Module...ERSION(3pm)

✨ NAME ✨

Module::Extract::VERSION — it pulls a module's version out of its source code, and it does it safely 💅 (this is a 3pm page from the User Contributed Perl Documentation, bestie, so it's a Perl module manual, and we are gonna read it together)

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

use Module::Extract::VERSION;

my $version   # just the version
        = Module::Extract::VERSION->parse_version_safely( $file );

my @version_info # extra info
        = Module::Extract::VERSION->parse_version_safely( $file );

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

Okay so picture this: you've got module source code, and buried in there somewhere is the version number. This module's whole job is fishing that version number out for you. ✨

It assumes two things, and you need to know them, no cap:

• there is only one $VERSION in the file
• the entire $VERSION statement lives on one single line

🧚 Class methods

• $class->parse_version_safely( FILE ); — hand it a module file, get the module version back. It works exactly the same way "mldistwatch" in PAUSE works. The vibe: it finds the one line holding the $VERSION statement, extracts it, evals it inside a Safe compartment, and returns whatever comes out. 🫶

Now here's the context tea, because it matters:

• In scalar context, you just get the version as a string. Simple. Iconic.
• In list context, you get a whole list of goodies:

sigil
fully-qualified variable name
version value
file name
line number of $VERSION

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🦋 SOURCE AVAILABILITY 🦋

This code lives on Github, go be nosy:

https://github.com/briandfoy/module-extract-version.git

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

brian d foy, "<briandfoy@pobox.com>"

Real talk though, some of this code was stolen from "mldistwatch" in the PAUSE code by Andreas König — but our guy moved most of it around, so it's a remix. 😭

And shoutout to Andrey Starodubtsev, who added code to handle the v5.12 and v5.14 "package" syntax. The way that syntax needed handling… ate. 💅

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💖 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE 💖

Copyright © 2008-2026, brian d foy "<briandfoy@pobox.com>". All rights reserved.

You may redistribute this under the Artistic License 2.0. Periodt.

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friendly little reminder bestie: it needs exactly one $VERSION and that whole statement has to sit on a single line, or this whole thing gets sad 🙈

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stay slay, run your version checks, and remember — this page is perl v5.40.1, dated 2026-06-21, and it's the Module::Extract::VERSION 3pm manual 💜