CGI::Simple provides a relatively lightweight drop in replacement for CGI.pm.

It shares an identical OO interface to CGI.pm for parameter parsing, file upload, cookie handling and header generation. This module is entirely object oriented, however a complete functional interface is available by using the CGI::Simple::Standard module.

Essentially everything in CGI.pm that relates to the CGI (not HTML) side of things is available. There are even a few new methods and additions to old ones! If you are interested in what has gone on under the hood see the Compatibility with CGI.pm section at the end.

In practical testing this module loads and runs about twice as fast as CGI.pm depending on the precise task.