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 v5.21.7
12 This document describes differences between the 5.21.6 release and the 5.21.7
15 If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.21.5, first read
16 L<perl5216delta>, which describes differences between 5.21.5 and 5.21.6.
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.
52 =head2 Module removals
54 XXX Remove this section if inapplicable.
56 The following modules will be removed from the core distribution in a
57 future release, and will at that time need to be installed from CPAN.
58 Distributions on CPAN which require these modules will need to list them as
61 The core versions of these modules will now issue C<"deprecated">-category
62 warnings to alert you to this fact. To silence these deprecation warnings,
63 install the modules in question from CPAN.
65 Note that these are (with rare exceptions) fine modules that you are encouraged
66 to continue to use. Their disinclusion from core primarily hinges on their
67 necessity to bootstrapping a fully functional, CPAN-capable Perl installation,
68 not usually on concerns over their design.
74 XXX Note that deprecated modules should be listed here even if they are listed
75 as an updated module in the L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
79 [ List each other deprecation as a =head2 entry ]
81 =head2 Setting C<${^ENCODING}> to anything but C<undef>
83 This variable allows Perl scripts to be written in a non-ASCII,
84 non-UTF-8 encoding. However, it affects all modules globally, leading
85 to wrong answers and segmentation faults. New scripts should be written
86 in UTF-8; old scripts should be converted to UTF-8, which is easily done
87 with the L<encoding> pragma.
89 =head1 Performance Enhancements
91 XXX Changes which enhance performance without changing behaviour go here.
92 There may well be none in a stable release.
94 [ List each enhancement as a =item entry ]
104 =head1 Modules and Pragmata
106 XXX All changes to installed files in F<cpan/>, F<dist/>, F<ext/> and F<lib/>
107 go here. If Module::CoreList is updated, generate an initial draft of the
108 following sections using F<Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl>. A paragraph summary
109 for important changes should then be added by hand. In an ideal world,
110 dual-life modules would have a F<Changes> file that could be cribbed.
112 [ Within each section, list entries as a =item entry ]
114 =head2 New Modules and Pragmata
124 =head2 Updated Modules and Pragmata
130 L<ExtUtils::ParseXS> has been upgraded from version 3.26 to 3.27.
132 Only declare C<file> unused if we actually define it.
134 Improve generated C<RETVAL> code generation to avoid repeated
135 references to C<ST(0)>. [perl #123278]
139 The PathTools module collection has been upgraded from 3.52 to 3.53.
141 Don't turn leading C<//> into C</> on Cygwin. [perl #122635]
145 L<Locale::Maketext> has been upgraded from version 1.25 to 1.26.
149 L<XSLoader> has been upgraded from version 0.19 to 0.20
151 Don't test twice for bootstrap file.
155 =head2 Removed Modules and Pragmata
167 XXX Changes to files in F<pod/> go here. Consider grouping entries by
168 file and be sure to link to the appropriate page, e.g. L<perlfunc>.
170 =head2 New Documentation
172 XXX Changes which create B<new> files in F<pod/> go here.
176 XXX Description of the purpose of the new file here
178 =head2 Changes to Existing Documentation
180 XXX Changes which significantly change existing files in F<pod/> go here.
181 However, any changes to F<pod/perldiag.pod> should go in the L</Diagnostics>
190 XXX Description of the change here
196 The following additions or changes have been made to diagnostic output,
197 including warnings and fatal error messages. For the complete list of
198 diagnostic messages, see L<perldiag>.
200 XXX New or changed warnings emitted by the core's C<C> code go here. Also
201 include any changes in L<perldiag> that reconcile it to the C<C> code.
203 =head2 New Diagnostics
205 XXX Newly added diagnostic messages go under here, separated into New Errors
214 XXX L<message|perldiag/"message">
224 XXX L<message|perldiag/"message">
228 =head2 Changes to Existing Diagnostics
230 XXX Changes (i.e. rewording) of diagnostic messages go here
236 XXX Describe change here
240 =head1 Utility Changes
242 XXX Changes to installed programs such as F<perlbug> and F<xsubpp> go here.
243 Most of these are built within the directory F<utils>.
245 [ List utility changes as a =head2 entry for each utility and =item
246 entries for each change
247 Use L<XXX> with program names to get proper documentation linking. ]
259 =head1 Configuration and Compilation
261 XXX Changes to F<Configure>, F<installperl>, F<installman>, and analogous tools
262 go here. Any other changes to the Perl build process should be listed here.
263 However, any platform-specific changes should be listed in the
264 L</Platform Support> section, instead.
266 [ List changes as a =item entry ].
278 XXX Any significant changes to the testing of a freshly built perl should be
279 listed here. Changes which create B<new> files in F<t/> go here as do any
280 large changes to the testing harness (e.g. when parallel testing was added).
281 Changes to existing files in F<t/> aren't worth summarizing, although the bugs
282 that they represent may be covered elsewhere.
284 [ List each test improvement as a =item entry ]
294 =head1 Platform Support
296 XXX Any changes to platform support should be listed in the sections below.
298 [ Within the sections, list each platform as a =item entry with specific
299 changes as paragraphs below it. ]
303 XXX List any platforms that this version of perl compiles on, that previous
304 versions did not. These will either be enabled by new files in the F<hints/>
305 directories, or new subdirectories and F<README> files at the top level of the
310 =item XXX-some-platform
316 =head2 Discontinued Platforms
318 XXX List any platforms that this version of perl no longer compiles on.
322 =item XXX-some-platform
328 =head2 Platform-Specific Notes
330 XXX List any changes for specific platforms. This could include configuration
331 and compilation changes or changes in portability/compatibility. However,
332 changes within modules for platforms should generally be listed in the
333 L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
337 =item XXX-some-platform
343 =head1 Internal Changes
345 XXX Changes which affect the interface available to C<XS> code go here. Other
346 significant internal changes for future core maintainers should be noted as
349 [ List each change as a =item entry ]
359 =head1 Selected Bug Fixes
361 XXX Important bug fixes in the core language are summarized here. Bug fixes in
362 files in F<ext/> and F<lib/> are best summarized in L</Modules and Pragmata>.
364 [ List each fix as a =item entry ]
370 On Win32, restoring in a child pseudo-process a variable that was
371 C<local()>ed in a parent pseudo-process before the C<fork> happened caused
372 memory corruption and a crash in the child pseudo-process (and therefore OS
377 The L<encoding> pragma's effect is now limited to lexical scope. This
378 pragma is deprecated, but in the meantime, it could adversely affect
379 unrelated modules that are included in the same program.
383 =head1 Known Problems
385 XXX Descriptions of platform agnostic bugs we know we can't fix go here. Any
386 tests that had to be C<TODO>ed for the release would be noted here. Unfixed
387 platform specific bugs also go here.
389 [ List each fix as a =item entry ]
399 =head1 Errata From Previous Releases
405 XXX Add anything here that we forgot to add, or were mistaken about, in
406 the perldelta of a previous release.
412 XXX If any significant core contributor has died, we've added a short obituary
415 =head1 Acknowledgements
417 XXX Generate this with:
419 perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.21.6..HEAD
421 =head1 Reporting Bugs
423 If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles recently
424 posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl bug database at
425 https://rt.perl.org/ . There may also be information at
426 http://www.perl.org/ , the Perl Home Page.
428 If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the L<perlbug> program
429 included with your release. Be sure to trim your bug down to a tiny but
430 sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the output of C<perl -V>,
431 will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be analysed by the Perl porting team.
433 If the bug you are reporting has security implications, which make it
434 inappropriate to send to a publicly archived mailing list, then please send it
435 to perl5-security-report@perl.org. This points to a closed subscription
436 unarchived mailing list, which includes all the core committers, who will be
437 able to help assess the impact of issues, figure out a resolution, and help
438 co-ordinate the release of patches to mitigate or fix the problem across all
439 platforms on which Perl is supported. Please only use this address for
440 security issues in the Perl core, not for modules independently distributed on
445 The F<Changes> file for an explanation of how to view exhaustive details on
448 The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl.
450 The F<README> file for general stuff.
452 The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information.