CHAPTER 20Extending and Embedding Perl
Sometimes it is more convenient to reach outside Perl for a feature than implement it as Perl code. A classical example is system libraries that we want to make use of from within Perl. As these libraries are not Perl themselves, we need a way to interact with them. Another common case is algorithms that are faster when implemented as pure C than we can manage within Perl. Modules that make use of external code this way are known as extensions. Whatever the reason for using C, C++, or another language, we need some glue to bind the compiled code into our Perl. The glue is called XSUBs, or XS for short, and Perl provides plenty of support to help us write extensions using it.
In this chapter, we will see ...
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