I've noticed a recent trend of folks expressing some frustration with the abundance of choices in terms of CPAN modules, and wishing for a way to separate the wheat from the chaff (or perhaps my metaphor would better be, 'separate the wheat from the quinoa'):

• Perl needs The Solution
• Module categorization
• Re: The Perl Hacker Inferiority Complex
• Re^2: Perl is dying

... and I'm sure there are lots more. Let's face it -- most of us are busy people and can not spare a lot of time browsing through CPAN. Heck, I'm feeling guilty about taking the time to write this node. While I am quite gleeful about the fact that CPAN nearly always has a module that helps me do what I need, it is an unavoidable truth that I don't have the time or memory to really stay up-to-date on the 'best' solutions.

Without wanting to start a flame war or hurt anyone's feelings, it seems evident that for some tasks, some modules are 'better' than others, depending on how you define 'better'. Here are a few possible criteria:

• Simplicity
• Extent of adoption (popularity)
• Stability & maturity
• Portability
• Performance
• Minimal dependencies on other non-core modules

Not wanting to duplicate the Phalanx Project, I wonder if we at PerlMonks could come up with a reasonably compact and dynamic list of the 'best' modules available? Perhaps a section of the site could be dedicated to 'most popular modules', where monks could propose an addition to a limited list, and could vote on the usefulness of the modules for a particular task. Or something like Saints in our Book such that a module only makes it onto the list when it achieves a certain minimum popularity. Alternatively, I envision something like the Q&A section, but in each subcategory, there is a list of modules (ranked by popularity) that might apply in that context.

Of course, there is a measure of kwalitee already in place, but it doesn't seem widely known or used (or perhaps I expose my ignorance).

I think there are many monks who might be willing to rank modules with a simple vote, who don't really have the time or willingness to write a module review (although you could argue that if a module hasn't attracted a review, it might not be one of the 'best'). We only have about 150 module reviews, though, and there is no visible ranking (apart from node popularity if you spend a vote yourself to see).

What do you think? What are the 'best' modules from your perspective? I'll start with a list of those that I personally use and like best (in no particular order), fully expecting others to disagree:

Other obvious modules I have missed?

Editted by demerphq to fix rendering of table on picky browsers