`Path::Class' is a module for manipulation of file and directory
specifications (strings describing their locations, like
`'/home/ken/foo.txt'' or `'C:\Windows\Foo.txt'') in a cross-platform
manner. It supports pretty much every platform Perl runs on, including
Unix, Windows, Mac, VMS, Epoc, Cygwin, OS/2, and NetWare.

The well-known module `File::Spec' also provides this service, but it's
sort of awkward to use well, so people sometimes avoid it, or use it in
a way that won't actually work properly on platforms significantly
different than the ones they've tested their code on.

In fact, `Path::Class' uses `File::Spec' internally, wrapping all the
unsightly details so you can concentrate on your application code.
Whereas `File::Spec' provides functions for some common path
manipulations, `Path::Class' provides an object-oriented model of the
world of path specifications and their underlying semantics.
`File::Spec' doesn't create any objects, and its classes represent the
different ways in which paths must be manipulated on various platforms
(not a very intuitive concept). `Path::Class' creates objects
representing files and directories, and provides methods that relate
them to each other.