This document describes perlbrew, a tool for installing and switching between multiple Perl versions. It allows installing Perls from tarballs or git, and builds them with customizable options. Perlbrew lists installed Perls, allows switching between them, and keeps Perl installations and libraries isolated. It has benefits like easier cleanups and isolated environments for different apps. The tool is actively developed on GitHub with contributions from many.

3. Perl
Kang-min Liu
@gugod

4. .meta
• twitter.com/gugod
• Perl / Javascript / Ruby programmer
• CPAN Author for ~100 distributions
• perlbrew

5. perlbrew

6. perlbrew
• A tool to install tons of perls
• switch between them
• build with customized options
(-D -A -U)
• build from tarball or git

7. Usage
perlbrew install perl-5.12.2
perlbrew install perl-5.13.5
* Internet connection is required

8. Usage
perlbrew install perl-5.10.1
perlbrew install perl-5.8.8
* Internet connection is required

9. Usage
# git checkout
cd ~/src/perl
perlbrew install .
* Internet connection is not required

10. Usage
perlbrew installed

11. > perlbrew installed
perl-5.10.0
perl-5.10.1
perl-5.11.1
perl-5.11.5
perl-5.12.0
perl-5.12.0-RC0
perl-5.12.0-RC3
perl-5.12.1
perl-5.12.2(*)
perl-5.13.0
perl-5.13.2
perl-5.13.4
perl-v5.11.5-15-gd3b0eb1
/Users/gugod/perl5/perlbrew/bin/perl
/Users/gugod/perl5/perlbrew/perls/current/
bin/perl
/usr/bin/perl

12. Usage
perlbrew switch perl-5.12.2
# Disable perlbrew
perlbrew off

13. Installation
curl −LO http://xrl.us/perlbrew
chmod +x perlbrew
./perlbrew install

14. Installation
new
curl -L http://xrl.us/perlbrewinstall | bash

15. Installation
cpan -i App::perlbrew
* Not recommended

16. Properties
• does not require sudo
• perl installation are isolated
• site_lib, bin, lib
• install a new version ≠ upgrade
• @INC does not include old site_lib

17. Benefits
• Easier-to-clean perl environments
• Nuke the whole thing to clean the
mess
• Old @INC does not accumulate with
old perls

18. Benefits
• per-app isolated perl environments
setup.
• avoid, in advance, any possible
incompatible issues with other
apps.
• know your site_libs
• ‘sudo cpan’ is no more.

19. Why?
• Don’t mess up vendor perl too
much.
• Learn new stuffs in the dev version
of perl.
• keep up with the fashion

20. Why?
• Test modules or apps
• ... with newer perl
• ... with older perl

21. Why?
• Test perl itself
• Threaded perl
• 64bit perl
• performance
• smokebrew

22. Why?
• Play dark magic kitchen fire
• Devel::Declare, B::*, XS
• Better with a perl built with
DEBUGING

23. development
• github.com/gugod/App-perlbrew
• so many pull requests
• 20 contributors
• send me pull requests any time!

24. development
• better bash integration /
experiments
• easy site_lib management (clone /
bundle / nuke)
• Steal some goodies from
Devel::PPPort

25. ←

26. ← perlbrew
• /usr/local/bin/perl
/opt/local/bin/perl
/home/gugod/local/bin/perl
• site_lib is preserved after upgrade

27. ← perlbrew
• perl is so backward compatible
• Ideal for developing and production
• keep upgrading perl is generally OK

28. ← perlbrew
• Upgrading CPAN modules isn’t
necessarily OK.
• Errors happens at runtime, when it’s
not binary-compatible.
• Developers must correctly specify
module dependencies.

29. ← perlbrew
• In CPAN Distribution you do that in
Makefile.PL / META.yml
• Same tool for App

30. Simple is Hard
• support for legacy code and
decisions.
• perl, cpan
• cpanm, perlbrew: new tools for the
current fashion

31. Thoughts
perlbrew « cpanm, rvm

32. Thoughts
• Standalone program
• embed non-core modules
• very easy distribution
• runs a tiny bit faster

33. Thoughts
• « rvm
• bash programming master-piece
• developer-friendly experiences
• production server

34. Further Thoughts
• Test::Continuous
• perlbrew
• local::lib
• App::local::lib::helper
• cpanm
• cpan-outdated
• cpansearch

35. rapidly improves something
a little bit better

36. rapidly improves something
a little bit better ❤

37. Hates

38. Hates
• CPAN dependency list for
$framework is too long
• CPAN $modules takes too long to
install / tests takes very long time
to finish
• $software is too fat (eats too much
memory space) and slow

39. Less Hateful
• bundle cpan dists with your
distribution
• PAR / Shipwright / %INC hack
• Avoid long dependency list

40. Less Hateful
• smaller, single-purpose
• less memory consumption
• less sub-commands to be
memorized
• less memory consumption in your
brain
• easier to maintain / be faster

41. cpan install can run 90% faster...

42. By skiping all tests,
cpan install can run 90% faster...

43. Less Hateful
• To skip for tests safely, consult
cpantester.org first
• A cpan/cpanm plugin shall be
written to automates that.

44. Less Hateful
• Solving long dependency list
problem is a no-op
• if cpan installation is super fast
• like < 1 second / module

45. Fast fists cannot be broken

46. side projects

47. cpan-sets
• cpan-sets: local::lib switcher wrote in
• « rvm gemset, bundler
• App::local::lib::helper
• experimental project
• per-app bundle

48. cpanfile
# Install with: cpanm < cpanfile
http://github.com/bestpractical/jifty-dbi/tarball/master
http://github.com/bestpractical/jifty/tarball/master
http://github.com/bestpractical/jifty-plugin-openid
B::Hooks::EndOfScope
DateTime
Digest::SHA1
Email::Address
Exporter::Lite
HTML::Entities
JiftyX::Markapl
JiftyX::ModelHelpers
Markapl
Regexp::Common
Regexp::Common::Email::Address
String::BufferStack
Sub::Install
Text::Markdown::Discount
Text::MultiMarkdown
UNIVERSAL::require
common::sense

49. perlrocks
• rubygems counter-part.
• multi-version module install
• use perlrocks;
# perl5 syntax of ‘use’
use Foo-1.3;
• site_lib/rocks/Foo-1.3/lib/Foo.pm
• Installation tool (rock)

50. side projects
• github.com/gugod/App-perlbrew
• github.com/gugod/cpan-sets
• github.com/gugod/perlrocks

51. Conclusion
• github social coding actually works!
• Easy distributing is important.
• Simple is hard.
• Fast is better then slow.

52. ∞
• Good + Simple + Easy toolkit
• Keep new-comers by not frustrating
them
• Grow the community

53. Thank You