8.129 SelfLoader

Used when you want to include functions in your program, but you want to load them only if necessary. Functions to be self-loaded are placed after the line:

__DATA__

in your program. When the code is compiled, compilation stops at the __DATA__ token. The SelfLoader exports the AUTOLOAD subroutine to the package; this subroutine loads the subroutines after __DATA__ when they are required.