Chapter 9

Getting Started with XS

The same tool used in Chapter 4, h2xs, is used to generate the module skeleton for 

an XS module. As you can probably guess from the name, this was its original 

purpose. The difference between the use of h2xs in Chapter 4 and here is in the 

options employed. In Chapter 4, I created a Perl only module using the following 

h2xs line:

h2xs  XA  n Data::Counter

To create an XS module, I just need to drop the  X option. I'll still keep the  A

option to remove support for the Autoloader. The  n option naming the module is 

always required. To create the skeleton for Gnome::MIME, you use the following:

h2xs  A  n Gnome::MIME

This creates all of the same files examined in Chapter 4 with one addition, MIME.xs

(see Table 9 1 for a listing of files created). For the most part, the files are the same 

as those created for a Perl only module, with the exception of the module file, 

MIME.pm, and Makefile.PL.

Table 9 1. Files Generated by h2xs  X  n Gnome::MIME

File

Description

MIME.pm

The module file itself, which contains Perl code and POD 

documentation

MIME.xs

The XS file itself, which contains XS and C code

Makefile.PL

A script that uses ExtUtils::MakeMaker to generate a Makefile

test.pl

A test script run when a user types  make test  or installs your 

module with the CPAN module

README

A quick description of your module and how to install it

Changes

A change log in which you can describe differences between 

versions of your module

MANIFEST

A list of all the files in your distribution

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