Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Unix

CPAN

Getting through all of the dependencies for certain Perl modules can be hairy. To give you a sense of how complex perl can be, here’s a small fact: CPAN has over nine thousand perl modules listed. Keeping track of module dependencies can be a real pain. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution…CPAN.pm

CPAN.pm is a PERL module that automates the whole process of downloading, unpacking, compiling and packaging modules. For example, if I wanted to install a module called Colors::Yellow, I would type:

perl -MCPAN -e ‘install Colors::Yellow’

That’s it. The CPAN.pm would automatically figure dependancies, download the appropriate modules, and install them. If you want more information on using the CPAN.pm (pm is short for perl module) then the URL is http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html, under “How do I install Perl modules?”