phpman > perldoc > 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:

    *   If the argument has any characters in it other than those matching "\w", ":" or "'", it must
        be a file

    *   If the argument matches only "[\w:']", it must be a module

    *   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 <https://metacpan.org/pod/perlfunc#require> and "use" in perlfunc
    <https://metacpan.org/pod/perlfunc#use>.

    Mojo::Loader is a "class loader and plugin framework", and is included in the Mojolicious
    <https://metacpan.org/release/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 <bug-module-load AT rt.org>.

AUTHOR
    This module by Jos Boumans <kane AT cpan.org>.

COPYRIGHT
    This library is free software; you may redistribute and/or modify it under the same terms as
    Perl itself.