We've talked about the extent to which Perl benefits from user contributions. In fact, many contributed modules are so generally useful that they are now distributed with Perl itself. This chapter describes these "standard modules"; if you are running Perl 5.005, all these modules are already available to you. If you are running an earlier version of Perl, and you find that a module you want isn't on your system, or if you simply don't find what you need among the modules in this chapter, check CPAN for one that does what you want.
While this chapter primarily covers standard Perl modules called at execution time from your program, it also covers the "pragmatic" modules that affect the compilation phase. (A pragma is a compiler directive that provides hints to the compiler.) By convention, the names of the pragmatic modules are all lowercase, while the names of other modules begin with an uppercase letter and are of mixed case.
| Module
| Function
|
| AnyDBM_File
| Provides framework for multiple DBMs
|
| Attribute::Handlers
| Simpler definition of attribute handlers (new in 5.8)
|
| attributes
| Sets or gets attributes of a subroutine
|
| attrs
| Sets or gets attributes of a subroutine (deprecated)
|
| AutoLoader
| Loads functions only on demand
|
| AutoSplit
| Splits a module for autoloading
|
| autouse
| Postpones loading modules until a function is used
|
| B
| Perl compiler and tools
|
| base
| Establishes IS-A relationship with base class at compile time
|
| Benchmark
| Checks and compares running times of code
|
| bigint
| Transparent big integer support for Perl (new in 5.8)
|
| bignum
| Transparent BigNumber support for Perl (new in 5.8)
|
| bigrat
| Transparent BigNumber/BigRational support for Perl (new in 5.8)
|
| blib
| Uses MakeMaker's uninstalled version of a package
|
| bytes
| Perl pragma to force byte semantics rather than character semantics
|
| ByteLoader
| Loads byte-compiled Perl code
|
| Carp
| Generates error messages
|
| CGI
| Simple Common Gateway Interface class
|
| CGI::Apache
| Sets up environment to use CGI with Perl-Apache API
|
| CGI::Carp
| CGI routines for writing to HTTPD (or other) error log
|
| CGI::Cookie
| CGI interface to Netscape (HTTP/1.1) cookies
|
| CGI::Fast
| CGI interface for FastCGI
|
| CGI::Pretty
| Module to produce nicely formatted HTML code
|
| CGI::Push
| Interface for server push operations
|
| CGI::Switch
| Tries multiple constructors and returns the first available CGI object
|
| charnames
| Defines character names for N{named} string literal escape
|
| Class::ISA
| Reports the search path for a class's ISA tree (new in 5.8)
|
| Class::Struct
| Declares struct-like datatypes as Perl classes
|
| Config
| Accesses Perl configuration information
|
| constant
| Perl pragma to declare constants
|
| CPAN
| Queries, downloads, and builds Perl modules from CPAN sites
|
| CPAN::FirstTime
| Utility for CPAN::Config file initialization
|
| CPAN::Nox
| Wrapper around CPAN.pm without using any XS module
|
| Cwd
| Gets pathname of current working directory
|
| Data::Dumper
| Returns Perl data structures as strings
|
| DB
| Programmatic interface to the Perl debugging API
|
| DB_File
| Accesses Berkeley DB
|
| Devel::DProf
| Perl Code Profiler
|
| Devel::PPPort
| Module that assists with module porting between Perl versions
|
| Devel::SelfStubber
| Generates stubs for a self-loading module
|
| diagnostics
| Forces verbose warning diagnostics
|
| Digest
| Modules that calculate message digests (new in 5.8)
|
| Digest::MD5
| Perl interface to the MD5 Algorithm (new in 5.8)
|
| DirHandle
| Supplies object methods for directory handles
|
| Dumpvalue
| Provides a screen dump of Perl data
|
| DynaLoader
| Automatic dynamic loading of Perl modules
|
| encoding
| Allows you to write your script in nonasii or nonutf8 (new in 5.8)
|
| English
| Uses English or awk names for punctuation variables
|
| Env
| Imports environment variables
|
| Errno
| System errno constants from errno.h include file
|
| Exporter
| Default import method for modules
|
| ExtUtils::Command
| Utilities to replace common Unix commands
|
| ExtUtils::Command::MM
| Commands that the MM's can use in Makefiles (new in 5.8)
|
| ExtUtils::Constant
| Generates XS code to import C header constants (new in 5.8)
|
| ExtUtils::Embed
| Utilities for embedding Perl in C/C++ applications
|
| ExtUtils::Install
| Installs files from here to there
|
| ExtUtils::Installed
| Inventory management of installed modules
|
| ExtUtils::Liblist
| Determines libraries to use and how to use them
|
| ExtUtils::MakeMaker
| Creates a Makefile for a Perl extension
|
| ExtUtils::Manifest
| Utilities to write and check a MANIFEST file
|
| ExtUtils::Miniperl
| Writes the C code for perlmain.c
|
| ExtUtils::Mkbootstrap
| Makes a bootstrap file for use by DynaLoader
|
| ExtUtils::Mksymlists
| Writes linker option files for dynamic extension
|
| ExtUtils::MM
| Operating system-adjusted ExtUtils::MakeMaker subclass (new in 5.8)
|
| ExtUtils::MM_Any
| Platform-agnostic MM methods (new in 5.8)
|
| ExtUtils::MM_BeOS
| Methods that override UN*X behavior in ExtUtils::MakeMaker (new in 5.8)
|
| ExtUtils::MM_DOS
| DOS-specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix (new in 5.8)
|
| ExtUtils::MM_NW5
| Methods that override UN*X behavior in ExtUtils::MakeMaker (new in 5.8)
|
| ExtUtils::MM_OS2
| Methods to override Unix behavior in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
|
| ExtUtils::MM_Unix
| Methods used by ExtUtils::MakeMaker
|
| ExtUtils::MM_UWIN
| U/WIN-specific subclass of ExtUtils::MM_Unix (new in 5.8)
|
| ExtUtils::MM_VMS
| Methods to override Unix behavior in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
|
| ExtUtils::MM_Win32
| Methods to override Unix behavior in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
|
| ExtUtils::MY
| ExtUtils::MakeMaker subclass for customization (new in 5.8)
|
| ExtUtils::Packlist
| Manages packlist files
|
| ExtUtils::testlib
| Adds blib/* directories to @INC
|
| Fatal
| Replaces functions with equivalents that succeed or die
|
| Fcntl
| Loads the C fcntl.h defines
|
| fields
| Perl pragma to provide compile time-verified class fields
|
| File::Basename
| Parses file specifications
|
| File::CheckTree
| Runs many tests on a collection of files
|
| File::Compare
| Compares files or filehandles
|
| File::Copy
| Copies files or filehandles
|
| File::DosGlob
| DOS-like globbing with enhancements
|
| File::Find
| Traverses a file tree
|
| File::Path
| Creates or removes a series of directories
|
| File::Spec
| Portably performs operations on filenames
|
| File::Spec::Cygwin
| Methods for Cygwin file specs (new in 5.8)
|
| File::stat
| By-name interface to Perl's built-in stat functions
|
| File::Temp
| Returns the name and handle of a temporary file safely
|
| FileCache
| Keeps more files open than the system permits
|
| FileHandle
| Supplies object methods for filehandles
|
| Filter::Simple
| Simplified source filtering (new in 5.8)
|
| Filter::Util::Call
| Perl Source Filter Utility Module (new in 5.8)
|
| FindBin
| Locates directory of original Perl script
|
| GDBM_File
| Tied access to GDBM library
|
| Getopt::Long
| Extended processing of command-line options
|
| Getopt::Std
| Processes single-character options with option clustering
|
| Hash::Util
| A selection of general utility hash subroutines (new in 5.8)
|
| I18N::Collate
| Compares 8-bit scalar data according to the current locale
|
| I18N::Langinfo
| Queries locale information (new in 5.8)
|
| I18N::LangTags
| Functions for dealing with RFC3066-style language tags (new in 5.8)
|
| I18N::LangTags::List
| Tags and names for human languages (new in 5.8)
|
| if
| Uses a Perl module if a condition holds (new in 5.8)
|
| integer
| Does arithmetic in integer instead of double
|
| IO
| Loads various I/O modules
|
| IO::File
| Supplies object methods for filehandles
|
| IO::Handle
| Supplies object methods for I/O handles
|
| IO::Pipe
| Supplies object methods for pipes
|
| IO::Seekable
| Supplies seek-based methods for I/O objects
|
| IO::Select
| Object-oriented interface to the select system call
|
| IO::Socket
| Object interface to socket communications
|
| IPC::Msg
| System V Msg IPC object class
|
| IPC::Open2
| Opens a process for both reading and writing
|
| IPC::Open3
| Opens a process for reading, writing, and error handling
|
| IPC::Semaphore
| System V Semaphore IPC object class
|
| IPC::SysV
| System V IPC constants
|
| less
| Perl pragma to request less of something from the compiler
|
| lib
| Manipulates @INC at compile time
|
| List::Util
| A selection of general utility list subroutines (new in 5.8)
|
| locale
| Perl pragma to use and avoid POSIX locales for built-in operations
|
| Math::BigFloat
| Arbitrary-length floating-point math package
|
| Math::BigInt
| Arbitrary-length integer math package
|
| Math::BigInt::Calc
| Pure Perl module to support Math::BigInt (new in 5.8)
|
| Math::BigRat
| Arbitrarily big rationals (new in 5.8)
|
| Math::Complex
| Complex numbers package
|
| Math::Trig
| Trigonometric functions
|
| MIME::Base64
| Encoding and decoding of base64 strings (new in 5.8)
|
| MIME::QuotedPrint
| Encoding and decoding of quoted, printable strings (new in 5.8)
|
| NDBM_File
| Tied access to NDBM files
|
| Net::Cmd
| Network Command class (new in 5.8)
|
| Net::Config
| Local configuration data for libnet (new in 5.8)
|
| Net::Domain
| Attempts to evaluate the current host's Internet name and domain (new in 5.8)
|
| Net::FTP
| FTP Client class (new in 5.8)
|
| Net::hostent
| By-name interface to Perl's built-in gethost* functions
|
| Net::netent
| By-name interface to Perl's built-in getnet* functions
|
| Net::Netrc
| OO interface to user's netrc file (new in 5.8)
|
| Net::NNTP
| NNTP Client class (new in 5.8)
|
| Net::Ping
| Checks whether a host is online
|
| Net::POP3
| Post Office Protocol 3 Client class (new in 5.8)
|
| Net::protoent
| By-name interface to Perl's built-in getproto* functions
|
| Net::servent
| By-name interface to Perl's built-in getserv* functions
|
| Net::SMTP
| Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Client class (new in 5.8)
|
| Net::Time
| Time and daytime network client interface (new in 5.8)
|
| ODBM_File
| Tied access to ODBM files
|
| Opcode
| Disables named opcodes when compiling Perl code
|
| ops
| Restricts unsafe operations when compiling
|
| overload
| Overloads Perl's mathematical operations
|
| PerlIO
| On-demand loader for PerlIO layers and root of PerlIO::* namespace (added in 5.8)
|
| PerlIO::Scalar
| Support module for in-memory I/O (new in 5.8)
|
| PerlIO::Via
| Helper class for PerlIO layers implemented in Perl (new in 5.8)
|
| Pod::Functions
| Used in converting from pod to HTML
|
| Pod::Html
| Module to convert pod files to HTML
|
| Pod::ParseLink
| Parses link-formatting code in POD documents (new in 5.8)
|
| Pod::Text
| Converts pod data to formatted ASCII text
|
| POSIX
| Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1
|
| re
| Perl pragma to alter regular expression behavior
|
| Safe
| Creates safe namespaces for evaluating Perl code
|
| Scalar::Util
| A selection of general-utility scalar subroutines (new in 5.8)
|
| SDBM_File
| Tied access to SDBM files
|
| Search::Dict
| Searches for key in dictionary file
|
| SelectSaver
| Saves and restores selected filehandle
|
| SelfLoader
| Loads functions only on demand
|
| Shell
| Runs shell commands transparently within Perl
|
| sigtrap
| Enables stack backtrace on unexpected signals
|
| Socket
| Loads the C socket.h defines and structure manipulators
|
| sort
| Perl pragma that controls sort behavior (new in 5.8)
|
| Storable
| Persistence for Perl data structures (new in 5.8)
|
| strict
| Restricts unsafe constructs
|
| subs
| Predeclares subroutine names
|
| Switch
| A switch statement for Perl (new in 5.8)
|
| Symbol
| Generates anonymous globs; qualifies variable names
|
| Sys::Hostname
| Tries every conceivable way to get hostname
|
| Sys::Syslog
| Perl interface to Unix syslog(3) calls
|
| Term::Cap
| Terminal capabilities interface
|
| Term::Complete
| Word completion module
|
| Term::ReadLine
| Interface to various ReadLine packages
|
| Test
| Framework for writing test scripts
|
| Test::Builder
| Backend for building text libraries (new in 5.8)
|
| Test::Harness
| Runs Perl standard test scripts with statistics
|
| Test::More
| Yet another framework for writing test scripts (new in 5.8)
|
| Test::Simple
| Basic utilities for writing tests (new in 5.8)
|
| Text::Abbrev
| Creates an abbreviation table from a list
|
| Text::Balanced
| Extracts delimited text sequences from strings (new in 5.8)
|
| Text::ParseWords
| Parses text into a list of tokens
|
| Text::Soundex
| The soundex algorithm described by Knuth
|
| Text::Tabs
| Expands and unexpands tabs
|
| Text::Wrap
| Wraps text into a paragraph
|
| Thread
| Multithreading support
|
| Thread::Queue
| Thread-safe queues
|
| Thread::Semaphore
| Thread-safe semaphores
|
| Thread::Signal
| Starts a thread that runs signal handlers reliably
|
| Thread::Specific
| Thread-specific keys
|
| Tie::Array
| Base class definitions for tied arrays
|
| Tie::File
| Accesses the lines of a disk file via a Perl array (new in 5.8)
|
| Tie::Handle
| Base class definitions for tied handles
|
| Tie::Hash
| Base class definitions for tied hashes
|
| Tie::Memorize
| Adds data to a hash when needed (new in 5.8)
|
| Tie::RefHash
| Uses references as hash keys
|
| Tie::Scalar
| Base class definitions for tied scalars
|
| Tie::SubstrHash
| Fixed table size, fixed key length hashing
|
| Time::gmtime
| By-name interface to Perl's built-in gmtime function
|
| Time::HiRes
| High-resolution alarm, sleep, gettimeofday, interval timers (new in 5.8)
|
| Time::Local
| Computes time from local and GMT time
|
| 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)
|
| User::grent
| By-name interface to Perl's built-in getgr* functions
|
| User::pwent
| By-name interface to Perl's built-in getpw* functions
|
| utf8
| Perl pragma to enable/disable UTF-8 in source code
|
| vars
| Predeclares global variable names
|
| vmsish
| Perl pragma that controls VMS-specific language features (new in 5.8)
|
| XS::Typemap
| Module that tests the XS typemaps distributed with Perl (new in 5.8) |
In the remainder of this chapter, the modules are arranged in alphabetical order for easy reference. For more detail about a module, use the perldoc command to read the manpage for that module (see "The Perl Language" for information on perldoc).