Module::Load(3perl) Perl Programmers Reference Guide Module::Load(3perl) NAME Module::Load - runtime require of both modules and files SYNOPSIS use Module::Load; my $module = 'Data::Dumper'; load Data::Dumper; # loads that module, but not import any functions # -> cannot use 'Dumper' function load 'Data::Dumper'; # ditto load $module # tritto autoload Data::Dumper; # loads that module and imports the default functions # -> can use 'Dumper' function my $script = 'some/script.pl' load $script; load 'some/script.pl'; # use quotes because of punctuations load thing; # try 'thing' first, then 'thing.pm' load CGI, ':all'; # like 'use CGI qw[:standard]' DESCRIPTION "Module::Load" eliminates the need to know whether you are trying to require either a file or a module. If you consult "perldoc -f require" you will see that "require" will behave differently when given a bareword or a string. In the case of a string, "require" assumes you are wanting to load a file. But in the case of a bareword, it assumes you mean a module. This gives nasty overhead when you are trying to dynamically require modules at runtime, since you will need to change the module notation ("Acme::Comment") to a file notation fitting the particular platform you are on. "Module::Load" eliminates the need for this overhead and will just DWYM. Difference between "load" and "autoload" "Module::Load" imports the two functions - "load" and "autoload" "autoload" imports the default functions automatically, but "load" do not import any functions. "autoload" is usable under "BEGIN{};". Both the functions can import the functions that are specified. Following codes are same. load File::Spec::Functions, qw/splitpath/; autoload File::Spec::Functions, qw/splitpath/; FUNCTIONS load Loads a specified module. See "Rules" for detailed loading rule. autoload Loads a specified module and imports the default functions. Except importing the functions, 'autoload' is same as 'load'. load_remote Loads a specified module to the specified package. use Module::Load 'load_remote'; my $pkg = 'Other::Package'; load_remote $pkg, 'Data::Dumper'; # load a module to 'Other::Package' # but do not import 'Dumper' function A module for loading must be quoted. Except specifing the package and quoting module name, 'load_remote' is same as 'load'. autoload_remote Loads a specified module and imports the default functions to the specified package. use Module::Load 'autoload_remote'; my $pkg = 'Other::Package'; autoload_remote $pkg, 'Data::Dumper'; # load a module to 'Other::Package' # and imports 'Dumper' function A module for loading must be quoted. Except specifing the package and quoting module name, 'autoload_remote' is same as 'load_remote'. Rules All functions have the following rules to decide what it thinks you want: o If the argument has any characters in it other than those matching "\w", ":" or "'", it must be a file o If the argument matches only "[\w:']", it must be a module o If the argument matches only "\w", it could either be a module or a file. We will try to find "file.pm" first in @INC and if that fails, we will try to find "file" in @INC. If both fail, we die with the respective error messages. IMPORTS THE FUNCTIONS 'load' and 'autoload' are imported by default, but 'load_remote' and 'autoload_remote' are not imported. To use 'load_remote' or 'autoload_remote', specify at 'use'. "load","autoload","load_remote","autoload_remote" Imports the selected functions. # imports 'load' and 'autoload' (default) use Module::Load; # imports 'autoload' only use Module::Load 'autoload'; # imports 'autoload' and 'autoload_remote', but don't import 'load'; use Module::Load qw/autoload autoload_remote/; 'all' Imports all the functions. use Module::Load 'all'; # imports load, autoload, load_remote, autoload_remote '','none',undef Not import any functions ("load" and "autoload" are not imported). use Module::Load ''; use Module::Load 'none'; use Module::Load undef; Caveats Because of a bug in perl (#19213), at least in version 5.6.1, we have to hardcode the path separator for a require on Win32 to be "/", like on Unix rather than the Win32 "\". Otherwise perl will not read its own %INC accurately double load files if they are required again, or in the worst case, core dump. "Module::Load" cannot do implicit imports, only explicit imports. (in other words, you always have to specify explicitly what you wish to import from a module, even if the functions are in that modules' @EXPORT) SEE ALSO Module::Runtime provides functions for loading modules, checking the validity of a module name, converting a module name to partial ".pm" path, and related utility functions. "require" in perlfunc and "use" in perlfunc . Mojo::Loader is a "class loader and plugin framework", and is included in the Mojolicious distribution. Module::Loader is a module for finding and loading modules in a given namespace, inspired by "Mojo::Loader". ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to Jonas B. Nielsen for making explicit imports work. BUG REPORTS Please report bugs or other issues to . AUTHOR This module by Jos Boumans . COPYRIGHT This library is free software; you may redistribute and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. perl v5.38.2 2024-02-11 Module::Load(3perl)