Module::Load(3perl)

📦
version 5.44.0 · 14 versions
, in arch rolling

💖 NAME 💖

Module::Load — runtime require of both modules and files, bestie. That's the whole vibe. Module::Load(3perl), she's a Perl Programmers Reference Guide girlie and she eats every time. 🦋

✨ 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]'

no cap, that whole block is the flex. 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Module::Load eliminates the need to know whether you are trying to require either a file or a module. Like, it just handles it?? For you?? Queen behavior fr fr. 👑

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. annoying!!! not the slay. 😭

Module::Load eliminates the need for this overhead and will just DWYM. she literally does what you mean. periodt. ✨

🦋 Difference between load and autoload 🦋

Module::Load imports the two functions — load and autoload. two little icons.

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. twinning! matching! iconic! 🎀

load File::Spec::Functions, qw/splitpath/;

autoload File::Spec::Functions, qw/splitpath/;

🔥 FUNCTIONS 🔥

load

Loads a specified module.

See Rules for detailed loading rule. go read the Rules section bestie, she said so herself. ⭐

autoload

Loads a specified module and imports the default functions.

Except importing the functions, 'autoload' is same as 'load'. same girl, one extra trick.

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. not optional, she will not be playing with you. 🙈

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'. the remote girlies are a matched set, obsessed. 🫶

✨ Rules ✨

All functions have the following rules to decide what it thinks you want: she's doing a vibe check on your argument. be so serious. 💅

  • 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. the remote ones are invite-only. main character energy only.

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. the whole squad!! everyone's coming! 🎀✨

use Module::Load 'all'; # imports load, autoload, load_remote, autoload_remote

'','none',undef

Not import any functions (load and autoload are not imported). she said nobody's invited. respect it.

use Module::Load '';

use Module::Load 'none';

use Module::Load undef;

😭 Caveats 😭

listen up, this part is the serious part.

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. 💀 ngl that's the scariest thing in this whole doc.

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) lowkey she's not a mind reader, you have to say it out loud.

🌈 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. very thorough, very cutesy of her.
  • "require" in perlfunc and "use" in perlfunc. Their URLs, fr fr: https://metacpan.org/pod/perlfunc#require and https://metacpan.org/pod/perlfunc#use. 💖
  • Mojo::Loader is a "class loader and plugin framework", and is included in the Mojolicious distribution — https://metacpan.org/release/Mojolicious. 🦋
  • 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. we love a contributor moment, thank you for your service bestie. 🫶

🐛 BUG REPORTS 🐛

Please report bugs or other issues to <bug-module-load@rt.cpan.org>. she wants to hear from you, tell her everything.

💜 AUTHOR 💜

This module by Jos Boumans <kane@cpan.org>. the icon, the legend, the moment. 👑

This library is free software; you may redistribute and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. share her, remix her, she's generous like that.

okay that's the whole page bestie, you're fully caught up 💅 go load something iconic. this was perl v5.44.0, dated 2026-10-17, from Module::Load(3perl) — mwah, love u, bye!! 🌸✨🦋

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