Picking the Right Module

First, you need to pick the right module. A good starting place is the CPAN itself at http://www.perl.com/CPAN. You need to decide which module you're interested in.

CPAN modules are named, roughly, by what they do. For example, Image::Size takes an image and reports what size the image is; this module is useful for working with Web pages. Some modules have unusual names though. LWP derives its name from a Perl library called libwww-perl.

You also can find bundles of modules on CPAN. These bundles contain several related modules—and usually prerequisite modules—all in one large package. For example, the libnet bundle installs like a module, but in the process, you get several modules all related to networking. LWP is ...

Get Sams Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.