Thank you both (haukex and stevieb) for showing different ways to do it. This is a good example of the benefits of using a module with a proper api. Without the module it needs a url, the decoder, and hash access, all of which could change; while the module neatly hides all the brittle parts behind a simple interface. 

#!/usr/bin/perl
# Get the latest version numbers of your favorite modules
# (If they exist and have a normal version number...)
# Usage: $0 Module::Name Other::Module Etc

use strict; use warnings;
use HTTP::Tiny;
use JSON::PP 'decode_json';
use MetaCPAN::Client;

my @ARGS = @ARGV ? @ARGV : ('MetaCPAN::Client','MCE','Plack');

my $http = HTTP::Tiny->new;

for (@ARGS) {
  print "$_\t", decode_json($http->get(
  "http://fastapi.metacpan.org/v1/module/$_"
  )->{content})->{version},"\n"
}

my $cpan = MetaCPAN::Client->new;

for (@ARGS){
    printf "%s: %s\n", $_, $cpan->module($_)->version;
}

[download]

In reply to Re: Post query to Metacpan API by Anonymous Monk
in thread Post query to Metacpan API by Anonymous Monk

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.