Alien::...::Basic(3)

💖 Alien::Build::Version::Basic 💖

okay bestie, so this is Alien::Build::Version::Basic(3) — a very basic version object for Alien::Build, and honestly? it's giving "small but mighty." come sit with me, we're gonna get through this together 🫶

VERSION: version 2.88 ✨

---

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

OO interface, bestie — the fancy way:

use Alien::Build::Version::Basic;

my $version = Alien::Build::Version::Basic->new('1.2.3');
if($version > '1.2.2')  # true
{
  ...
}

Function interface — the chill way:

use Alien::Build::Version::Basic qw( version );

if(version('1.2.3') > version('1.2.2')) # true
{
  ...
}

my @sorted = sort map { version($_) } qw( 2.1 1.2.3 1.2.2 );
# will come out in the order 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 2.1

like look at that sort. 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 2.1. it just knows. periodt 💅

---

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

So this module gives you a very basic class for comparing versions. and ngl, version comparison on CPAN is already a crowded space — everyone and their group chat has an opinion.

Parts of Alien::Build already use Sort::Versions, which is totally fine for sorting versions. but sometimes you don't wanna sort, you wanna check if versions match exact values. and the best candidates out there (like Sort::Versions on CPAN) will compare 1.2.3.0 and 1.2.3 as being different. 😭 this class compares those two as the same. iconic behavior honestly.

⚠️ but bestie, hear me — this class is also quite limited. it only works with version schemes using a dotted version numbers, or real numbers with a fixed number of digits. versions with: dashes, letters, hex digits, or anything else are not supported. no cap, don't try it.

This class overloads both <=> and cmp to compare the version the way you'd expect for version numbers. so you can compare versions like numbers, or sort them using sort. it's giving main character energy:

if(version($v1) > version($v2))
{
  ...
}

my @sorted = sort map { version($_) } @unsorted;

and it also overloads "" to stringify as whatever string value you passed to the constructor. so "$version" just hands you back your original string, no drama. 🎀

---

🌈 CONSTRUCTOR 🌈

new

my $version = Alien::Build::Version::Basic->new($value);

This is the long form of the constructor — use it if you don't want to import anything into your namespace. very "I keep to myself" of you. 🙈

version

my $version = version($value);

This is the short form of the constructor, if you are sane. 💀 It is NOT exported by default, so you will have to explicitly import it. no freebies here bestie, you gotta ask.

---

💅 METHODS 💅

as_string

my $string = $version->as_string;
my $string = "$version";

Returns the string representation of the version object. that's it, that's the whole vibe. ✨

cmp

my $bool = $version->cmp($other);
my $bool = $version <=> $other;
my $bool = $version cmp $other;

Returns -1, 0 or 1 just like the regular <=> and cmp operators. so predictable, so reliable, so slay.

Although $version must be a version object, $other may be either a version object, or a string that could be used to create a valid version object. flexible queen. 👑

---

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• Sort::Versions — Good, especially if you have to support rpm style versions (like 1.2.3-2-b) or don't care if trailing zeros (1.2.3 vs 1.2.3.0) are treated as different values.
• version — Problematic for historical reasons. 💀 iykyk.

---

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Author: Graham Ollis <plicease@cpan.org>

Contributors, aka the whole friend group, the real ones:

• Diab Jerius (DJERIUS)
• Roy Storey (KIWIROY)
• Ilya Pavlov
• David Mertens (run4flat)
• Mark Nunberg (mordy, mnunberg)
• Christian Walde (Mithaldu)
• Brian Wightman (MidLifeXis)
• Zaki Mughal (zmughal)
• mohawk (mohawk2, ETJ)
• Vikas N Kumar (vikasnkumar)
• Flavio Poletti (polettix)
• Salvador Fandiño (salva)
• Gianni Ceccarelli (dakkar)
• Pavel Shaydo (zwon, trinitum)
• Kang-min Liu (劉康民, gugod)
• Nicholas Shipp (nshp)
• Juan Julián Merelo Guervós (JJ)
• Joel Berger (JBERGER)
• Petr Písař (ppisar)
• Lance Wicks (LANCEW)
• Ahmad Fatoum (a3f, ATHREEF)
• José Joaquín Atria (JJATRIA)
• Duke Leto (LETO)
• Shoichi Kaji (SKAJI)
• Shawn Laffan (SLAFFAN)
• Paul Evans (leonerd, PEVANS)
• Håkon Hægland (hakonhagland, HAKONH)
• nick nauwelaerts (INPHOBIA)
• Florian Weimer
• Marcel Telka (mtelka)

every single one of them. we love to see it. 🌈

---

🎀 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE 🎀

This software is copyright (c) 2011-2022 by Graham Ollis.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

---

okay that's the whole page bestie, you ate that 💖 this one's perl v5.42.3, dated 2026-09-21, from the Alien::...::Basic(3) manual page. go forth and compare versions responsibly 🧚 ✨