Programming Perl, 3rd Edition

Chapter 32. Standard Modules

The previous edition of this book included comprehensive, definitive coverage for all modules that were part of the standard Perl distribution. But if we did that again now, you'd pay twice what you're paying for this book, not to mention what you'd have to pay the chiropractor after trying to carry the book home. Over the last few years, more and more modules have come bundled standard; we're up to around two hundred of them right now. Some of these, such as CGI, have remarkably extensive documentation in their own right. And if you're using ActiveState's distribution of Perl, your standard library is even more luxed out.

So instead, we provide a complete listing of the standard modules, sorted by type, along with a brief description of what each module does. Then we cherry pick a few of our favorite modules by providing examples of typical uses, followed by a short description of how they work, just to give you a taste of using them. The descriptions are suggestive rather than comprehensive, and virtually all the modules have features beyond those shown. However, complete documentation for all standard modules is included with every Perl distribution, so you can just look up the details on your own system using the perldoc program, your system's man (1) command, or your favorite browser. See Online Documentation in Preface. Ask your Local Expert if you can't find the docs, because they're almost certainly installed somewhere on your system. Even if ...