EXTUTILS::MINIPERL(3pm)

🌸 NAME 🌸

okay so bestie, this is ExtUtils::Miniperl(3pm) — the module that writes the C code for miniperlmain.c and perlmain.c. literally its whole job 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

use ExtUtils::Miniperl;
writemain(@directories);
# or
writemain($fh, @directories);
# or
writemain(\$filename, @directories);

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so writemain() takes an argument list of zero or more directories containing archive libraries that relate to perl modules and should be linked into a new perl binary. no cap, zero is allowed.

it writes a corresponding miniperlmain.c or perlmain.c file that is a plain C file containing all the bootstrap code to make the modules associated with the libraries available from within perl. iconic behavior honestly 🫶

here are the output rules, iykyk: if the first argument to writemain() is a reference to a scalar, it is used as the filename to open for output. any other reference is used as the filehandle to write to. otherwise output defaults to STDOUT. periodt.

the typical usage is from within perl's own Makefile (to build perlmain.c) or from regen/miniperlmain.pl (to build miniperlmain.c). so under normal circumstances you won't have to deal with this module directly. lowkey a relief tbh 😭

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• ExtUtils::MakeMaker — go peek at that one too 💖

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later bestie! 💅 this page is ExtUtils::Miniperl(3pm) from perl v5.42.3, dated 2026-11-03. 🫶✨