perlfunc gods <P> use - load in a module at compile time <P>
<HR> <P> use Module <FONT SIZE=-1>LIST</FONT> <P> use Module <P>
use Module <FONT SIZE=-1>VERSION</FONT> <FONT
SIZE=-1>LIST</FONT> <P> use <FONT SIZE=-1>VERSION</FONT> <P>
<HR> <P> Imports some semantics into the current package from
the named module, generally by aliasing certain subroutine or
variable names into your package. It is exactly equivalent to
<P> <PRE> BEGIN { require Module; import Module LIST; } </PRE>
<P> except that Module <EM>must</EM> be a bareword. <P> If the
first argument to [perlfunc:use|use] is a number, it is treated
as a version number instead of a module name. If the version of
the Perl interpreter is less than <FONT SIZE=-1>VERSION,</FONT>
then an error message is printed and Perl exits immediately.
This is often useful if you need to check the current Perl
version before [perlfunc:use|use]ing library modules that have
changed in incompatible ways from older versions of Perl. (We
try not to do this more than we have to.)