libmodule-load-perl | loads perl modules in a generic fashion | Mehr ...
This module eliminates the need to know whether you are trying to require either a file or a module. If you consult perldoc -f require you will see that require will behave differently when given a bareword or a string. In the case of a string, require assumes you are wanting to load a file. But in the case of a bareword, it assumes you mean a module. . This gives nasty overhead when you are trying to dynamically require modules at runtime, since you will need to change the module notation (Acme::Comment) to a file notation fitting the particular platform you are on. . load elimates the need for this overhead and will just DWYM.