I've used:

  if (eval "use Module::Foo") {
     # I've got foo!
  } else {
     die $@ if $@;
  }
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If evaling a string makes you squirmy, this should work the same:

  if (eval { require Module::Foo }) {
      Module::Foo->import() if Module::Foo->can('import');
      # I've got foo!
  } else {
      die $@ if $@;
  }
[download]

Note that this will not work:

  if (eval { use Module::Foo }) {
      # I've got foo!
  } else {
      die $@ if $@;
  }
[download]

That's because use is a compile-time statement which can't be trapped by an eval. It'll blow up at compile time if Module::Foo can't be loaded.

-sam