How can I conditionally import a package in Perl?

Question

I have a Perl script which uses a not-so-common module, and I want it to be usable without that module being installed, although with limited functionality. Is it possible?

Answer 1

You can use require to load modules at runtime, and eval to trap possible exceptions:

eval {
    require Foobar;
    Foobar->import();
};  
if ($@) {
    warn "Error including Foobar: $@";
}

See also perldoc use.