CPAN.pm

[Walter Pienciak]

One of my co-workers asked me, "What CPAN modules do you
always install when you're bringing up a new machine?"

Hmmm, I thought.  The default installation includes a fair
bit nowadays.  But then I got to thinking how the CPAN.pm
module itself has advanced to the point where it makes my
life a fair bit easier when installing modules.

So here's a basic plug for the use of CPAN.pm.  If you're
not familiar with it, here are some basics:

You can fire it up in command mode by typing

    perl -MCPAN -e shell

(Personally, I have an alias in my .cshrc -- I just type cpan)

    alias cpan 'perl -MCPAN -e shell'

Typing ? gets you some options, but let's say you want to
install Foo.pm.  It's as easy as

    cpan> install Foo

CPAN.pm checks both CPAN and your own installation to see
if it's already installed and up to date.  Then -- and
this is the cool part, IMO -- it will recursively pull
in, build, and install any modules that are dependencies
for Foo.pm.  Early versions did not do this, and it is a
super-duper enhancement.  It makes it so much less time-
consuming to pull in and check new modules. 

Walter