How do I deliver (distribute) a Perl application?

Question

I wrote a program in Perl, and now I want to send it to buddy. I don't want him having any kind of bother with launching it.

How do I make some package which he can just click and have all things ready to launch?

PS. I can ask him to download ActivePerl and install it beforehand.

PPS. I don't need to hide .pl sources from him. I need though automatic download and install of all required CPAN modules.

Also, what if in future I will need to scale it for production delivery? Meaning, it will be not a buddy on the receiving side, but Mr. Client?

Answer 1

I have used pp with great success. It can package a Perl interpreter and used modules all together into an executable file.

Then again there is always B::C which provides a perlcc utility, but I haven't had as much luck with that.

Answer 2

For easy distribution to windows clients, its hard to beat PerlApp, Par::Packer (aka pp), or Cava Packager.