FAQ 2.6 What modules and extensions are available for Perl? What is CPAN? What does CPAN/src/... mean?
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From: PerlFAQ Server on 12 Aug 2010 00:00 This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq2.pod, which comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org . -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.6: What modules and extensions are available for Perl? What is CPAN? What does CPAN/src/... mean? CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a multi-gigabyte archive replicated on hundreds of machines all over the world. CPAN contains source code, non-native ports, documentation, scripts, and many third-party modules and extensions, designed for everything from commercial database interfaces to keyboard/screen control to web walking and CGI scripts. The master web site for CPAN is http://www.cpan.org/ and there is the CPAN Multiplexer at http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html which will choose a mirror near you via DNS. See http://www.perl.com/CPAN (without a slash at the end) for how this process works. Also, http://mirror.cpan.org/ has a nice interface to the http://www.cpan.org/MIRRORED.BY mirror directory. See the CPAN FAQ at http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html for answers to the most frequently asked questions about CPAN including how to become a mirror. "CPAN/path/..." is a naming convention for files available on CPAN sites. CPAN indicates the base directory of a CPAN mirror, and the rest of the path is the path from that directory to the file. For instance, if you're using ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN as your CPAN site, the file "CPAN/misc/japh" is downloadable as ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/misc/japh . Considering that, as of 2006, there are over ten thousand existing modules in the archive, one probably exists to do nearly anything you can think of. Current categories under "CPAN/modules/by-category/" include Perl core modules; development support; operating system interfaces; networking, devices, and interprocess communication; data type utilities; database interfaces; user interfaces; interfaces to other languages; filenames, file systems, and file locking; internationalization and locale; world wide web support; server and daemon utilities; archiving and compression; image manipulation; mail and news; control flow utilities; filehandle and I/O; Microsoft Windows modules; and miscellaneous modules. See http://www.cpan.org/modules/00modlist.long.html or http://search.cpan.org/ for a more complete list of modules by category. CPAN is a free service and is not affiliated with O'Reilly Media. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The perlfaq-workers, a group of volunteers, maintain the perlfaq. They are not necessarily experts in every domain where Perl might show up, so please include as much information as possible and relevant in any corrections. The perlfaq-workers also don't have access to every operating system or platform, so please include relevant details for corrections to examples that do not work on particular platforms. Working code is greatly appreciated. If you'd like to help maintain the perlfaq, see the details in perlfaq.pod. |