Question

I’m trying to install the YAML::Syck module (I’m actually trying to install Date::Manip, this is just a dependency), but it fails with the following message:

This module requires a C compiler at Makefile.PL line 38.

This happens whether I try to install using CPAN or if I try to download the packages and install manually.

I have gcc installed and on my PATH, I can access it from the same CYGWIN shell window that I’m trying to use to install YAML::Syck.

Answer 1

When looking for a C compiler, ExtUtils::MakeMaker and Module::Build don’t necessarily look for gcc in your PATH, but query your perl’s configuration for the C compiler it has been built with and expects it to be available for building Perl extensions as well.

On my system, it will look for cc in PATH, as per

$ perl -MConfig -E'say $Config{cc}'
cc