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How can I require an optional Perl module if installed?

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What is the difference between use and require in Perl?

The differences are many and often subtle:use only expects a bareword, require can take a bareword or an expression. use is evaluated at compile-time, require at run-time. use implicitly calls the import method of the module being loaded, require does not.

How do you check if a module is installed Perl?

Check installed perl modules via terminal Available commands are: l - List all installed modules m <module> - Select a module q - Quit the program cmd? Then type l to list all the installed modules, you can also use command m <module> to select the module and get its information. After finish, just type q to quit.

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Here's a bare-bones solution that does not require another module:

my $rc = eval
{
  require Term::ReadKey;
  Term::ReadKey->import();
  1;
};

if($rc)
{
  # Term::ReadKey loaded and imported successfully
  ...
}

Note that all the answers below (I hope they're below this one! :-) that use eval { use SomeModule } are wrong because use statements are evaluated at compile time, regardless of where in the code they appear. So if SomeModule is not available, the script will die immediately upon compiling.

(A string eval of a use statement will also work (eval 'use SomeModule';), but there's no sense parsing and compiling new code at runtime when the require/import pair does the same thing, and is syntax-checked at compile time to boot.)

Finally, note that my use of eval { ... } and $@ here is succinct for the purpose of this example. In real code, you should use something like Try::Tiny, or at least be aware of the issues it addresses.


Check out the CPAN module Module::Load::Conditional. It will do what you want.


The classic answer (dating back to Perl 4, at least, long before there was a 'use') was to 'require()' a module. This is executed as the script is run, rather than when compiled, and you can test for success or failure and react appropriately.


And if you require a specific version of the module:

my $GOT_READKEY;
BEGIN {
    eval {
        require Term::ReadKey;
        Term::ReadKey->import();
        $GOT_READKEY = 1 if $Term::ReadKey::VERSION >= 2.30;
    };
}


# elsewhere in the code
if ($GOT_READKEY) {
    # ...
}