Actually, MIME::Lite uses, or can use anyway, Net::SMTP, so they're not that different after all. MIME::Lite just MIME encodes the message before sending, which could be done by other modules. MIME::Lite's job could be done by lots of different MIME modules in conjunction with a mail sending module. That's not really my question. I just used Net::SMTP, MIME::Lite, and Mail::Mailer as examples because those were the ones being discussed in the referenced thread.

My question isn't which module to choose. It's about the process of choosing modules. Notice this was a Meditation and not a SoPW. That's on purpose. It's kind of a "meta" thing. It's a question about asking and answering questions about modules. Primarily, it's a question about how to answer more clearly and sooner in the module selection process.

I'm not at all sure that reading the complete documentation for every module that could possibly fit is the best way to get started. That's the whole point of my question. Is there a better, less time-consuming way?

Furthermore, is there some way that won't make CPAN so intimidating to new Perl programmers? Sure, most of us are used to the amount of choices, but do you ever notice people being turned off on Perl early because TIMTOWTDI runs a bit rampant? I've seen lots of frustration when people want to know how to do something -- anything, forget mail sending for a second -- and the response is more or less, "read the docs for these 5 modules and come back with questions about the one you choose".

Indeed, I think people who have been programming with Perl for several years don't generally take the sheer number of overlapping modules on CPAN into account. Certainly not the same way newcomers do. If you've been programming with Perl for a while, you tend to know which modules might fit and which ones are complete wastes of disk space. You recognize at least some of the names of module authors. A quicker glance at the docs or even at a CPAN search results page does much more for you because of your experience. For tasks you've already done, you probably already have experience with one or more modules and have your favorites for many classes of tasks. We'll never eliminate the advantages of experience, but we shouldn't take for granted that everyone will have it, either.

As for narrowing down the choices to the ones that fit someone's needs, that's exactly what I'm asking. I'm not asking for advice on which module to use. I'm asking how we, as a community, improve the experience of that process. Do we continue to just recommend modules based on lots of research by the people asking and interaction with them? Can we make a more accessible resource for people than "Ask the experts over there"?

In reply to Re^2: How does one choose among modules? by mr_mischief
in thread How does one choose among modules? by mr_mischief

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