version#

📦 std

Turn a version string into an object you can compare, print, and introspect.

Perl has three spellings for a version, and mixing them in one program is normal. version gives you a single object type that handles all three so $a <=> $b always does the right thing.

Decimal — a plain number like 1.023 or "1.02_03". One integer part, then three-digit chunks after the dot. An underscore marks an alpha release.
Dotted-integer — two or more integers separated by dots, e.g. 1.2.3. No v prefix required, but three or more components are treated as dotted-integer regardless.
v-string — an explicit v prefix, e.g. v1.23.45. This form is recommended for $VERSION declarations and is required to pass is_strict.

Synopsis#

use version 0.77;
our $VERSION = version->declare("v1.2.3");
my $v = version->parse("1.0203");
if ($v1 == $v2)  { ... }                # numeric equality
@sorted = sort { $a <=> $b } @versions; # ordering

use version imports qv into the caller’s package and installs an overloaded UNIVERSAL::VERSION so $module->VERSION returns a version object rather than a raw string.

Operators#

version objects are overloaded so you can use the normal Perl comparison operators directly:

==, != — numeric equality
<, <=, >, >=, <=> — numeric ordering
eq, ne, cmp — same thing, stringwise spelling
"" — stringifies to original form (dotted) or decimal, whichever the object was created with
0+ — numifies to a decimal