13.5 Perl Modules

I've frequently mentioned modules and CPAN—the large collection of Perl code—has a huge number of modules you can use. Most are free, but do make a point of checking for copyright restrictions and see the discussion in the Perl FAQs about copyright issues. These days, most modules, including the bulk of the code available on CPAN, are written in an object-oriented style. You'll need to extend your Perl knowledge to encompass this style, but you won't need an in-depth view of object-oriented techniques to use most modules in your programs.

13.5.1 Bioperl

An important and steadily developing suite of Perl modules for bioinformatics is the Bioperl project, which you can find at the web site http://www.bioperl.org. These modules give you lots of capabilities, all ready to use.