NAME

perl5 - Use a Perl 5 group of modules/features

SYNOPSIS

Use a version of Perl and its feature set:

use perl5;      # Same as 'use perl5 v5.10.0;'
use perl5 v14.1;
use perl5 14.1;
use perl5-14.1;

Use a bundled feature set from a perl5 plugin:

use perl5-i;
use perl5-2i;
use perl5-modern;
use perl5-yourShinyPlugin;

Or both:

use perl5 v14.1 -shiny;

DESCRIPTION

The perl5 module lets you use a well known set of modules in one command.

It allows people to create plugins like perl5::foo and perl5::bar that are sets of useful modules that have been tested together and are known to create joy.

This module, perl5, is generally the base class to such a plugin.

USAGE

This:

use perl5-foo;

Is equivalent in Perl to:

use perl5 '-foo';

The perl5 module takes the first argument in the use command, and uses it to find a plugin, like perl5::foo in this case.

perl5::foo is typically just a subclass of perl5. It invokes a set of modules for its caller.

If you use it with a version, like this:

use perl5 v14;

It is the same as saying:

use v5.14;
use strict;
use warnings;
use feature ':5.14';

If you use perl5 with no arguments, like this:

use perl5;

It is the same as saying:

use perl5 v10;

PLUGIN API

This module uses lexically-wrapped-goto-chaining-magic to correctly load a set of modules (including optional version requirements and import options) into the user's code. The API for specifying a perl5 plugin is very simple.

To create a plugin called perl5::foo that gets called like this:

use perl5-foo;

Write some code like this:

package perl5::foo;
use base 'perl5';
our $VERSION = 0.12;

# These is the list of modules (with optional version and arguments)
sub imports {
    return (
        strict =>
        warnings =>
        features => [':5.10'],
        SomeModule => 0.22,
        OtherModule => 0.33, [option1 => 2],
        Module => [],   # Don't invoke Module's import() method
    );
}

1;

INSPIRATION

This module was inspired by Michael Schwern's perl5i, and the talk he gave about it at the 2010 OSDC in Melbourne. By "inspired" I mean that I was perturbed by Schwern's non-TMTOWTDI attitude towards choosing a standard set of Perl modules for all of us.

THIS IS PERL! THERE ARE NO STANDARDS!

...and I told him so. I also promised that I would show him my feelings in code. Schwern, this is how I feel! (See also: perl5::i)

THANKS

Special thanks to schwern, mstrout, audreyt, rodrigo and jesse for ideas and support.

AUTHOR

Ingy döt Net <ingy@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2011-2014. Ingy döt Net.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

See http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html