This is a largely API compatible rewrite of Parse::CPAN::Packages.

Notable differences are

The method add_package of Parse::CPAN::Packages::Fast::Distribution is not implemented

Parse::CPAN::Packages::Fast::Distribution is really a CPAN::DistnameInfo (but this one is compatible with Parse::CPAN::Packages::Distribution>

A Parse::CPAN::Packages::Fast::Distribution object does not have its packages included in the data structure, but it's necessary to use the 'contains' method. Likewise, a Parse::CPAN::Packages::Fast::Package object does not include the containing distribution in the data structure, but it's necessary to use the 'distribution' method.

The 'new' constructor may be called without the path to the '02packages.details.txt' file. In this case CPAN.pm's logic is used to find an existing packages file. Note that this might be interactive (i.e. if CPAN.pm was never configured, or needs reconfiguration), so don't do this in batch systems.