Favourite modules March 2002

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(jeffa) Re: Favourite modules by jeffa (Bishop) on Mar 10, 2002 at 16:31 UTC
strict Super module number 1! jeffa the hell it don't count! Ok ok, here are some more: DBI HTML::Template DBIx::XML_RDB DBD::SQLite Apache::MP3 Config::General SPOPS And the plug (and it really is a fav of mine): DBIx::XHTML_Table update - i ran a script that scanned all .pl and .cgi files to see which modules i use the most (using Perl to make up my mind ;)). So, using Juerd's rules this time: Data::Dumper (102) CGI (81) DBI (52) IO::File (31) Getopt::Std (24) CGI::Carp (24) LWP::Simple (22) HTTP::Request::Common (20) LWP (17) SOAP::Lite (15) Per demerphq's request - here it is. If anybody feels like making an improvement or two, then ++'s for you. I do know that this code trudges through perldoc as well as code ... that needs to be fixed. `#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use File::Find; @ARGV = (); my %mod = (); # does this look familiar merlyn? :) find sub { push @ARGV, $File::Find::name if /\.pl\z/ or /\.cgi\z/; }, qw(/dirs /to/scan/here); while (<>) { $mod{$1}++ if /use\s+([A-Za-z_:]+);/; } # top 20 so i can filter out those that don't count :P print "Top Twenty:\n"; print map {"<li>[kobe://$_] ($mod{$_})\n"} (sort {$mod{$b} <=> $mod{$a +}} keys %mod)[0..19];` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: (jeffa) Re: Favourite modules by rnahi (Curate) on Mar 12, 2002 at 12:09 UTC
Not airtight, but it will skip the POD. `my $in_pod=0; my $argcount = scalar @ARGV; while (<>) { # deals with uncorrect POD left open at the end # of the file if ($argcount > scalar @ARGV) { $in_pod=0; $argcount--; } if ($in_pod) { $in_pod = not /^=cut/; } else { $in_pod = /^=\w/; } next if $in_pod; # skip lines inside POD $mod{$1}++ if /use\s+([A-Za-z_:]+);/; }` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: (jeffa) Re: Favourite modules by gellyfish (Monsignor) on Mar 12, 2002 at 17:12 UTC
scanned all .pl and .cgi files to see which modules i use the most Heh, I get something totally different if I do that: strict (723) Test (139) SOAP::Lite (84) DBI (74) Data::Dumper (71) Math::BigInt (56) Text::Wrap (56) CGI (53) Template (50) File::Find (40) The first two are unsurprising :) /J\	[reply]
Re: (jeffa) Re: Favourite modules by demerphq (Chancellor) on Mar 11, 2002 at 12:56 UTC
update - i ran a script that scanned all .pl and .cgi files to see which modules i use the most (using Perl to make up my mind ;)). And the code is posted where? ;-) Yves / DeMerphq -- When to use Prototypes? Advanced Sorting - GRT - Guttman Rosler Transform	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by perrin (Chancellor) on Mar 10, 2002 at 19:01 UTC
There was a talk by Simon Cozens called "10 Perl Modules I Wouldn't Go Anywhere Without", but I can't seem to find a copy on-line. These lists tend be a bit repetitive, so I'll try to slant mine a little. Here's my list of modules that I wouldn't use mod_perl without: Template Storable Digest::MD5 Devel::DProf Benchmark Apache::SizeLimit Apache::Resource Apache::DB Apache::SSI DBIx::Profile Cache::Cache	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by Matts (Deacon) on Mar 10, 2002 at 17:15 UTC
In no particular order: 1. Fatal 2. File::Spec 3. Digest::MD5 4. Time::Piece (ok, so I'm biased) 5. DBI 6. CookBookA && CookBookB (not really modules, but indispensible to anyone learning XS) 7. POE 8. Log::Dispatch::Config 9. XML::SAX::Machines 10. XML::Handler::AxPoint (biased again)	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by derby (Abbot) on Mar 10, 2002 at 19:21 UTC
Not in any particular order CPAN - how else do you get the rest DBI CGI HTML::Embperl Inline::C Date::Manip IO::File Net::FTP Getopt::Long Archive::Tar -derby	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by dreadpiratepeter (Priest) on Mar 10, 2002 at 21:28 UTC
In no particular order: DBD::Chart You want to impress your boss and improve your reputation as a miracle worker? Casually mention on a friday afternoon that it would be cool if your system could generate graphs along with its normal reports. Friday evening spend 1 or 2 hours integrating DBD::Chart into your system. Revel in how easy it is. Relaxe for the rest of the weekend. Monday morning amaze your boss. Tk But then again I'm an old GUI programmer... HTML::Mason These days I'm an old web programmer. I can build amazing interfaces in almost no time with HTML::Mason. Spreadsheet::ParseExcel, Spreadsheet::WriteExcel Another boss pleaser. Clients love it when they can save their reports as excel spreadsheets, with all the proper formating and justification. Quantum::SuperPositions Powerful stuff if you can get your head around it. DBI, LWP::Simple, CGI, HTML::Parser For the same reasons they are on everyone elses list. -pete "I am Jack's utter lack of disbelief"	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by BazB (Priest) on Mar 10, 2002 at 19:41 UTC
I've yet not got to the point where I've had to use the more wierd and/or wonderful modules like Parse::RecDescent. Most of these are probably quite well used by a lot of folk. In no particular order: CGI Carp MIME::Parser Internet::Mail Net::POP3 Exporter Getopt::Std HTML::FormatText HTML::TreeBuilder HTML::Entities A lot of my first Perl CGIs required these modules, so I've got a soft spot for them :-) HTML::FormatText is rather funky for hauling plaintext from HTML.	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by jryan (Vicar) on Mar 10, 2002 at 21:45 UTC
Here are a few that have really saved my life: CGI - I assume this and DBI need no introduction? :) DBI Storable - Really handy when you need to serialize data (in a db or otherwise). Take a look at it next time you need to store data in a weird format. IO::Socket - Indispensible if you are doing any sort of socket stuff. Net::Shared - Shameless plug time :) I really hate IPC::Shareable, so I created this module. Its still under development, but next time you need to use shared memory, give it look; its much more stable than its counterpart. LWP - huge time saver. File::Find - another huge time saver. Apache::Session - a module that makes it much easier to implement sessions. Takes care of most issues for you automatically after its set up. Mail::Mailer - My favorite mail sending module. HTML::TokeParser - My preferred way to parse HTML.	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules (Data::Dumper, two old sub-threads on CPAN.pm and modules) by ybiC (Prior) on Mar 10, 2002 at 23:20 UTC
Data::Dumper - stringified perl data structures, suitable for both printing and eval. Written by Gurusamy Sarathy. tilly pointed me to this Fine Module a while back. It's served me faithfully since then, as an excellent debugging tool when my perl isn't perling. Data::Dumper is included in standard Perl distributions, so there are no excuses for not using it {grin} geektron reviewed Data::Dumper right here. Other modules I frequent: Pod::Usage eliminate redundant &Usage() Getopt::Long works with above to support --help, --man arguments Tie::IxHash insertion-order retrieval of hash elements File::Temp secure temp files Net::Telnet Net::Telnet::Cisco automate management of Cisco routers+switches Net::SNMP automate queries against network devices Spreadsheet::WriteExcel output reports from above net tools in format that management likes Update: For fresh perlers not familiar with installation and use of modules^, perusing the old sub-thread starting at "My Favorite Module: CPAN" might be beneficial. But remember to upgrade CPAN.pm manually before* actually using it to install other modules. Nevermind that I'm a Luddite, preferring to install all my modules manually. Heh. Update 2: davorg provides excellent instructions for getting your feet wet with Perl modules at "Re: difficulty using CPAN.pm*". cheers, Don striving toward Perl Adept* (it's pronounced "why-bick") ^{* Old-timers here at the Monastery will recall when this was me {grin}}	[reply]
Re: Re: Favourite modules (Data::Dumper, two old sub-threads on CPAN.pm and modules) by demerphq (Chancellor) on Mar 11, 2002 at 12:59 UTC
Just a thought, (ive been meaning to make a proper node on thsi subject), but caution should be used when employing Data::Dumper or Data::Dump. In some circumstances their output is not correct and or they will hang. Yves / DeMerphq -- When to use Prototypes? Advanced Sorting - GRT - Guttman Rosler Transform	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by strat (Canon) on Mar 10, 2002 at 21:38 UTC
My favorite modules are (in no specific order): strict, warnings, Carp (die over there :-)) Digest::MD5 Net::LDAP Win32::ODBC DBI CGI Storable Class::MethodMaker Data::Dumper Win32::AdminMisc IO::Select Expect POSIX and for Fun: Tk Best regards, perl -le "s==F=e=>y~\martinF~stronat~=>s~[^\w]~~g=>chop,print"	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by rjray (Chaplain) on Mar 11, 2002 at 00:21 UTC
Let's see-- excluding pragmata, but allowing references to core modules, and not being cheesy and referencing any of my own CPAN modules: Data::Dumper - So useful in debugging, I've set my `PERL5DB` environment variable to be, "`BEGIN { use Data::Dumper; require 'perl5db.pl'; }`". SOAP::Lite - Using it more and more each day HTTP::Daemon - I've lost count of how many applications I've written that use this for their network layer Perl/GTK+ bindings - if only the code were as stable as Perl/Tk mod_perl - I'm always learning some new trick I can do with this one B::Terse - the opcode tree has proven indispensible when debugging core-dumps inside XS code XML::SAX - starting to use this more and more Devel::Peek - another indispensible tool for the XS programmer AutoLoader - dynamic loading for Perl code is good, especially when your (legacy) library has 30+ functions Image::Size - OK, I'm cheating here. But I do a lot of HTML authoring for a local hobby club's website, and getting the image dimensions in a cut-and-paste form is very handy and very time-saving The ones that aren't linked are core modules, and you should be able to find their manual pages here or on your Perl installation. And yes, Image::Size is one of mine, but it really is one of my most-used pieces of code. And it was my very first CPAN submission, so I have a fondness for it. --rjray	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by gellyfish (Monsignor) on Mar 10, 2002 at 22:11 UTC
ten you say ? XML::Parser XML::Excel DBI Template POE Parse::RecDescent Acme::Pony Acme::USIG XML::DOM HTML::Parser /J\	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by George_Sherston (Vicar) on Mar 11, 2002 at 07:56 UTC
Part of the value of this thread is that one comes across modules one wouldn't otherwise have checked out. But I'm afraid I'm a meat-and-potatoes kinda guy, and my favourite list is very MOR. But none the worse for that. As Braque says, "all the ancient wisdoms were young once". CGI jbr::Carp - this is CGI::Carp but with a tiny tweak (replace line 285 `print STDOUT "<!-- warning: $msg --> \n"` with `print STDOUT "warning: $msg <BR>\n"`) to put warnings in the browser rather than in comments - just the way I like to debug DBI - for placeholders, and for everything else HTML::Template - the lowest learn : do ratio I ever did see Data::Dumper which I use all the time for debugging, as well as other stuff Mail::Sendmail LWP::Simple Exporter - I confess I don't know totally what this does, but I use it whenever I write a module of my own, so I suppose it must be one of my favourites Time::Local which I partly like because I think the name is quite witty (`localtime` converts from integer to date... so to go the other way...) Font::AFM - I only ever used this once, but it gave me a real kick, as I can be quite obsessive about the mere appearance of words on the page, and this is a userful tool for perfecting the layout of generated (and hence unpredictable) text � George Sherston	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Favourite modules by lestrrat (Deacon) on Mar 10, 2002 at 23:28 UTC
In no particular order... DBI - The sheer bliss when I converted our legacy flat-file base system to a real database.. ;) XML::LibXML - I can't do XML without this... Getopt::Long LWP Storable - so simple, so useful SOAP::Lite - just started using this, but it's going to save me a lot of time :) Date::Calc - cause I'm not smart enough to calculate dates Exporter IO - what would you do without it? Data::Dumper - I use it all the time to debug	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by lachoy (Parson) on Mar 10, 2002 at 23:44 UTC
"Favorite" is a little difficult. How about ten (or so) of the ones I cannot live without -- not including my own :-) CPAN Template Toolkit DBI mod_perl File::Find LWP MIME::Lite Test::More Getopt::Long/Getopt::Std Data::Dumper Class::Accessor And how about a few I'd like to learn but don't have the time or the project to devote to them? POE SOAP::Lite Alzabo AxKit Parse::RecDescent LWP (yes, it's on both lists) Filter Inline Chris M-x auto-bs-mode	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by mirod (Canon) on Mar 11, 2002 at 10:38 UTC
OK, so here is my list: CGI (including the HTML generation methods ;--), Text::Template is my one-stop templating module, Data::Denter, because I like the output better than Data::Dumper, Inline::Files: way cool way to get code and data in a single file, AnyData: get your data from CSV, log files, XML... Roman, poster child of the small but ocasionnaly useful module, and why CPAN is such a wonderful place, XML modules: XML::PYX for quickly extracting info from an XML document, XML::Twig for all the rest (yes I am biased ;--) And of course: Acme::Bleach	[reply]
Re: Re: Favourite modules by dreadpiratepeter (Priest) on Mar 11, 2002 at 15:04 UTC
I agree wholeheartedly about Roman. It is indicative of the beauty of CPAN. And the perfect example of why to look there before leaping at any problem. In my roguelike game Tapestry, you can create characters from a template, they are named Fred, Fred II, Fred III, etc. I had written roman numeral translators in the past (I had once implemented LISP's format stuff into C and C++) and they are a big pain in the neck. So I look on CPAN and read,install,integrate... problem solved. -pete "I am Jack's utter lack of disbelief"	[reply]
Re: Re: Favourite modules by Juerd (Abbot) on Mar 11, 2002 at 11:05 UTC
* Text::Template is my one-stop templating module, * Inline::Files: way cool way to get code and data in a single file, You like templating, but also like having code and data in a single file? Could you please explain how those two go together? :) 44696420796F7520732F2F2F65206F 7220756E7061636B3F202F6D736720 6D6521203A29202D2D204A75657264	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: Favourite modules by mirod (Canon) on Mar 11, 2002 at 14:35 UTC
Oddly enough, I don't usually mix them. But actually I don't see any reason why you could not have the template as data in one of the inlined files.	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by theguvnor (Chaplain) on Mar 11, 2002 at 01:51 UTC
CGI CGI::Carp CGI::Application HTML::Parser DBI (and DBD::* friends) Data::Dumper XML::Simple LWP::UserAgent HTTP::Response GD Update: forgot one. This list goes to eleven a la Spinal Tap. 11. MIME::Entities (how could I forget about you?) ..Guv	[reply]
Re: Re: Favourite modules by tretin (Friar) on Mar 11, 2002 at 03:45 UTC
CGI That's the only module I have needed to use in any of my programming expiriences... but then I don't have many of those expiriences either. work it harder make it better do it faster makes us stronger more than ever hour after our work is never over.	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by cjf (Parson) on Mar 11, 2002 at 08:43 UTC
Most of mine have already been mentioned, but here's the remainder of them: Inline::C LWP::UserAgent (had to mention this again.:) Acme::Bleach Mortal::Kombat	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by IlyaM (Parson) on Mar 11, 2002 at 18:53 UTC
Little known fact: website access statistics for http://search.cpan.org is avialable online here. It is quite interesting. Request Report section clearly shows which modules most people search for. -- Ilya Martynov (http://martynov.org/)	[reply]
Re: Re: Favourite modules by petral (Curate) on Mar 11, 2002 at 19:16 UTC
There's also Most Often Mentioned Modules on PM, though it may not be updated regularly. p	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by buckaduck (Chaplain) on Mar 11, 2002 at 13:25 UTC
CGI (I write a lot of CGI programs.) DBI (And a lot of them are database frontends.) Data::Table (Create a HTML table from the results of a SQL query. Cool!) HTML::Table (Simplifies making tables to align my forms and such.) File::Find (Recursive filesystem traversal.) Date::Calc (My favorite of the Date modules.) Math::SigFigs (The ONLY module I know of to round-off numbers properly for scientists.) Getopt::Std (I'm too lazy to parse my own command line.) Tk (Graphical user interfaces made easy.) Spreadsheet::WriteExcel (My users still think they need Excel. So I humor them.) buckaduck	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by Rex(Wrecks) (Curate) on Mar 11, 2002 at 19:59 UTC
In the particular order that it rolled off my brain and out of my ear, down my sleeve to my fingers and onto the keyboard: strict ...I'm with "the hell it don't count" comment :) Net::Telnet Net::SNMP CGI IO::Socket IO::Select IPC::Shareable Win32::* IO::Pty Getopt::Std Getopt::Long Module I would most like to magically appear: Net::Ping_Real (Really, cross platform, ICMP ping that somehow would not require root prives on Unix! God it would make life easy :) Yeah I used 11, but the author said strict didn't count anyway :) "Nothing is sure but death and taxes" I say combine the two and its death to all taxes!	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by TStanley (Canon) on Mar 11, 2002 at 23:25 UTC
In no particular order: strict warnings Games::QuizTaker - Ok, so I'm prejudiced :-) Net::Ping Text::xSV - tilly did a good job with this one Bone::Easy - for comedy purposes, this module is a riot Net::FTP Net::Telnet Tk File::Slurp Some people may not consider strict or warnings as modules, but these two usually end up saving me large amounts of grief while trying to figure out why my program isn't working like its supposed to. TStanley -------- "Suppose you were an idiot... And suppose you were a member of Congress... But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by zakzebrowski (Curate) on Mar 11, 2002 at 18:26 UTC
No Order: Net::IRC Mail::Sendmail GD::* And of course: cgi DBD, DBI::MySql, DBI::CSV ---- Zak	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by herveus (Prior) on Mar 12, 2002 at 15:38 UTC
Howdy! My favorite modules? Set::Scalar CGI Sybase::CTlib Games::Cards Tk Data::Dumper IO::File Carp Getopt::Std ...that's nine... DBI is working itself into my list... yours, Michael	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by oubiwann (Sexton) on Mar 12, 2002 at 16:28 UTC
Wow, this is one perl of a collection of modules! You guys have great taste :-) But am I the only sysadmin here? I can't believe that to be true... Has no one else had cause to worship Net::SSH::Perl as much as I? Note, this is NOT the same as Net::SSH!!! After installing all the requisite modules (a task Marpa may have set for Milarepa on his quest for enlightenment), you have one sweet, functional, fast, and secure way of automating all those remote tasks via ssh. Check it out: Net::SSH::Perl	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by Pug (Monk) on Mar 14, 2002 at 16:24 UTC
I use perl for debugging the company's products and debugging my personal code. warnings => enough said. Data::Dumper => for debugging my code. LWP::UserAgent => for getting those web pages I have to brea.. errr QA. HTML::Form => get a list of inputs of a webpage delete /add/modify them. A great way to make the web developer/coder not want to see you. 8) URI::Escape => Mmm escaped characters made easy for fun and profit. HTTP::Cookies => cookies made easy and storeable. Net::Telnet => I used this for some networking research I did at NU. OpenCA::OpenSSL => This modual saved me a bunch of time and santiy. It drives OpenSSL and the developers have been keeping up the modual almost does everything that OpenSSL can do.	[reply]
Re^2: Favourite modules by Anonymous Monk on Jul 26, 2007 at 09:12 UTC
I can not use OpenCA::OpenSSL. The constuctor returns me an empty objetc. Can you help me?	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by Stegalex (Chaplain) on Mar 11, 2002 at 16:25 UTC
Don't forget IO::Socket and Data::Dumper! I like chicken.	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by dru145 (Friar) on Mar 11, 2002 at 15:44 UTC
All of my favorite have already been stated (CGI, DBI), but mail::sender is definetly my favorite mailer module. Thanks, Dru Another satisfied monk.	[reply]
Re: Favourite modules by sifukurt (Hermit) on Mar 13, 2002 at 19:51 UTC
Lots of good choices so far. I've got a few more to add to the list, in no particular order. These are the modules that I install/upgrade immediately when I'm on a new system. CGI DBI AnyData XML::Simple Config::IniFiles LWP::Simple Math::NumberCruncher - Yeah, I'm a little biased on this one. Crypt::TripleDES Date::Calc Time::HiRes Math::BigInt Math::Big Crypt::RC4 - More of me being biased. :-P ___________________ Kurt	[reply]


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