README

README for Net-Patricia
-----------------------

Net::Patricia - Patricia Trie perl module for fast IP address lookups

DESCRIPTION
-----------

     This module uses a Patricia Trie data structure to quickly
     perform IP address prefix matching for applications such as
     IP subnet, network or routing table lookups.  The data
     structure is based on a radix tree using a radix of two, so
     sometimes you see patricia implementations called "radix" as
     well.  The term "Trie" is derived from the word "retrieval"
     but is pronounced like "try".  Patricia stands for
     "Practical Algorithm to Retrieve Information Coded as
     Alphanumeric", and was first suggested for routing table
     lookups by Van Jacobsen.  Patricia Trie performance
     characteristics are well-known as it has been employed for
     routing table lookups within the BSD kernel since the 4.3
     Reno release.

     The BSD radix code is thoroughly described in "TCP/IP
     Illustrated, Volume 2" by Wright and Stevens and in the
     paper ``A Tree-Based Packet Routing Table for Berkeley
     Unix'' by Keith Sklower.

Availability
------------

   My "home" site for Net::Patricia is:

      http://net.doit.wisc.edu/~plonka/Net-Patricia/

Installation
------------

   This package extracts, builds, installs in the usual fashion, i.e.:

      $ gunzip -c <Package-version>.tar.gz |tar xf -
      $ cd <Package-version>
      $ perl Makefile.PL
      $ make
      $ make test
      # make install

Requirements
------------

   * perl version 5

-- 
plonka@doit.wisc.edu  http://net.doit.wisc.edu/~plonka  ARS:N9HZF  Madison, WI