Gecko [ gtgates.com ]

Name	Size	Permission	Date
Algorithm	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
App	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2025-06-04 11:33
Archive	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:57
Authen	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
B	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:56
CGI	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:57
CPAN	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2025-06-04 11:33
Carp	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Config	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Data	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Date	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Devel	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Digest	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Encode	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Error	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Exporter	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
ExtUtils	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:53
File	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-12-02 12:30
Filter	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Getopt	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Git	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2025-07-23 11:30
HTML	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
HTTP	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-05-31 13:24
IO	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
IPC	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
JSON	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:56
LWP	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Locale	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
MRO	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Math	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Module	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-12-02 12:30
Mozilla	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Net	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:58
POD2	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2019-10-13 14:04
Package	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Params	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Parse	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-12-02 12:30
Perl	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
PerlIO	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Pod	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:56
Software	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
String	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-12-02 12:30
Sub	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
TAP	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Term	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:57
Test	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Test2	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Text	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Thread	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Time	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Try	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
Types	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
WWW	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
XML	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
YAML	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:56
autodie	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
inc	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:53
lib	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2019-10-13 14:04
libwww	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
local	[ DIR ]	drwxr-xr-x	2024-02-12 23:51
CGI.pm	121.63 KB	-rw-r--r--	2017-12-01 08:28
CGI.pod	65.66 KB	-rw-r--r--	2017-03-29 08:46
CPAN.pm	138.01 KB	-rw-r--r--	2025-06-03 14:32
Carp.pm	30.32 KB	-rw-r--r--	2019-10-13 07:06
Digest.pm	10.46 KB	-rw-r--r--	2019-10-13 08:28
Env.pm	5.39 KB	-rw-r--r--	2013-03-02 17:10
Error.pm	24.29 KB	-rw-r--r--	2019-10-14 15:30
Expect.pm	98.09 KB	-rw-r--r--	2017-05-18 19:07
Exporter.pm	18.31 KB	-rw-r--r--	2019-10-13 08:52
Fatal.pm	56.81 KB	-rw-r--r--	2015-07-09 07:16
Fh.pm	166 B	-rw-r--r--	2017-12-01 08:28
Git.pm	46.95 KB	-rw-r--r--	2025-07-22 14:33
JSON.pm	53.65 KB	-rw-r--r--	2017-12-21 11:13
LWP.pm	21.17 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 18:49
Test2.pm	6.24 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-03-30 05:53
YAML.pm	3.06 KB	-r--r--r--	2017-10-30 19:32
YAML.pod	21.62 KB	-r--r--r--	2017-10-30 19:32
autodie.pm	12.58 KB	-rw-r--r--	2015-07-09 07:16
bigint.pm	22.85 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-02-03 10:59
bignum.pm	20.64 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-02-03 10:59
bigrat.pm	15.78 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-02-03 10:59
constant.pm	14.38 KB	-rw-r--r--	2019-10-13 13:55
cpanfile-faq.pod	4.39 KB	-rw-r--r--	2016-02-12 16:23
cpanfile.pod	3.39 KB	-rw-r--r--	2016-02-12 16:23
experimental.pm	6.83 KB	-rw-r--r--	2017-12-03 17:40
newgetopt.pl	2.15 KB	-rw-r--r--	2010-07-09 12:26
ok.pm	967 B	-rw-r--r--	2018-03-30 05:53
parent.pm	2.51 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-07-06 17:53
perldoc.pod	9.16 KB	-rw-r--r--	2016-08-02 16:31
perlfaq.pm	77 B	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq.pod	22.22 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq1.pod	14.12 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq2.pod	9.24 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq3.pod	36.66 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq4.pod	87.3 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq5.pod	54.21 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq6.pod	38.69 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq7.pod	36.93 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq8.pod	48.93 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlfaq9.pod	14.5 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02
perlglossary.pod	134.02 KB	-rw-r--r--	2018-06-05 05:02

Rename

=head1 NAME

cpanfile-faq - cpanfile FAQ

=head1 QUESTIONS

=head2 Does cpanfile replace Makefile.PL/Build.PL or META.yml/json?

No, it doesn't. C<cpanfile> is a simpler way to declare CPAN
dependencies, mainly for I<your application> rather than CPAN
distributions.

However, while CPAN distributions do not need to B<switch> to
C<cpanfile>, you can certainly I<manage> the dependencies in
C<cpanfile>, then export them into C<META.json> files when shipping to
CPAN, using tools such as L<Dist::Milla> or L<Module::Install::CPANfile>

=head2 Why do we need yet another format?

Here are some of the reasons that motivates the new L<cpanfile>
format.

=over 4

=item Not everything is a CPAN distribution

First of all, it is annoying to write (a dummy) C<Makefile.PL> when
what you develop is not a CPAN distribution, just so that installation
like C<cpanm --installdeps .> would work.

It gets more painful when you develop a web application that you want
to deploy on a different environment using version control system
(such as PaaS/cloud infrastructure), because it requires you to often
commit the META file or C<inc/> directory (or even worse, both) to a
repository.

Many web application frameworks generate a boiler-plate C<Makefile.PL>
for dependency declaration and to let you install dependencies with
C<< cpanm --installdeps . >>, but that doesn't always mean they are
meant to be installed. Things can be often much simpler if you run the
application from the checkout directory.

With L<cpanfile>, dependencies can be installed either globally or
locally using supported tools such as L<cpanm> or L<Carton>. Because
C<cpanfile> lists all the dependencies of your entire application and
will be updated over time, it makes perfect sense to commit the file
to a version control system, and push the file for a deployment.

=item Familiar DSL syntax

This is a new file type, but the format and syntax isn't entirely
new. The metadata it can declare is exactly a subset of "Prereqs" in
L<CPAN Meta Spec|CPAN::Meta::Spec>.

The syntax borrows a lot from L<Module::Install>. Module::Install is a
great way to easily declare module metadata such as name, author and
dependencies. L<cpanfile> format is simply to extract the dependencies
into a separate file, which means most of the developers are familiar
with the syntax.

=item Complete CPAN Meta Spec v2 support

C<cpanfile> basically allows you to declare L<CPAN::Meta::Spec>
prerequisite specification using an easy Perl DSL syntax. This makes
it easy to declare per-phase dependencies and newer version 2 features
such as conflicts and version ranges.

=back

=head2 How can I start using C<cpanfile>?

First of all, most distributions on CPAN are not required to update to
this format.

If your application currently uses C<Makefile.PL> etc. for dependency
declaration because of the current toolchain implementation (e.g. C<<
cpanm --installdeps . >>), you can upgrade to C<cpanfile> while
keeping the build file based installation working for the backward
compatibility.

If you are an author of CPAN module and want to manage CPAN module
prerequisites using C<cpanfile> you can use one of the following
tools:

=over 4

=item Dist::Milla

L<Dist::Milla> is a profile for L<Dist::Zilla> that has a C<cpanfile>
support to declare dependencies for your module.

=item Dist::Zilla

L<Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Prereqs::FromCPANfile> provides a way to merge
dependencies declared in C<cpanfile> into META files as well as build
files. You can combine them using other prerequisite scanners like
C<AutoPrereqs>.

=item Minilla

L<Minilla> is a yet another authoring tool that supports C<cpanfile>
as a way to describe dependencies for your CPAN module.

=item Module::Install

L<Module::Install::CPANfile> provides a C<cpanfile> DSL that reads
C<cpanfile> to merge prerequisites when dumping C<MYMETA> files upon
installation.

=item Module::Build

L<Module::Build::Pluggable::CPANfile> merges C<cpanfile> dependencies
from C<Build.PL> when dumping out MYMETA information.

However you're recommended to switch to an authoring system that emits
C<Build.PL> with parsed CPANfile information, like L<Dist::Zilla>
mentioned above.

=item ExtUtils::MakeMaker

L<ExtUtils::MakeMaker::CPANfile> merges C<cpanfile> prerequisites
when dumping C<MYMETA> files upon installation.

However you're recommended to switch to an authoring system that emits
C<Makefile.PL> with parsed CPANfile information, like L<Dist::Zilla>
mentioned above.

=back