Difference between 'use' and 'require' in Perl

In Perl, both 'use' and 'require' are used to load external modules or libraries, but they differ in how they handle errors and load the modules.

use:

The 'use' keyword is used to load a module at compile time. If the module is already loaded or fails to load, it will produce a fatal error. It imports the module's symbols into the current namespace by calling the module's "import" method.

require:

The 'require' function is used to load a module or a file at runtime. It will not produce a fatal error if the module fails to load, instead it returns a false value to indicate failure. It does not import symbols from the module automatically, so you may need to explicitly import them using methods like "import" or "require Exporter".

Overall, 'use' is typically used for modules that need to be loaded at compile time and have import capabilities, while 'require' is used for runtime loading and offers more control over error handling.