Programming Perl, 4th Edition

Chapter 28. The Standard Perl Library

The standard Perl distribution contains much more than just the perl executable that runs your scripts. It also includes hundreds of modules filled with reusable code, which we call Standard Perl Library. Because the standard modules are available everywhere, if you use one of them in your program, you can run your program anywhere Perl is installed, without any extra installation steps.

But we should tell you that not everywhere you find perl has the Standard Perl Library. Since Perl comes with some many different platforms, you might run into some vendors who change the Perl. Some vendors augment Perl by adding extra modules or tools. Some might update some modules to work better with their platforms (and we hope they pass their patches upstream). Others, however, remove parts. If you find part of the Standard Library missing, complain to your vendor or install your own Perl.

In previous editions of this book, we listed every module in the Standard Library and told you a little about each one. We took that out of this edition, and instead we’ll show you how to do this for yourself. Chapter 29 still goes through all of the pragmas.