Full List of Standard Modules
A lengthy description of the full list of modules included with Perl is well beyond the scope of this book. The following is a listing of the modules in the standard Perl distribution with a brief description. If you're curious about what the module does and how it works, use perldoc to view the documentation for the module.
| Module Name | Description |
|---|---|
| AutoLoader | Allows Perl to compile functions only when needed. |
| AutoSplit | Splits modules for autoloading. |
| Benchmark | Allows repetitive timing of Perl functions for speed benchmarking. |
| CGI | Allows easy access to the Common Gateway Interface for Web programming, covered in Hours 17 to 24. |
| CPAN | Provides access to the archive of Perl's modules, for installing new modules. |
| Carp | Generates error messages. |
| DirHandle | Provides an object interface to directory handles. |
| Env | Maps the operating system's environment into variables. |
| Exporter | Allows you to write your own modules. |
| ExtUtils::* | Allows you to write your own modules or install modules. |
| File::* | Offers more file-manipulation operations, such as File::Copy. |
| File::Spec::* | Allows OS-independent operations on filenames. |
| FileCache | Opens more files than the OS normally allows. |
| FindBin | Finds the name of the current executing program. |
| Getopt::* | Allows you to process command-line options in your programs. |
| Il8N::Collate | Allows locale-specific sorting. |
| IPC::* | Provides Interprocess Communications; two- and three-ended pipes, for example. |
| Math::* | Allows you to use extended math libraries with arbitrary precision floating-point, integer, and complex numbers. |
| Net::* | Allows you to get information on network hosts. For example, Net::hostent translates IP addresses—such as 204.71.200.68—into host names—such as http://www.yahoo.com. |
| Pod::* | Provides access to Perl's Plain Old Documentation formatting routines. |
| Symbol | Allows you to view or manipulate Perl's own symbol table. |
| Sys::Hostname | Obtains your system's IP host name. |
| Sys::Syslog | Allows writing to a UNIX system's error log. |
| Term::* | Provides terminal-controlling functions interface for cursor positioning, screen cleaning, and so on. |
| Text::Abbrev | Builds abbreviation tables. |
| Text::ParseWords | Allows you to parse text to search for words. |
| Text::Soundex | Categorizes words based on pronunciation, using the Soundex method. |
| Tie::* | Connects Perl's variables to functions so that you can implement your own arrays and hashes. |
| Time::* | Allows you to parse and manipulate time. For example, you can convert times such as "Sat Jul 24 16:21:38 EDT 1999" back into the number of seconds since January 1, 1970. |
| constant | Allowsyou to define constant values. |
| integer | Causes Perl to do its math in integers instead of floating-point numbers (sometimes). |
| locale | Causes locale-based string comparison (international character string comparison). |
Where You Go from Here
If you want to get a feel for the kinds of modules available to you—for free—use a Web browser and head to http://www.cpan.org. The modules are organized (roughly) by category.
Some modules require a C compiler and a minimal development environment for installation. They may not be available on a Windows machine. Activestate's Perl installation contains a utility called PPM which can be used to browse and install prebuilt modules.
The Appendix contains step-by-step instructions for installing modules on UNIX and Windows machines. These instructions will explain how to use the CPAN module (for UNIX) and Activestate's PPM utility to install new modules.