stat vs open and pmc files

[David Cantrell]

Why does perl use stat() to see if a .pmc file exists, but open() to see
if a .pm file exists?

eg from strace ...

stat64("/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.3/i586-linux-thread-multi/DirHandle.pmc",
  0xbfffede0) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.3/i586-linux-thread-multi/DirHandle.pm",
  O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
stat64("/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.3/DirHandle.pmc", 0xbfffede0) = -1 ENOENT (No
  such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.3/DirHandle.pm", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = 4

-- 
David Cantrell | top google result for "internet beard fetish club"

"IMO, the primary historical significance of Unix is that it marks the
time in computer history where CPUs became so cheap that it was possible
to build an operating system without adult supervision."
                         -- Russ Holsclaw in a.f.c