The point is that it's possible to write Perl modules in C, which means that you can use the module like any other Perl module via "use", but it's actually implemented in C, and most often through the interface of XS.

The motivations for this are that you can do nasty low-level system things in C; and that some things are faster. For instance, many modules like List::Util have a Pure Perl implementation as well as an XS implementation. If the latter has been compiled, List::Util is supposed to be faster.

The downside is that you need a working C compiler to install these modules; and that's why some modules are advertised as "Pure Perl", i.e. easy to install.

In reply to Re: What defines "Pure Perl"? by betterworld
in thread What defines "Pure Perl"? by dh1760

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