Find CPAN mirrors and configure the local CPAN mirror list
CPAN mirrors are online repositories which host or “mirror” the Perl module distributions on CPAN. There are hundreds of CPAN mirrors dispersed throughout the World. When the CPAN program is run for the first time on a machine, it will configure the CPAN mirror list to use for checking for new versions of modules and downloading Perl distributions. All CPAN mirrors are not created equally though: the distribution list’s age, speed and the geographic location vary from mirror to mirror and so you may want to re-configure your local CPAN mirror list to suit your needs. This article describes how to find CPAN mirrors and edit the local CPAN mirror configuration.
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How to track new CPAN releases
CPAN is a fantastic Perl resource with thousands of modules and new ones being added all the time. But how do you keep track of what’s being released? This article describes three techniques for keeping tabs on the latest CPAN releases.
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List all Perl modules installed via CPAN
A quick way to list all non-core modules installed via CPAN using the command line:
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PDF Processing with Perl
Adobe’s PDF has become a standard for text documents. Most office products can export their content into PDF. However, this software reaches its limits if you want advanced tasks such as combining different PDF documents into one single document…
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Making Perl Reusable with Modules
Perl software development can occur at several levels. When first developing the idea for an application, a Perl developer may start with a short program to flesh out the necessary algorithms. After that, the next step might be to…
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Option and Configuration Processing Made Easy
When you first fire up your editor and start writing a program, it’s tempting to hardcode any settings or configuration so you can focus on the real task of getting the thing working. But as soon as you have…
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Better Code Through Destruction
Larry Wall said that Perl makes easy things easy and hard things possible. Perl is good both for writing a two-line script that saves the world at the last minute (well, at least it saves you and your project)…
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Annotating CPAN
AnnoCPAN is a new website that shows the documentation for every Perl module available on CPAN and allows anyone to post annotations in the margins of the documents. The notes are public, so everyone can read and reuse them…
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Building Good CPAN Modules
When you are planning to release a module to CPAN, one of your first tasks is figure out what OS, Perl version(s), and other environments you will and will not support. Often, the answers will come from what you…
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The Many Dates and Times of Perl
Some Basic Concepts In order to understand what you might want to do with dates and times, it’s good to have a handle on some basic concepts. Here are some terms that I’ll be using in this article: datetime…
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Writing Perl Modules for CPAN
As Andy Lester points out in this month’s Perl Review, one big advantage of there being so many Perl books around is that the publishers can now get around to putting out books on some of the more "niche" areas…
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Becoming a CPAN Tester with CPANPLUS
"This is a great war long-planned, and we are but one piece in it, whatever pride may say. … And now, all realms shall be put to the test." - Beregond, <<Lord of the Rings>> Introduction In CPANPLUS -…
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The Lighter Side of CPAN
Programming can be a stressful game. We sit at our machines, day in, day out, endlessly staring at a monitor fathoming where that last devious bug has buried itself. It’s not surprising then that sometimes it gets to be…
