5 [ this is a template for a new perldelta file. Any text flagged as XXX needs
6 to be processed before release. ]
8 perldelta - what is new for perl v5.17.7
12 This document describes differences between the 5.17.6 release and the 5.17.7
15 If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.17.5, first read
16 L<perl5176delta>, which describes differences between 5.17.5 and 5.17.6.
20 XXX Any important notices here
22 =head1 Core Enhancements
24 XXX New core language features go here. Summarize user-visible core language
25 enhancements. Particularly prominent performance optimisations could go
26 here, but most should go in the L</Performance Enhancements> section.
28 [ List each enhancement as a =head2 entry ]
32 XXX Any security-related notices go here. In particular, any security
33 vulnerabilities closed should be noted here rather than in the
34 L</Selected Bug Fixes> section.
36 [ List each security issue as a =head2 entry ]
38 =head1 Incompatible Changes
40 XXX For a release on a stable branch, this section aspires to be:
42 There are no changes intentionally incompatible with 5.XXX.XXX
43 If any exist, they are bugs, and we request that you submit a
44 report. See L</Reporting Bugs> below.
46 [ List each incompatible change as a =head2 entry ]
50 XXX Any deprecated features, syntax, modules etc. should be listed here. In
51 particular, deprecated modules should be listed here even if they are listed as
52 an updated module in the L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
54 [ List each deprecation as a =head2 entry ]
56 =head1 Performance Enhancements
58 XXX Changes which enhance performance without changing behaviour go here.
59 There may well be none in a stable release.
61 [ List each enhancement as a =item entry ]
71 =head1 Modules and Pragmata
73 XXX All changes to installed files in F<cpan/>, F<dist/>, F<ext/> and F<lib/>
74 go here. If Module::CoreList is updated, generate an initial draft of the
75 following sections using F<Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl>, which prints stub
76 entries to STDOUT. Results can be pasted in place of the '=head2' entries
77 below. A paragraph summary for important changes should then be added by hand.
78 In an ideal world, dual-life modules would have a F<Changes> file that could be
81 [ Within each section, list entries as a =item entry ]
83 =head2 New Modules and Pragmata
93 =head2 Updated Modules and Pragmata
99 L<XXX> has been upgraded from version A.xx to B.yy.
103 =head2 Removed Modules and Pragmata
115 XXX Changes to files in F<pod/> go here. Consider grouping entries by
116 file and be sure to link to the appropriate page, e.g. L<perlfunc>.
118 =head2 New Documentation
120 XXX Changes which create B<new> files in F<pod/> go here.
124 XXX Description of the purpose of the new file here
126 =head2 Changes to Existing Documentation
128 XXX Changes which significantly change existing files in F<pod/> go here.
129 However, any changes to F<pod/perldiag.pod> should go in the L</Diagnostics>
132 =head3 L<perlapi/Character classes>
138 There are quite a few macros callable from XS modules that classify
139 characters into things like alphabetic, punctuation, etc. More of these
140 are now documented, including ones which work on characters whose code
141 points are outside the Latin-1 range.
147 The following additions or changes have been made to diagnostic output,
148 including warnings and fatal error messages. For the complete list of
149 diagnostic messages, see L<perldiag>.
151 XXX New or changed warnings emitted by the core's C<C> code go here. Also
152 include any changes in L<perldiag> that reconcile it to the C<C> code.
154 =head2 New Diagnostics
156 XXX Newly added diagnostic messages go under here, separated into New Errors
165 XXX L<message|perldiag/"message">
175 XXX L<message|perldiag/"message">
179 =head2 Changes to Existing Diagnostics
181 XXX Changes (i.e. rewording) of diagnostic messages go here
187 XXX Describe change here
191 =head1 Utility Changes
193 XXX Changes to installed programs such as F<perlbug> and F<xsubpp> go here.
194 Most of these are built within the directories F<utils> and F<x2p>.
196 [ List utility changes as a =head3 entry for each utility and =item
197 entries for each change
198 Use L<XXX> with program names to get proper documentation linking. ]
210 =head1 Configuration and Compilation
212 XXX Changes to F<Configure>, F<installperl>, F<installman>, and analogous tools
213 go here. Any other changes to the Perl build process should be listed here.
214 However, any platform-specific changes should be listed in the
215 L</Platform Support> section, instead.
217 [ List changes as a =item entry ].
229 XXX Any significant changes to the testing of a freshly built perl should be
230 listed here. Changes which create B<new> files in F<t/> go here as do any
231 large changes to the testing harness (e.g. when parallel testing was added).
232 Changes to existing files in F<t/> aren't worth summarizing, although the bugs
233 that they represent may be covered elsewhere.
235 [ List each test improvement as a =item entry ]
245 =head1 Platform Support
247 XXX Any changes to platform support should be listed in the sections below.
249 [ Within the sections, list each platform as a =item entry with specific
250 changes as paragraphs below it. ]
254 XXX List any platforms that this version of perl compiles on, that previous
255 versions did not. These will either be enabled by new files in the F<hints/>
256 directories, or new subdirectories and F<README> files at the top level of the
261 =item XXX-some-platform
267 =head2 Discontinued Platforms
269 XXX List any platforms that this version of perl no longer compiles on.
273 =item XXX-some-platform
279 =head2 Platform-Specific Notes
281 XXX List any changes for specific platforms. This could include configuration
282 and compilation changes or changes in portability/compatibility. However,
283 changes within modules for platforms should generally be listed in the
284 L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
288 =item XXX-some-platform
294 =head1 Internal Changes
296 XXX Changes which affect the interface available to C<XS> code go here. Other
297 significant internal changes for future core maintainers should be noted as
300 [ List each change as a =item entry ]
310 =head1 Selected Bug Fixes
312 XXX Important bug fixes in the core language are summarized here. Bug fixes in
313 files in F<ext/> and F<lib/> are best summarized in L</Modules and Pragmata>.
315 [ List each fix as a =item entry ]
325 =head1 Known Problems
327 XXX Descriptions of platform agnostic bugs we know we can't fix go here. Any
328 tests that had to be C<TODO>ed for the release would be noted here. Unfixed
329 platform specific bugs also go here.
331 [ List each fix as a =item entry ]
343 XXX If any significant core contributor has died, we've added a short obituary
346 =head1 Acknowledgements
348 XXX Generate this with:
350 perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.17.6..HEAD
352 =head1 Reporting Bugs
354 If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles recently
355 posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl bug database at
356 http://rt.perl.org/perlbug/ . There may also be information at
357 http://www.perl.org/ , the Perl Home Page.
359 If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the L<perlbug> program
360 included with your release. Be sure to trim your bug down to a tiny but
361 sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the output of C<perl -V>,
362 will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be analysed by the Perl porting team.
364 If the bug you are reporting has security implications, which make it
365 inappropriate to send to a publicly archived mailing list, then please send it
366 to perl5-security-report@perl.org. This points to a closed subscription
367 unarchived mailing list, which includes all the core committers, who will be
368 able to help assess the impact of issues, figure out a resolution, and help
369 co-ordinate the release of patches to mitigate or fix the problem across all
370 platforms on which Perl is supported. Please only use this address for
371 security issues in the Perl core, not for modules independently distributed on
376 The F<Changes> file for an explanation of how to view exhaustive details on
379 The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl.
381 The F<README> file for general stuff.
383 The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information.