Programming Perl, 4th Edition

CPAN Clients

Most people install their modules with a client.^[184] There are three popular CPAN clients, each designed to appeal to different audiences with different needs. You don’t have to use the same one all the time or make a lifelong choice.

cpan

The cpan command, which comes with the Standard Library and the CPAN.pm module, provides a quick way to install modules. Just specify the modules you want on the command line:

% cpan IO::Interactive AnyEvent

To install the modules in a different directory, you can configure that. With no arguments, cpan drops you into the CPAN.pm shell:

% cpan
cpan> o conf makepl_arg INSTALL_BASE=/some/other/directory
cpan> o conf mbuild_arg "––install_base /some/other/directory"
cpan> o conf commit

You can also start the CPAN.pm shell:

% perl –MCPAN –e shell
cpan> install POE

or use it with local::lib:

% perl –MCPAN –Mlocal::lib –e shell
cpan> install Set::CrossProduct

cpanp

Perl also comes with another CPAN interface, CPANPLUS. This project wanted to take the lessons from the development of CPAN.pm and start over:

% cpanp –i IO::Interactive AnyEvent

You can also start the CPANPLUS shell:

% perl –MCPANPLUS –e shell
CPAN Terminal> install POE

CPANPLUS uses a menu-driven configuration system, so once you enter its shell, just follow its prompts.

cpanminus

A third popular client that you might like if you like its defaults is cpanminus, or just cpanm. This is a minimal client that strives to do the right thing for most people. It also uses local::lib by default. Most ...