The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN)

The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN)

By Elaine Ashton (‎aevil‎)
Date: Friday, 25 July 2003 13:20
Duration: 40 minutes
Language:

The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN) is, perhaps, Perl's greatest
treasure and its least appreciated. The CPAN isn't a hot new thing, rather
a standard that has become ubiquitous to those who know Perl well, but
often cryptic and imposing to those new to Perl or those unexposed to its
structure.

This talk gives a solid introduction to those who haven't heard of or only
vaguely know what the CPAN is and offers further details about it's
history and workings. One key aspect discussed is the various search
engines for the CPAN and how to make the most of each and, more
importantly, understanding how the CPAN works and how it is structured.

Depending on time, the topics addressed -
*CPAN, history, overview of what it really is. CPAN is not PAUSE
*Mirrors, how to mirror, how to become a public mirror
*Distributions, modules, namespaces and the hierarchy of the CPAN
structure.
*Search engines - a special kind of mirror. Which one is which, which is
best for what search and how to get what you need with the least amount of
pain
*CPAN.pm/PPM - After you find what you need, how to install it effortlessly
*Other tools such as Tom's pmtools and h2xs. A brief explanation of some
other lesser known useful tools for managing and creating modules.
*Possibly mention Perl6 and CPANTS if developments in that area permit.
*Q&A