From: PerlFAQ Server on
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 .

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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.



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