PERLSOURCE(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLSOURCE(1)
NAME
perlsource - A guide to the Perl source tree
DESCRIPTION
This document describes the layout of the Perl source tree. If you're hacking on the Perl core, this will help
you find what you're looking for.
FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND
The Perl source tree is big. Here's some of the thing you'll find in it:
C code
The C source code and header files mostly live in the root of the source tree. There are a few platform-
specific directories which contain C code. In addition, some of the modules shipped with Perl include C or XS
code.
See perlinterp for more details on the files that make up the Perl interpreter, as well as details on how it
works.
Core modules
Modules shipped as part of the Perl core live in four subdirectories. Two of these directories contain
modules that live in the core, and two contain modules that can also be released separately on CPAN. Modules
which can be released on cpan are known as "dual-life" modules.
· lib/
This directory contains pure-Perl modules which are only released as part of the core. This directory
contains all of the modules and their tests, unlike other core modules.
· ext/
This directory contains XS-using modules which are only released as part of the core. These modules
generally have their Makefile.PL and are laid out more like a typical CPAN module.
· dist/
This directory is for dual-life modules where the blead source is canonical. Note that some modules in
this directory may not yet have been released separately on CPAN.
· cpan/
This directory contains dual-life modules where the CPAN module is canonical. Do not patch these modules
directly! Changes to these modules should be submitted to the maintainer of the CPAN module. Once those
changes are applied and released, the new version of the module will be incorporated into the core.
For some dual-life modules, it has not yet been determined if the CPAN version or the blead source is
canonical. Until that is done, those modules should be in cpan/.
Tests
The Perl core has an extensive test suite. If you add new tests (or new modules with tests), you may need to
update the t/TEST file so that the tests are run.
· Module tests
Tests for core modules in the lib/ directory are right next to the module itself. For example, we have
lib/strict.pm and lib/strict.t.
· t/comp/
Tests for basic issues of how Perl parses and compiles itself.
· t/io/
Tests for built-in IO functions, including command line arguments.
· t/mro/
Tests for perl's method resolution order implementations (see mro).
· t/op/
Tests for perl's built in functions that don't fit into any of the other directories.
· t/re/
Tests for regex related functions or behaviour. (These used to live in t/op).
· t/run/
Tests for features of how perl actually runs, including exit codes and handling of PERL* environment
variables.
· t/uni/
Tests for the core support of Unicode.
· t/win32/
Windows-specific tests.
· t/porting/
Tests the state of the source tree for various common errors. For example, it tests that everyone who is
listed in the git log has a corresponding entry in the AUTHORS file.
· t/lib/
The old home for the module tests, you shouldn't put anything new in here. There are still some bits and
pieces hanging around in here that need to be moved. Perhaps you could move them? Thanks!
· t/x2p
A test suite for the s2p converter.
Documentation
All of the core documentation intended for end users lives in pod/. Individual modules in lib/, ext/, dist/,
and cpan/ usually have their own documentation, either in the Module.pm file or an accompanying Module.pod
file.
Finally, documentation intended for core Perl developers lives in the Porting/ directory.
Module::Name" to find out more information about a dual-life module.
· podtidy
Tidies a pod file. It's a good idea to run this on a pod file you've patched.
Build system
The Perl build system starts with the Configure script in the root directory.
Platform-specific pieces of the build system also live in platform-specific directories like win32/, vms/,
etc.
The Configure script is ultimately responsible for generating a Makefile.
The build system that Perl uses is called metaconfig. This system is maintained separately from the Perl core.
The metaconfig system has its own git repository. Please see its README file in
<http://perl5.git.perl.org/metaconfig.git/> for more details.
The Cross directory contains various files related to cross-compiling Perl. See Cross/README for more details.
AUTHORS
This file lists everyone who's contributed to Perl. If you submit a patch, you should add your name to this
file as part of the patch.
MANIFEST
The MANIFEST file in the root of the source tree contains a list of every file in the Perl core, as well as a
brief description of each file.
You can get an overview of all the files with this command:
% perl -lne 'print if /^[^\/]+\.[ch]\s+/' MANIFEST
perl v5.16.3 2013-03-04 PERLSOURCE(1)
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