calls to
                   CPANPLUS::Backend

       CPANPLUS::Config
                   Defaults and heuristics for CPANPLUS
                   configuration information

       CPANPLUS::Configure
                   Configuration for CPANPLUS

       CPANPLUS::Dist
                   Base class for CPANPLUS::Dist::MM and
                   CPANPLUS::Dist::Build

       CPANPLUS::Dist::Autobundle
                   Class for installing installation snapshots

       CPANPLUS::Dist::Base
                   Base class for custom distribution classes

       CPANPLUS::Dist::Build
                   CPANPLUS plugin to install packages that use
                   Build.PL

       CPANPLUS::Dist::Build::Constants
                   Constants for CPANPLUS::Dist::Build

       CPANPLUS::Dist::MM
                   Distribution class for MakeMaker related
                   modules

       CPANPLUS::Dist::Sample
                   Sample code to create your own Dist::* plugin

       CPANPLUS::Error
                   Error handling for CPANPLUS

       CPANPLUS::FAQ
                   CPANPLUS frequently asked questions

       CPANPLUS::Hacking
                   Developing with the CPANPLUS environment

       CPANPLUS::Internals
                   CPANPLUS internals

       CPANPLUS::Internals::Extract
                   Extract compressed files for CPANPLUS





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       CPANPLUS::Internals::Fetch
                   Fetch files for CPANPLUS

       CPANPLUS::Internals::Report
                    send test reports to http://testers.cpan.org

       CPANPLUS::Internals::Search
                   Find CPAN modules

       CPANPLUS::Internals::Source
                   Updating and parsing of source files for
                   CPANPLUS

       CPANPLUS::Internals::Source::Memory
                   In memory implementation

       CPANPLUS::Internals::Source::SQLite
                   SQLite implementation

       CPANPLUS::Internals::Utils
                   Convenience functions for CPANPLUS

       CPANPLUS::Module
                   Create objects from source files

       CPANPLUS::Module::Author
                   CPANPLUS module author class

       CPANPLUS::Module::Author::Fake
                   Class for creating fake author objects

       CPANPLUS::Module::Checksums
                   Distribution checksum validation

       CPANPLUS::Module::Fake
                   Class for creating fake module objects

       CPANPLUS::Selfupdate
                   Update CPANPLUS itself

       CPANPLUS::Shell
                   Base class for all CPANPLUS shells

       CPANPLUS::Shell::Classic
                   CPAN.pm emulation for CPANPLUS

       CPANPLUS::Shell::Default
                   Default CPANPLUS user interface

       CPANPLUS::Shell::Default::Plugins::CustomSource
                   Plugin support for the CPANPLUS shell

       CPANPLUS::Shell::Default::Plugins::HOWTO
                   Documentation on how to write your own plugins



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       CPANPLUS::Shell::Default::Plugins::Remote
                   Plugin that allows connections to
                   CPANPLUS::Daemon

       CPANPLUS::Shell::Default::Plugins::Source
                   Plugin to read an execute CPANPLUS shell
                   commands

       Carp        Warn of errors (from perspective of caller)

       Carp::Heavy Heavy machinery, no user serviceable parts
                   inside

       Class::ISA  Report the search path for a class's ISA tree

       Class::Struct
                   Declare struct-like datatypes as Perl classes

       Compress::Raw::Bzip2
                   Low-Level Interface to bzip2 compression
                   library

       Compress::Raw::Bzip2::FAQ
                   Frequently Asked Questions about
                   Compress::Raw::Bzip2

       Compress::Raw::Zlib
                   Low-Level Interface to zlib compression
                   library

       Compress::Raw::Zlib::FAQ
                   Frequently Asked Questions about
                   Compress::Raw::Zlib

       Compress::Zlib
                   Interface to zlib compression library

       Config      Access Perl configuration information

       Cwd         Get pathname of current working directory

       DB          Programmatic interface to the Perl debugging
                   API

       DBM_Filter  Filter DBM keys/values

       DBM_Filter::compress
                   Filter for DBM_Filter

       DBM_Filter::encode
                   Filter for DBM_Filter

       DBM_Filter::int32
                   Filter for DBM_Filter



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       DBM_Filter::null
                   Filter for DBM_Filter

       DBM_Filter::utf8
                   Filter for DBM_Filter

       DB_File     Perl5 access to Berkeley DB version 1.x

       Data::Dumper
                   Stringified perl data structures, suitable for
                   both printing and "eval"

       Devel::DProf
                   A Perl code profiler

       Devel::InnerPackage
                   Find all the inner packages of a package

       Devel::PPPort
                   Perl/Pollution/Portability

       Devel::Peek A data debugging tool for the XS programmer

       Devel::SelfStubber
                   Generate stubs for a SelfLoading module

       Digest      Modules that calculate message digests

       Digest::MD5 Perl interface to the MD5 Algorithm

       Digest::SHA Perl extension for SHA-1/224/256/384/512

       Digest::base
                   Digest base class

       Digest::file
                   Calculate digests of files

       DirHandle   Supply object methods for directory handles

       Dumpvalue   Provides screen dump of Perl data.

       DynaLoader  Dynamically load C libraries into Perl code

       Encode      Character encodings

       Encode::Alias
                   Alias definitions to encodings

       Encode::Byte
                   Single Byte Encodings

       Encode::CJKConstants
                   Internally used by Encode::??::ISO_2022_*



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       Encode::CN  China-based Chinese Encodings

       Encode::CN::HZ
                   Internally used by Encode::CN

       Encode::Config
                   Internally used by Encode

       Encode::EBCDIC
                   EBCDIC Encodings

       Encode::Encoder
                   Object Oriented Encoder

       Encode::Encoding
                   Encode Implementation Base Class

       Encode::GSM0338
                   ESTI GSM 03.38 Encoding

       Encode::Guess
                   Guesses encoding from data

       Encode::JP  Japanese Encodings

       Encode::JP::H2Z
                   Internally used by Encode::JP::2022_JP*

       Encode::JP::JIS7
                   Internally used by Encode::JP

       Encode::KR  Korean Encodings

       Encode::KR::2022_KR
                   Internally used by Encode::KR

       Encode::MIME::Header
                   MIME 'B' and 'Q' header encoding

       Encode::MIME::Name
                   Internally used by Encode

       Encode::PerlIO
                   A detailed document on Encode and PerlIO

       Encode::Supported
                   Encodings supported by Encode

       Encode::Symbol
                   Symbol Encodings

       Encode::TW  Taiwan-based Chinese Encodings





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PERLMODLIB(1)    Perl Programmers Reference Guide   PERLMODLIB(1)


       Encode::Unicode
                   Various Unicode Transformation Formats

       Encode::Unicode::UTF7
                   UTF-7 encoding

       English     Use nice English (or awk) names for ugly
                   punctuation variables

       Env         Perl module that imports environment variables
                   as scalars or arrays

       Errno       System errno constants

       Exporter    Implements default import method for modules

       Exporter::Heavy
                   Exporter guts

       ExtUtils::CBuilder
                   Compile and link C code for Perl modules

       ExtUtils::CBuilder::Platform::Windows
                   Builder class for Windows platforms

       ExtUtils::Command
                   Utilities to replace common UNIX commands in
                   Makefiles etc.

       ExtUtils::Command::MM
                   Commands for the MM's to use in Makefiles

       ExtUtils::Constant
                   Generate XS code to import C header constants

       ExtUtils::Constant::Base
                   Base class for ExtUtils::Constant objects

       ExtUtils::Constant::Utils
                   Helper functions for ExtUtils::Constant

       ExtUtils::Constant::XS
                   Generate C code for XS modules' constants.

       ExtUtils::Embed
                   Utilities for embedding Perl in C/C++
                   applications

       ExtUtils::Install
                   Install files from here to there

       ExtUtils::Installed
                   Inventory management of installed modules




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PERLMODLIB(1)    Perl Programmers Reference Guide   PERLMODLIB(1)


       ExtUtils::Liblist
                   Determine libraries to use and how to use them

       ExtUtils::MM
                   OS adjusted ExtUtils::MakeMaker subclass

       ExtUtils::MM_AIX
                   AIX specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix

       ExtUtils::MM_Any
                   Platform-agnostic MM methods

       ExtUtils::MM_BeOS
                   Methods to override UN*X behaviour in
                   ExtUtils::MakeMaker

       ExtUtils::MM_Cygwin
                   Methods to override UN*X behaviour in
                   ExtUtils::MakeMaker

       ExtUtils::MM_DOS
                   DOS specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix

       ExtUtils::MM_Darwin
                   Special behaviors for OS X

       ExtUtils::MM_MacOS
                   Once produced Makefiles for MacOS Classic

       ExtUtils::MM_NW5
                   Methods to override UN*X behaviour in
                   ExtUtils::MakeMaker

       ExtUtils::MM_OS2
                   Methods to override UN*X behaviour in
                   ExtUtils::MakeMaker

       ExtUtils::MM_QNX
                   QNX specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix

       ExtUtils::MM_UWIN
                   U/WIN specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix

       ExtUtils::MM_Unix
                   Methods used by ExtUtils::MakeMaker

       ExtUtils::MM_VMS
                   Methods to override UN*X behaviour in
                   ExtUtils::MakeMaker

       ExtUtils::MM_VOS
                   VOS specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix





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PERLMODLIB(1)    Perl Programmers Reference Guide   PERLMODLIB(1)


       ExtUtils::MM_Win32
                   Methods to override UN*X behaviour in
                   ExtUtils::MakeMaker

       ExtUtils::MM_Win95
                   Method to customize MakeMaker for Win9X

       ExtUtils::MY
                   ExtUtils::MakeMaker subclass for customization

       ExtUtils::MakeMaker
                   Create a module Makefile

       ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Config
                   Wrapper around Config.pm

       ExtUtils::MakeMaker::FAQ
                   Frequently Asked Questions About MakeMaker

       ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Tutorial
                   Writing a module with MakeMaker

       ExtUtils::Manifest
                   Utilities to write and check a MANIFEST file

       ExtUtils::Mkbootstrap
                   Make a bootstrap file for use by DynaLoader

       ExtUtils::Mksymlists
                   Write linker options files for dynamic
                   extension

       ExtUtils::Packlist
                   Manage .packlist files

       ExtUtils::ParseXS
                   Converts Perl XS code into C code

       ExtUtils::XSSymSet
                   Keep sets of symbol names palatable to the VMS
                   linker

       ExtUtils::testlib
                   Add blib/* directories to @INC

       Fatal       Replace functions with equivalents which
                   succeed or die

       Fcntl       Load the C Fcntl.h defines

       File::Basename
                   Parse file paths into directory, filename and
                   suffix.




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PERLMODLIB(1)    Perl Programmers Reference Guide   PERLMODLIB(1)


       File::CheckTree
                   Run many filetest checks on a tree

       File::Compare
                   Compare files or filehandles

       File::Copy  Copy files or filehandles

       File::DosGlob
                   DOS like globbing and then some

       File::Fetch A generic file fetching mechanism

       File::Find  Traverse a directory tree.

       File::Glob  Perl extension for BSD glob routine

       File::GlobMapper
                   Extend File Glob to Allow Input and Output
                   Files

       File::Path  Create or remove directory trees

       File::Spec  Portably perform operations on file names

       File::Spec::Cygwin
                   Methods for Cygwin file specs

       File::Spec::Epoc
                   Methods for Epoc file specs

       File::Spec::Functions
                   Portably perform operations on file names

       File::Spec::Mac
                   File::Spec for Mac OS (Classic)

       File::Spec::OS2
                   Methods for OS/2 file specs

       File::Spec::Unix
                   File::Spec for Unix, base for other File::Spec
                   modules

       File::Spec::VMS
                   Methods for VMS file specs

       File::Spec::Win32
                   Methods for Win32 file specs

       File::Temp  Return name and handle of a temporary file
                   safely

       File::stat  By-name interface to Perl's built-in stat()



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PERLMODLIB(1)    Perl Programmers Reference Guide   PERLMODLIB(1)


                   functions

       FileCache   Keep more files open than the system permits

       FileHandle  Supply object methods for filehandles

       Filter::Simple
                   Simplified source filtering

       Filter::Util::Call
                   Perl Source Filter Utility Module

       FindBin     Locate directory of original perl script

       GDBM_File   Perl5 access to the gdbm library.

       Getopt::Long
                   Extended processing of command line options

       Getopt::Std Process single-character switches with switch
                   clustering

       Hash::Util  A selection of general-utility hash
                   subroutines

       Hash::Util::FieldHash
                   Support for Inside-Out Classes

       I18N::Collate
                   Compare 8-bit scalar data according to the
                   current locale

       I18N::LangTags
                   Functions for dealing with RFC3066-style
                   language tags

       I18N::LangTags::Detect
                   Detect the user's language preferences

       I18N::LangTags::List
                   Tags and names for human languages

       I18N::Langinfo
                   Query locale information

       IO          Load various IO modules

       IO::Compress::Base
                   Base Class for IO::Compress modules

       IO::Compress::Bzip2
                   Write bzip2 files/buffers





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       IO::Compress::Deflate
                   Write RFC 1950 files/buffers

       IO::Compress::FAQ
                   Frequently Asked Questions about IO::Compress

       IO::Compress::Gzip
                   Write RFC 1952 files/buffers

       IO::Compress::RawDeflate
                   Write RFC 1951 files/buffers

       IO::Compress::Zip
                   Write zip files/buffers

       IO::Dir     Supply object methods for directory handles

       IO::File    Supply object methods for filehandles

       IO::Handle  Supply object methods for I/O handles

       IO::Pipe    Supply object methods for pipes

       IO::Poll    Object interface to system poll call

       IO::Seekable
                   Supply seek based methods for I/O objects

       IO::Select  OO interface to the select system call

       IO::Socket  Object interface to socket communications

       IO::Socket::INET
                   Object interface for AF_INET domain sockets

       IO::Socket::UNIX
                   Object interface for AF_UNIX domain sockets

       IO::Uncompress::AnyInflate
                   Uncompress zlib-based (zip, gzip) file/buffer

       IO::Uncompress::AnyUncompress
                   Uncompress gzip, zip, bzip2 or lzop
                   file/buffer

       IO::Uncompress::Base
                   Base Class for IO::Uncompress modules

       IO::Uncompress::Bunzip2
                   Read bzip2 files/buffers

       IO::Uncompress::Gunzip
                   Read RFC 1952 files/buffers




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       IO::Uncompress::Inflate
                   Read RFC 1950 files/buffers

       IO::Uncompress::RawInflate
                   Read RFC 1951 files/buffers

       IO::Uncompress::Unzip
                   Read zip files/buffers

       IO::Zlib    IO:: style interface to Compress::Zlib

       IPC::Cmd    Finding and running system commands made easy

       IPC::Msg    SysV Msg IPC object class

       IPC::Open2  Open a process for both reading and writing

       IPC::Open3  Open a process for reading, writing, and error
                   handling

       IPC::Semaphore
                   SysV Semaphore IPC object class

       IPC::SharedMem
                   SysV Shared Memory IPC object class

       IPC::SysV   System V IPC constants and system calls

       List::Util  A selection of general-utility list
                   subroutines

       List::Util::XS
                   Indicate if List::Util was compiled with a C
                   compiler

       Locale::Constants
                   Constants for Locale codes

       Locale::Country
                   ISO codes for country identification (ISO
                   3166)

       Locale::Currency
                   ISO three letter codes for currency
                   identification (ISO 4217)

       Locale::Language
                   ISO two letter codes for language
                   identification (ISO 639)

       Locale::Maketext
                   Framework for localization





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       Locale::Maketext::Simple
                   Simple interface to Locale::Maketext::Lexicon

       Locale::Maketext::TPJ13
                   Article about software localization

       Locale::Script
                   ISO codes for script identification (ISO
                   15924)

       Log::Message
                   A generic message storing mechanism;

       Log::Message::Config
                   Configuration options for Log::Message

       Log::Message::Handlers
                   Message handlers for Log::Message

       Log::Message::Item
                   Message objects for Log::Message

       Log::Message::Simple
                   Standardized logging facilities using
                   Log::Message

       MIME::Base64
                   Encoding and decoding of base64 strings

       MIME::QuotedPrint
                   Encoding and decoding of quoted-printable
                   strings

       Math::BigFloat
                   Arbitrary size floating point math package

       Math::BigInt
                   Arbitrary size integer/float math package

       Math::BigInt::Calc
                   Pure Perl module to support Math::BigInt

       Math::BigInt::CalcEmu
                   Emulate low-level math with BigInt code

       Math::BigInt::FastCalc
                   Math::BigInt::Calc with some XS for more speed

       Math::BigRat
                   Arbitrary big rational numbers

       Math::Complex
                   Complex numbers and associated mathematical
                   functions



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       Math::Trig  Trigonometric functions

       Memoize     Make functions faster by trading space for
                   time

       Memoize::AnyDBM_File
                   Glue to provide EXISTS for AnyDBM_File for
                   Storable use

       Memoize::Expire
                   Plug-in module for automatic expiration of
                   memoized values

       Memoize::ExpireFile
                   Test for Memoize expiration semantics

       Memoize::ExpireTest
                   Test for Memoize expiration semantics

       Memoize::NDBM_File
                   Glue to provide EXISTS for NDBM_File for
                   Storable use

       Memoize::SDBM_File
                   Glue to provide EXISTS for SDBM_File for
                   Storable use

       Memoize::Storable
                   Store Memoized data in Storable database

       Module::Build
                   Build and install Perl modules

       Module::Build::API
                   API Reference for Module Authors

       Module::Build::Authoring
                   Authoring Module::Build modules

       Module::Build::Base
                   Default methods for Module::Build

       Module::Build::Compat
                   Compatibility with ExtUtils::MakeMaker

       Module::Build::ConfigData
                   Configuration for Module::Build

       Module::Build::Cookbook
                   Examples of Module::Build Usage

       Module::Build::ModuleInfo
                   Gather package and POD information from a perl
                   module file



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       Module::Build::Notes
                   Configuration for $module_name

       Module::Build::PPMMaker
                   Perl Package Manager file creation

       Module::Build::Platform::Amiga
                   Builder class for Amiga platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::Default
                   Stub class for unknown platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::EBCDIC
                   Builder class for EBCDIC platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::MPEiX
                   Builder class for MPEiX platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::MacOS
                   Builder class for MacOS platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::RiscOS
                   Builder class for RiscOS platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::Unix
                   Builder class for Unix platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::VMS
                   Builder class for VMS platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::VOS
                   Builder class for VOS platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::Windows
                   Builder class for Windows platforms

       Module::Build::Platform::aix
                   Builder class for AIX platform

       Module::Build::Platform::cygwin
                   Builder class for Cygwin platform

       Module::Build::Platform::darwin
                   Builder class for Mac OS X platform

       Module::Build::Platform::os2
                   Builder class for OS/2 platform

       Module::Build::YAML
                   Provides just enough YAML support so that
                   Module::Build works even if YAML.pm is not
                   installed





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       Module::CoreList
                   What modules shipped with versions of perl

       Module::Load
                   Runtime require of both modules and files

       Module::Load::Conditional
                   Looking up module information / loading at
                   runtime

       Module::Loaded
                   Mark modules as loaded or unloaded

       Module::Pluggable
                   Automatically give your module the ability to
                   have plugins

       Module::Pluggable::Object
                   Automatically give your module the ability to
                   have plugins

       NDBM_File   Tied access to ndbm files

       NEXT        Provide a pseudo-class NEXT (et al) that
                   allows method redispatch

       Net::Cmd    Network Command class (as used by FTP, SMTP
                   etc)

       Net::Config Local configuration data for libnet

       Net::Domain Attempt to evaluate the current host's
                   internet name and domain

       Net::FTP    FTP Client class

       Net::NNTP   NNTP Client class

       Net::Netrc  OO interface to users netrc file

       Net::POP3   Post Office Protocol 3 Client class (RFC1939)

       Net::Ping   Check a remote host for reachability

       Net::SMTP   Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Client

       Net::Time   Time and daytime network client interface

       Net::hostent
                   By-name interface to Perl's built-in
                   gethost*() functions

       Net::libnetFAQ
                   Libnet Frequently Asked Questions



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       Net::netent By-name interface to Perl's built-in getnet*()
                   functions

       Net::protoent
                   By-name interface to Perl's built-in
                   getproto*() functions

       Net::servent
                   By-name interface to Perl's built-in
                   getserv*() functions

       O           Generic interface to Perl Compiler backends

       ODBM_File   Tied access to odbm files

       Object::Accessor
                   Interface to create per object accessors

       Opcode      Disable named opcodes when compiling perl code

       POSIX       Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1

       Package::Constants
                   List all constants declared in a package

       Params::Check
                   A generic input parsing/checking mechanism.

       Parse::CPAN::Meta
                   Parse META.yml and other similar CPAN metadata
                   files

       PerlIO      On demand loader for PerlIO layers and root of
                   PerlIO::* name space

       PerlIO::encoding
                   Encoding layer

       PerlIO::scalar
                   In-memory IO, scalar IO

       PerlIO::via Helper class for PerlIO layers implemented in
                   perl

       PerlIO::via::QuotedPrint
                   PerlIO layer for quoted-printable strings

       Pod::Checker
                   Check pod documents for syntax errors

       Pod::Escapes
                   For resolving Pod E<...> sequences

       Pod::Find   Find POD documents in directory trees



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       Pod::Functions
                   Group Perl's functions a la perlfunc.pod

       Pod::Html   Module to convert pod files to HTML

       Pod::InputObjects
                   Objects representing POD input paragraphs,
                   commands, etc.

       Pod::LaTeX  Convert Pod data to formatted Latex

       Pod::Man    Convert POD data to formatted *roff input

       Pod::ParseLink
                   Parse an L<> formatting code in POD text

       Pod::ParseUtils
                   Helpers for POD parsing and conversion

       Pod::Parser Base class for creating POD filters and
                   translators

       Pod::Perldoc::ToChecker
                   Let Perldoc check Pod for errors

       Pod::Perldoc::ToMan
                   Let Perldoc render Pod as man pages

       Pod::Perldoc::ToNroff
                   Let Perldoc convert Pod to nroff

       Pod::Perldoc::ToPod
                   Let Perldoc render Pod as ... Pod!

       Pod::Perldoc::ToRtf
                   Let Perldoc render Pod as RTF

       Pod::Perldoc::ToText
                   Let Perldoc render Pod as plaintext

       Pod::Perldoc::ToTk
                   Let Perldoc use Tk::Pod to render Pod

       Pod::Perldoc::ToXml
                   Let Perldoc render Pod as XML

       Pod::PlainText
                   Convert POD data to formatted ASCII text

       Pod::Plainer
                   Perl extension for converting Pod to old style
                   Pod.

       Pod::Select Extract selected sections of POD from input



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       Pod::Simple Framework for parsing Pod

       Pod::Simple::Checker
                   Check the Pod syntax of a document

       Pod::Simple::Debug
                   Put Pod::Simple into trace/debug mode

       Pod::Simple::DumpAsText
                   Dump Pod-parsing events as text

       Pod::Simple::DumpAsXML
                   Turn Pod into XML

       Pod::Simple::HTML
                   Convert Pod to HTML

       Pod::Simple::HTMLBatch
                   Convert several Pod files to several HTML
                   files

       Pod::Simple::LinkSection
                   Represent "section" attributes of L codes

       Pod::Simple::Methody
                   Turn Pod::Simple events into method calls

       Pod::Simple::PullParser
                   A pull-parser interface to parsing Pod

       Pod::Simple::PullParserEndToken
                   End-tokens from Pod::Simple::PullParser

       Pod::Simple::PullParserStartToken
                   Start-tokens from Pod::Simple::PullParser

       Pod::Simple::PullParserTextToken
                   Text-tokens from Pod::Simple::PullParser

       Pod::Simple::PullParserToken
                   Tokens from Pod::Simple::PullParser

       Pod::Simple::RTF
                   Format Pod as RTF

       Pod::Simple::Search
                   Find POD documents in directory trees

       Pod::Simple::SimpleTree
                   Parse Pod into a simple parse tree

       Pod::Simple::Subclassing
                   Write a formatter as a Pod::Simple subclass




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       Pod::Simple::Text
                   Format Pod as plaintext

       Pod::Simple::TextContent
                   Get the text content of Pod

       Pod::Simple::XHTML
                   Format Pod as validating XHTML

       Pod::Simple::XMLOutStream
                   Turn Pod into XML

       Pod::Text   Convert POD data to formatted ASCII text

       Pod::Text::Color
                   Convert POD data to formatted color ASCII text

       Pod::Text::Termcap
                   Convert POD data to ASCII text with format
                   escapes

       Pod::Usage  Print a usage message from embedded pod
                   documentation

       SDBM_File   Tied access to sdbm files

       Safe        Compile and execute code in restricted
                   compartments

       Scalar::Util
                   A selection of general-utility scalar
                   subroutines

       Search::Dict
                   Search for key in dictionary file

       SelectSaver Save and restore selected file handle

       SelfLoader  Load functions only on demand

       Shell       Run shell commands transparently within perl

       Socket      Load the C socket.h defines and structure
                   manipulators

       Storable    Persistence for Perl data structures

       Switch      A switch statement for Perl

       Symbol      Manipulate Perl symbols and their names

       Sys::Hostname
                   Try every conceivable way to get hostname




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       Sys::Syslog Perl interface to the UNIX syslog(3) calls

       Sys::Syslog::Win32
                   Win32 support for Sys::Syslog

       TAP::Base   Base class that provides common functionality
                   to TAP::Parser

       TAP::Formatter::Color
                   Run Perl test scripts with color

       TAP::Formatter::Console
                   Harness output delegate for default console
                   output

       TAP::Formatter::Console
                   Harness output delegate for default console
                   output

       TAP::Formatter::Console::ParallelSession
                   Harness output delegate for parallel console
                   output

       TAP::Formatter::Console::Session
                   Harness output delegate for default console
                   output

       TAP::Formatter::File
                   Harness output delegate for file output

       TAP::Formatter::File::Session
                   Harness output delegate for file output

       TAP::Formatter::Session
                   Abstract base class for harness output
                   delegate

       TAP::Harness
                   Run test scripts with statistics

       TAP::Object Base class that provides common functionality
                   to all "TAP::*" modules

       TAP::Parser Parse TAP output

       TAP::Parser::Aggregator
                   Aggregate TAP::Parser results

       TAP::Parser::Grammar
                   A grammar for the Test Anything Protocol.

       TAP::Parser::Iterator
                   Internal base class for TAP::Parser Iterators




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       TAP::Parser::Iterator::Array
                   Internal TAP::Parser array Iterator

       TAP::Parser::Iterator::Process
                   Internal TAP::Parser Iterator

       TAP::Parser::Iterator::Stream
                   Internal TAP::Parser Iterator

       TAP::Parser::IteratorFactory
                   Internal TAP::Parser Iterator

       TAP::Parser::Multiplexer
                   Multiplex multiple TAP::Parsers

       TAP::Parser::Result
                   Base class for TAP::Parser output objects

       TAP::Parser::Result::Bailout
                   Bailout result token.

       TAP::Parser::Result::Comment
                   Comment result token.

       TAP::Parser::Result::Plan
                   Plan result token.

       TAP::Parser::Result::Pragma
                   TAP pragma token.

       TAP::Parser::Result::Test
                   Test result token.

       TAP::Parser::Result::Unknown
                   Unknown result token.

       TAP::Parser::Result::Version
                   TAP syntax version token.

       TAP::Parser::Result::YAML
                   YAML result token.

       TAP::Parser::ResultFactory
                   Factory for creating TAP::Parser output
                   objects

       TAP::Parser::Scheduler
                   Schedule tests during parallel testing

       TAP::Parser::Scheduler::Job
                   A single testing job.

       TAP::Parser::Scheduler::Spinner
                   A no-op job.



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       TAP::Parser::Source
                   Stream output from some source

       TAP::Parser::Source::Perl
                   Stream Perl output

       TAP::Parser::Utils
                   Internal TAP::Parser utilities

       TAP::Parser::YAMLish::Reader
                   Read YAMLish data from iterator

       TAP::Parser::YAMLish::Writer
                   Write YAMLish data

       Term::ANSIColor
                   Color screen output using ANSI escape
                   sequences

       Term::Cap   Perl termcap interface

       Term::Complete
                   Perl word completion module

       Term::ReadLine
                   Perl interface to various "readline" packages.

       Term::UI    Term::ReadLine UI made easy

       Term::UI::History
                   History functionality for Term::UI

       Test        Provides a simple framework for writing test
                   scripts

       Test::Builder
                   Backend for building test libraries

       Test::Builder::Module
                   Base class for test modules

       Test::Builder::Tester
                   Test testsuites that have been built with

       Test::Builder::Tester::Color
                   Turn on colour in Test::Builder::Tester

       Test::Harness
                   Run Perl standard test scripts with statistics

       Test::More  Yet another framework for writing test scripts

       Test::Simple
                   Basic utilities for writing tests.



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       Test::Tutorial
                   A tutorial about writing really basic tests

       Text::Abbrev
                   Create an abbreviation table from a list

       Text::Balanced
                   Extract delimited text sequences from strings.

       Text::ParseWords
                   Parse text into an array of tokens or array of
                   arrays

       Text::Soundex
                   Implementation of the soundex algorithm.

       Text::Tabs  Expand and unexpand tabs per the unix
                   expand(1) and unexpand(1)

       Text::Wrap  Line wrapping to form simple paragraphs

       Thread      Manipulate threads in Perl (for old code only)

       Thread::Queue
                   Thread-safe queues

       Thread::Semaphore
                   Thread-safe semaphores

       Tie::Array  Base class for tied arrays

       Tie::File   Access the lines of a disk file via a Perl
                   array

       Tie::Handle Base class definitions for tied handles

       Tie::Hash   Base class definitions for tied hashes

       Tie::Hash::NamedCapture
                   Named regexp capture buffers

       Tie::Memoize
                   Add data to hash when needed

       Tie::RefHash
                   Use references as hash keys

       Tie::Scalar Base class definitions for tied scalars

       Tie::StdHandle
                   Base class definitions for tied handles

       Tie::SubstrHash
                   Fixed-table-size, fixed-key-length hashing



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       Time::HiRes High resolution alarm, sleep, gettimeofday,
                   interval timers

       Time::Local Efficiently compute time from local and GMT
                   time

       Time::Piece Object Oriented time objects

       Time::Seconds
                   A simple API to convert seconds to other date
                   values

       Time::gmtime
                   By-name interface to Perl's built-in gmtime()
                   function

       Time::localtime
                   By-name interface to Perl's built-in
                   localtime() function

       Time::tm    Internal object used by Time::gmtime and
                   Time::localtime

       UNIVERSAL   Base class for ALL classes (blessed
                   references)

       Unicode::Collate
                   Unicode Collation Algorithm

       Unicode::Normalize
                   Unicode Normalization Forms

       Unicode::UCD
                   Unicode character database

       User::grent By-name interface to Perl's built-in getgr*()
                   functions

       User::pwent By-name interface to Perl's built-in getpw*()
                   functions

       Win32       Interfaces to some Win32 API Functions

       Win32API::File
                   Low-level access to Win32 system API calls for
                   files/dirs.

       Win32CORE   Win32 CORE function stubs

       XS::APItest Test the perl C API

       XS::Typemap Module to test the XS typemaps distributed
                   with perl




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       XSLoader    Dynamically load C libraries into Perl code

       version::Internal
                   Perl extension for Version Objects

       To find out 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 find program, you can use the Perl find2perl
       program instead, which generates Perl code as output you
       can run through perl.  If you have a man program but it
       doesn't find your modules, you'll have to fix your
       manpath.  See perl for details.  If you have no system man
       command, you might try the perldoc program.

       Note also that the command "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.)

   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.

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



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       unbundled modules, some of which require a C compiler to
       build.  Major categories of modules are:

       o   Language Extensions and Documentation Tools

       o   Development Support

       o   Operating System Interfaces

       o   Networking, Device Control (modems) and InterProcess
           Communication

       o   Data Types and Data Type Utilities

       o   Database Interfaces

       o   User Interfaces

       o   Interfaces to / Emulations of Other Programming
           Languages

       o   File Names, File Systems and File Locking (see also
           File Handles)

       o   String Processing, Language Text Processing, Parsing,
           and Searching

       o   Option, Argument, Parameter, and Configuration File
           Processing

       o   Internationalization and Locale

       o   Authentication, Security, and Encryption

       o   World Wide Web, HTML, HTTP, CGI, MIME

       o   Server and Daemon Utilities

       o   Archiving and Compression

       o   Images, Pixmap and Bitmap Manipulation, Drawing, and
           Graphing

       o   Mail and Usenet News

       o   Control Flow Utilities (callbacks and exceptions etc)

       o   File Handle and Input/Output Stream Utilities

       o   Miscellaneous Modules

       The list of the registered CPAN sites as of this writing
       follows.  Please note that the sorting order is
       alphabetical on fields:



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       Continent
          |
          |-->Country
                |
                |-->[state/province]
                          |
                          |-->ftp
                          |
                          |-->[http]

       and thus the North American servers happen to be listed
       between the European and the South American sites.

       You should try to choose one close to you.

   Africa
       South Africa
                                 http://ftp.rucus.ru.ac.za/pub/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.rucus.ru.ac.za/pub/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.is.co.za/programming/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.saix.net/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.sun.ac.za/CPAN/CPAN/

   Asia
       China
                                 http://cpan.linuxforum.net/
                                 http://cpan.shellhung.org/
                                 ftp://ftp.shellhung.org/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://mirrors.hknet.com/CPAN

       Indonesia
                                 http://mirrors.tf.itb.ac.id/cpan/
                                 http://cpan.cbn.net.id/
                                 ftp://ftp.cbn.net.id/mirror/CPAN

       Israel
                                 ftp://ftp.iglu.org.il/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.lerner.co.il/
                                 http://bioinfo.weizmann.ac.il/pub/software/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://bioinfo.weizmann.ac.il/pub/software/perl/CPAN/

       Japan
                                 ftp://ftp.u-aizu.ac.jp/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.kddlabs.co.jp/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.ayamura.org/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
                                 http://ftp.cpan.jp/
                                 ftp://ftp.cpan.jp/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.dti.ad.jp/pub/lang/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.ring.gr.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/

       Malaysia





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                                 http://cpan.MyBSD.org.my
                                 http://mirror.leafbug.org/pub/CPAN
                                 http://ossig.mncc.com.my/mirror/pub/CPAN

       Russian Federation
                                 http://cpan.tomsk.ru
                                 ftp://cpan.tomsk.ru/

       Saudi Arabia
                                 ftp://ftp.isu.net.sa/pub/CPAN/

       Singapore
                                 http://CPAN.en.com.sg/
                                 ftp://cpan.en.com.sg/
                                 http://mirror.averse.net/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://mirror.averse.net/pub/CPAN
                                 http://cpan.oss.eznetsols.org
                                 ftp://ftp.oss.eznetsols.org/cpan

       South Korea
                                 http://CPAN.bora.net/
                                 ftp://ftp.bora.net/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://mirror.kr.FreeBSD.org/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.kr.FreeBSD.org/pub/CPAN

       Taiwan
                                 ftp://ftp.nctu.edu.tw/UNIX/perl/CPAN
                                 http://cpan.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/
                                 ftp://cpan.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/pub/CPAN
                                 http://ftp.isu.edu.tw/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.isu.edu.tw/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp1.sinica.edu.tw/pub1/perl/CPAN/
                                 http://ftp.tku.edu.tw/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.tku.edu.tw/pub/CPAN/

       Thailand
                                 ftp://ftp.loxinfo.co.th/pub/cpan/
                                 ftp://ftp.cs.riubon.ac.th/pub/mirrors/CPAN/

   Central America
       Costa Rica
                                 http://ftp.ucr.ac.cr/Unix/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.ucr.ac.cr/pub/Unix/CPAN/

   Europe
       Austria
                                 http://cpan.inode.at/
                                 ftp://cpan.inode.at
                                 ftp://ftp.tuwien.ac.at/pub/CPAN/

       Belgium






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                                 http://ftp.easynet.be/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.easynet.be/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.skynet.be
                                 ftp://ftp.cpan.skynet.be/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.kulnet.kuleuven.ac.be/pub/mirror/CPAN/

       Bosnia and Herzegovina
                                 http://cpan.blic.net/

       Bulgaria
                                 http://cpan.online.bg
                                 ftp://cpan.online.bg/cpan
                                 http://cpan.zadnik.org
                                 ftp://ftp.zadnik.org/mirrors/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.lirex.net/
                                 ftp://ftp.lirex.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN

       Croatia
                                 http://ftp.linux.hr/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.linux.hr/pub/CPAN/

       Czech Republic
                                 ftp://ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/MIRRORS/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/

       Denmark
                                 http://mirrors.sunsite.dk/cpan/
                                 ftp://sunsite.dk/mirrors/cpan/
                                 http://cpan.cybercity.dk
                                 http://www.cpan.dk/CPAN/
                                 ftp://www.cpan.dk/ftp.cpan.org/CPAN/

       Estonia
                                 ftp://ftp.ut.ee/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/

       Finland
                                 ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
                                 http://mirror.eunet.fi/CPAN

       France
                                 http://www.enstimac.fr/Perl/CPAN
                                 http://ftp.u-paris10.fr/perl/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.u-paris10.fr/perl/CPAN
                                 http://cpan.mirrors.easynet.fr/
                                 ftp://cpan.mirrors.easynet.fr/pub/ftp.cpan.org/
                                 ftp://ftp.club-internet.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/
                                 http://fr.cpan.org/
                                 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.oleane.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.pasteur.fr/pub/computing/CPAN/
                                 http://mir2.ovh.net/ftp.cpan.org
                                 ftp://mir1.ovh.net/ftp.cpan.org
                                 http://ftp.crihan.fr/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/
                                 ftp://ftp.crihan.fr/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/



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                                 http://ftp.u-strasbg.fr/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.u-strasbg.fr/CPAN
                                 ftp://cpan.cict.fr/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.uvsq.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/

       Germany
                                 ftp://ftp.rub.de/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/source/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/CPAN
                                 http://pandemonium.tiscali.de/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://pandemonium.tiscali.de/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.uni-hamburg.de/pub/soft/lang/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/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/

       Greece
                                 ftp://ftp.acn.gr/pub/lang/perl
                                 ftp://ftp.forthnet.gr/pub/languages/perl/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/lang/perl/

       Hungary
                                 http://ftp.kfki.hu/packages/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.kfki.hu/pub/packages/perl/CPAN/

       Iceland
                                 http://ftp.rhnet.is/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.rhnet.is/pub/CPAN/

       Ireland
                                 http://cpan.indigo.ie/
                                 ftp://cpan.indigo.ie/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.perl.org/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.perl.org/pub/CPAN
                                 http://sunsite.compapp.dcu.ie/pub/perl/
                                 ftp://sunsite.compapp.dcu.ie/pub/perl/

       Italy
                                 http://cpan.nettuno.it/
                                 http://gusp.dyndns.org/CPAN/
                                 ftp://gusp.dyndns.org/pub/CPAN
                                 http://softcity.iol.it/cpan
                                 ftp://softcity.iol.it/pub/cpan
                                 ftp://ftp.unina.it/pub/Other/CPAN/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.unipi.it/pub/mirror/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://cis.uniRoma2.it/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.edisontel.it/pub/CPAN_Mirror/
                                 http://cpan.flashnet.it/
                                 ftp://ftp.flashnet.it/pub/CPAN/



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       Latvia
                                 http://kvin.lv/pub/CPAN/

       Lithuania
                                 ftp://ftp.unix.lt/pub/CPAN/

       Netherlands
                                 ftp://download.xs4all.nl/pub/mirror/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.nl.uu.net/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.cybercomm.nl/
                                 ftp://mirror.cybercomm.nl/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://mirror.vuurwerk.nl/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.cpan.nl/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://ftp.easynet.nl/mirror/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.easynet.nl/mirror/CPAN
                                 http://archive.cs.uu.nl/mirror/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.cs.uu.nl/mirror/CPAN/

       Norway
                                 ftp://ftp.uninett.no/pub/languages/perl/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.uit.no/pub/languages/perl/cpan/

       Poland
                                 ftp://ftp.mega.net.pl/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.man.torun.pl/pub/doc/CPAN/
                                 ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/CPAN/

       Portugal
                                 ftp://ftp.ua.pt/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://perl.di.uminho.pt/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.dei.uc.pt/
                                 ftp://ftp.dei.uc.pt/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.nfsi.pt/pub/CPAN
                                 http://ftp.linux.pt/pub/mirrors/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.linux.pt/pub/mirrors/CPAN
                                 http://cpan.ip.pt/
                                 ftp://cpan.ip.pt/pub/cpan/
                                 http://cpan.telepac.pt/
                                 ftp://ftp.telepac.pt/pub/cpan/

       Romania
                                 ftp://ftp.bio-net.ro/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.kappa.ro/pub/mirrors/ftp.perl.org/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.lug.ro/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.roedu.net/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.dntis.ro/pub/cpan/
                                 ftp://ftp.iasi.roedu.net/pub/mirrors/ftp.cpan.org/
                                 http://cpan.ambra.ro/
                                 ftp://ftp.ambra.ro/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.dnttm.ro/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.lasting.ro/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.timisoara.roedu.net/mirrors/CPAN/




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       Russia
                                 ftp://ftp.chg.ru/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.rinet.ru/
                                 ftp://cpan.rinet.ru/pub/mirror/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.aha.ru/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.corbina.ru/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.sai.msu.ru/
                                 ftp://ftp.sai.msu.su/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/

       Slovakia
                                 ftp://ftp.cvt.stuba.sk/pub/CPAN/

       Slovenia
                                 ftp://ftp.arnes.si/software/perl/CPAN/

       Spain
                                 http://cpan.imasd.elmundo.es/
                                 ftp://ftp.rediris.es/mirror/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.ri.telefonica-data.net/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.etse.urv.es/pub/perl/

       Sweden
                                 http://ftp.du.se/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.du.se/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://mirror.dataphone.se/CPAN
                                 ftp://mirror.dataphone.se/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/

       Switzerland
                                 http://cpan.mirror.solnet.ch/
                                 ftp://ftp.solnet.ch/mirror/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.danyk.ch/CPAN/
                                 ftp://sunsite.cnlab-switch.ch/mirror/CPAN/

       Turkey
                                 http://ftp.ulak.net.tr/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.ulak.net.tr/perl/CPAN
                                 ftp://sunsite.bilkent.edu.tr/pub/languages/CPAN/

       Ukraine
                                 http://cpan.org.ua/
                                 ftp://cpan.org.ua/
                                 ftp://ftp.perl.org.ua/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://no-more.kiev.ua/CPAN/
                                 ftp://no-more.kiev.ua/pub/CPAN/

       United Kingdom










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                                 http://www.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.teleglobe.net/
                                 ftp://cpan.teleglobe.net/pub/CPAN
                                 http://cpan.mirror.anlx.net/
                                 ftp://ftp.mirror.anlx.net/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.etla.org/
                                 ftp://cpan.etla.org/pub/CPAN
                                 ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.m.flirble.org/
                                 ftp://ftp.flirble.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.plig.org/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.hambule.co.uk/
                                 http://cpan.mirrors.clockerz.net/
                                 ftp://ftp.clockerz.net/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://usit.shef.ac.uk/pub/packages/CPAN/

   North America
       Canada
           Alberta
                                         http://cpan.sunsite.ualberta.ca/
                                         ftp://cpan.sunsite.ualberta.ca/pub/CPAN/

           Manitoba
                                         http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/
                                         ftp://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/

           Nova Scotia
                                         ftp://cpan.chebucto.ns.ca/pub/CPAN/

           Ontario
                                         ftp://ftp.nrc.ca/pub/CPAN/

       Mexico
                                 http://cpan.azc.uam.mx
                                 ftp://cpan.azc.uam.mx/mirrors/CPAN
                                 http://www.cpan.unam.mx/
                                 ftp://ftp.unam.mx/pub/CPAN
                                 http://www.msg.com.mx/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.msg.com.mx/pub/CPAN/

       United States
           Alabama
                                         http://mirror.hiwaay.net/CPAN/
                                         ftp://mirror.hiwaay.net/CPAN/

           California










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                                         http://cpan.develooper.com/
                                         http://www.cpan.org/
                                         ftp://cpan.valueclick.com/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://www.mednor.net/ftp/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
                                         ftp://ftp.mednor.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
                                         http://mirrors.gossamer-threads.com/CPAN
                                         ftp://cpan.nas.nasa.gov/pub/perl/CPAN/
                                         http://mirrors.kernel.org/cpan/
                                         ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN
                                         http://cpan-sj.viaverio.com/
                                         ftp://cpan-sj.viaverio.com/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://cpan.digisle.net/
                                         ftp://cpan.digisle.net/pub/CPAN
                                         http://www.perl.com/CPAN/
                                         http://www.uberlan.net/CPAN

           Colorado
                                         ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/
                                         http://cpan.four10.com

           Delaware
                                         http://ftp.lug.udel.edu/pub/CPAN
                                         ftp://ftp.lug.udel.edu/pub/CPAN

           District of Columbia
                                         ftp://ftp.dc.aleron.net/pub/CPAN/

           Florida
                                         ftp://ftp.cise.ufl.edu/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
                                         http://mirror.csit.fsu.edu/pub/CPAN/
                                         ftp://mirror.csit.fsu.edu/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://cpan.mirrors.nks.net/

           Indiana
                                         ftp://ftp.uwsg.iu.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/
                                         http://cpan.netnitco.net/
                                         ftp://cpan.netnitco.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
                                         http://archive.progeny.com/CPAN/
                                         ftp://archive.progeny.com/CPAN/
                                         http://fx.saintjoe.edu/pub/CPAN
                                         ftp://ftp.saintjoe.edu/pub/CPAN
                                         http://csociety-ftp.ecn.purdue.edu/pub/CPAN
                                         ftp://csociety-ftp.ecn.purdue.edu/pub/CPAN

           Kentucky
                                         http://cpan.uky.edu/
                                         ftp://cpan.uky.edu/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://slugsite.louisville.edu/cpan
                                         ftp://slugsite.louisville.edu/CPAN

           Massachusetts
                                         http://mirrors.towardex.com/CPAN
                                         ftp://mirrors.towardex.com/pub/CPAN
                                         ftp://ftp.ccs.neu.edu/net/mirrors/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/



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           Michigan
                                         ftp://cpan.cse.msu.edu/
                                         http://cpan.calvin.edu/pub/CPAN
                                         ftp://cpan.calvin.edu/pub/CPAN

           Nevada
                                         http://www.oss.redundant.com/pub/CPAN
                                         ftp://www.oss.redundant.com/pub/CPAN

           New Jersey
                                         http://ftp.cpanel.net/pub/CPAN/
                                         ftp://ftp.cpanel.net/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://cpan.teleglobe.net/
                                         ftp://cpan.teleglobe.net/pub/CPAN

           New York
                                         http://cpan.belfry.net/
                                         http://cpan.erlbaum.net/
                                         ftp://cpan.erlbaum.net/
                                         http://cpan.thepirtgroup.com/
                                         ftp://cpan.thepirtgroup.com/
                                         ftp://ftp.stealth.net/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://www.rge.com/pub/languages/perl/
                                         ftp://ftp.rge.com/pub/languages/perl/

           North Carolina
                                         http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN
                                         ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN
                                         ftp://ftp.duke.edu/pub/perl/
                                         ftp://ftp.ncsu.edu/pub/mirror/CPAN/

           Oklahoma
                                         ftp://ftp.ou.edu/mirrors/CPAN/

           Oregon
                                         ftp://ftp.orst.edu/pub/CPAN

           Pennsylvania
                                         http://ftp.epix.net/CPAN/
                                         ftp://ftp.epix.net/pub/languages/perl/
                                         http://mirrors.phenominet.com/pub/CPAN/
                                         ftp://mirrors.phenominet.com/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://cpan.pair.com/
                                         ftp://cpan.pair.com/pub/CPAN/
                                         ftp://carroll.cac.psu.edu/pub/CPAN/

           Tennessee
                                         ftp://ftp.sunsite.utk.edu/pub/CPAN/

           Texas
                                         http://ftp.sedl.org/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
                                         http://www.binarycode.org/cpan
                                         ftp://mirror.telentente.com/pub/CPAN
                                         http://mirrors.theonlinerecordstore.com/CPAN



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           Utah
                                         ftp://mirror.xmission.com/CPAN/

           Virginia
                                         http://cpan-du.viaverio.com/
                                         ftp://cpan-du.viaverio.com/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://mirrors.rcn.net/pub/lang/CPAN/
                                         ftp://mirrors.rcn.net/pub/lang/CPAN/
                                         http://perl.secsup.org/
                                         ftp://perl.secsup.org/pub/perl/
                                         http://noc.cvaix.com/mirrors/CPAN/

           Washington
                                         http://cpan.llarian.net/
                                         ftp://cpan.llarian.net/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://cpan.mirrorcentral.com/
                                         ftp://ftp.mirrorcentral.com/pub/CPAN/
                                         ftp://ftp-mirror.internap.com/pub/CPAN/

           Wisconsin
                                         http://mirror.sit.wisc.edu/pub/CPAN/
                                         ftp://mirror.sit.wisc.edu/pub/CPAN/
                                         http://mirror.aphix.com/CPAN
                                         ftp://mirror.aphix.com/pub/CPAN

   Oceania
       Australia
                                 http://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.planetmirror.com/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/perl/CPAN/
                                 ftp://cpan.topend.com.au/pub/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.mirrors.ilisys.com.au

       New Zealand
                                 ftp://ftp.auckland.ac.nz/pub/perl/CPAN/

       United States
                                 http://aniani.ifa.hawaii.edu/CPAN/
                                 ftp://aniani.ifa.hawaii.edu/CPAN/

   South America
       Argentina
                                 ftp://mirrors.bannerlandia.com.ar/mirrors/CPAN/
                                 http://www.linux.org.ar/mirrors/cpan
                                 ftp://ftp.linux.org.ar/mirrors/cpan

       Brazil
                                 ftp://cpan.pop-mg.com.br/pub/CPAN/
                                 ftp://ftp.matrix.com.br/pub/perl/CPAN/
                                 http://cpan.hostsul.com.br/
                                 ftp://cpan.hostsul.com.br/

       Chile




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                                 http://cpan.netglobalis.net/
                                 ftp://cpan.netglobalis.net/pub/CPAN/

   RSYNC Mirrors
                             www.linux.org.ar::cpan
                             theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca::CPAN
                             ftp.shellhung.org::CPAN
                             rsync.nic.funet.fi::CPAN
                             ftp.u-paris10.fr::CPAN
                             mir1.ovh.net::CPAN
                             rsync://ftp.crihan.fr::CPAN
                             ftp.gwdg.de::FTP/languages/perl/CPAN/
                             ftp.leo.org::CPAN
                             ftp.cbn.net.id::CPAN
                             rsync://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.perl.org/pub/CPAN
                             ftp.iglu.org.il::CPAN
                             gusp.dyndns.org::cpan
                             ftp.kddlabs.co.jp::cpan
                             ftp.ayamura.org::pub/CPAN/
                             mirror.leafbug.org::CPAN
                             rsync.en.com.sg::CPAN
                             mirror.averse.net::cpan
                             rsync.oss.eznetsols.org
                             ftp.kr.FreeBSD.org::CPAN
                             ftp.solnet.ch::CPAN
                             cpan.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw::CPAN
                             cpan.teleglobe.net::CPAN
                             rsync://rsync.mirror.anlx.net::CPAN
                             ftp.sedl.org::cpan
                             ibiblio.org::CPAN
                             cpan-du.viaverio.com::CPAN
                             aniani.ifa.hawaii.edu::CPAN
                             archive.progeny.com::CPAN
                             rsync://slugsite.louisville.edu::CPAN
                             mirror.aphix.com::CPAN
                             cpan.teleglobe.net::CPAN
                             ftp.lug.udel.edu::cpan
                             mirrors.kernel.org::mirrors/CPAN
                             mirrors.phenominet.com::CPAN
                             cpan.pair.com::CPAN
                             cpan-sj.viaverio.com::CPAN
                             mirror.csit.fsu.edu::CPAN
                             csociety-ftp.ecn.purdue.edu::CPAN

       For an up-to-date listing of CPAN sites, see
       http://www.cpan.org/SITES or ftp://www.cpan.org/SITES .

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



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       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 .pm file is required to exist.  See
       perlsub, perltoot, and AutoLoader for details about the
       AUTOLOAD mechanism.

   Guidelines for Module Creation
       o   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.

       o   Try to design the new module to be easy to extend and
           reuse.

           Try to "use warnings;" (or "use warnings qw(...);").
           Remember that you can add "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.



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            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: "die "Invalid" unless ref
           $ref eq 'FOO'".  Generally you can delete the "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 "$r->Class::func()" where using "@ISA=qw(...
           Class ...)" and "$r->func()" would work (see perlbot
           for more details).

           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 "@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:  "$obj =
           YOURCLASS->new();" into: "$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 -w.

           Try to "use strict;" (or "use strict qw(...);").
           Remember that you can add "no strict qw(...);" to
           individual blocks of code that need less strictness.

           Always use -w.

           Follow the guidelines in the perlstyle(1) manual.

           Always use -w.

       o   Some simple style guidelines




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           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., "$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.

       o   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 "$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.



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           (It is actually possible to get private functions by
           saying: "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.

       o   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.

       o   Have you got it right?



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           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!

       o   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:

           o         A description of the
                     module/package/extension etc.

           o         A copyright notice - see below.

           o         Prerequisites - what else you may need to
                     have.

           o         How to build it - possible changes to
                     Makefile.PL etc.

           o         How to install it.

           o         Recent changes in this release, especially
                     incompatibilities

           o         Changes / enhancements you plan to make in
                     the future.

           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.




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           o   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
               perlgpl and 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.

           o   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
               $VERSION.  This should be a floating point number
               with at least two digits after the decimal (i.e.,
               hundredths, e.g, "$VERSION = "0.01"").  Don't use
               a "1.3.2" style version.  See 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.

           o   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



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               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/pause/

               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!

           o   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.

   Guidelines for Converting Perl 4 Library Scripts into Modules
       o   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.

       o   Consider the implications.

           All Perl applications that make use of the script will



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           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?

       o   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.

       o   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:

           o         Adds the standard Module prologue lines

           o         Converts package specifiers from ' to ::

           o         Converts die(...) to croak(...)

           o         Several other minor changes

           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!

   Guidelines for Reusing Application Code
       o   Complete applications rarely belong in the Perl Module
           Library.

       o   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.

       o   Break-out the reusable code into one or more separate
           module files.

       o   Take the opportunity to reconsider and redesign the
           interfaces.

       o   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:






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                % perl -e 'use Module::Name; method(@ARGV)' ...
           or
                % perl -mModule::Name ...    (in perl5.002 or higher)

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 "use
       RedefineTheWorld" that you're redefining the world and
       willing to take the consequences.





































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