3 how_to_write_a_perldelta - How to write a perldelta
7 This is intended as a guide for how to write a perldelta. There has never
8 been a formal specification - the working rule is "fake up a document that
9 looks something close to the existing perldeltas". So if it's unclear how
10 to do something, see if it's been done before, and if the approach works
11 there, steal it. (L<perl5300delta> and L<perl5320delta> are both quite
12 lengthy and contain good examples for many of the perldelta sections.)
14 =head2 Template Automation
16 Note that F<Porting/perldelta_template.pod> contains a skeleton version of
17 a perldelta.pod file. Following the steps in the Release Manager's Guide
18 (F<Porting/release_managers_guide.pod>) usually ensures hassle-free
19 rotation of the most recently completed perldelta.pod and preparation of
20 a fresh new document ready for the next release.
22 The skeleton document also contains inline hints on how to prepare the
23 final perldelta.pod. (These hints should be removed in turn as each section
24 of the final perldelta.pod is completed.)
28 Pod is more a physical markup language, rather than a logical markup language.
29 Despite that it has some built in conventions. B<Stick to them>:
33 =item * C<FE<lt>E<gt>> is for File
35 =item * C<CE<lt>E<gt>> is for Code
37 =item * C<LE<lt>E<gt>> is for Link
41 Whilst modules could also be links, usually in the context of the perldelta
42 the reference is to code C<use>ing them, rather than something within their
45 Be consistent in how bugs are referenced. One style is
51 C<[GH #12345]> can be used to reference both Issues and Pull Requests.
55 C<rt.cpan.org #43010> inline, but enclose in square brackets after a sentence.
56 C<[rt.cpan.org #43010]>. This mirrors how rt.cpan.org subject lines appear.
60 C<L<http://bugs.activestate.com/show_bug.cgi?id=72443>>
72 In a list, either make every item a note, or a full sentence. Either end
73 every item with a full stop, or ensure that no item ends with one. I<regex>
74 B<xor> I<regexp> - choose exactly one, and stick to it.
78 Historically, the perldelta has consisted of a sequence of C<=head1>
79 sections, usually in the same order. Un-needed sections are deleted,
80 and if something doesn't fit nicely into the existing sections, a new
81 more appropriate section is created.
89 perl5104delta - what is new for perl v5.10.4
93 For a release on a stable branch, follows this formula:
95 This document describes differences between the 5.10.3 release
96 and the 5.10.4 release.
98 For the start of a new stable branch, follows this formula:
100 This document describes differences between the 5.10.0 release
101 and the 5.12.0 release.
103 This clearly sets the scope of which changes are to be summarized in the
104 rest of the document.
106 For all releases, a second paragraph points to the previous perldelta:
108 If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.rXXX.aXXX,
109 first read perl5XXXdelta, which describes differences between
110 5.rXXX.aXXX and 5.sXXX.bXXX.
114 There was a I<Notice> section in L<perl589delta>, to carry an important
117 =item Core Enhancements
119 New core language features go here. Summarize user-visible core language
120 enhancements. Particularly prominent performance optimisations could go
121 here, but most should go in the L</Performance Enhancements> section.
123 Feature inside modules (pure-Perl and XS) go in L</Modules and Pragmata>
127 Any security-related notices go here. In particular, any security
128 vulnerabilities closed should be noted here rather than in the
129 "Selected Bug Fixes" section.
131 L<perl5303delta> has multiple such examples, as well as
132 a useful accompanying paragraph outlining the known attack
133 vectors / requirements for the vulnerabilities to be exploitable.
135 =item Incompatible Changes
137 For a release on a stable branch, this section aspires to be
139 There are no changes intentionally incompatible with 5.10.3.
140 If any exist, they are bugs and reports are welcome.
142 Otherwise, changes should be listed as =head2 entries.
146 Add any new known deprecations (features, syntax, modules) here.
148 A I<Module removals> subsection can be used to foreshadow planned removal
149 of core modules in a future release. Modules that were actually removed
150 in this release should go in the "Modules and Pragmata" section.
152 =item Performance Enhancements
154 Changes which enhance performance without changing behaviour go here. There
155 may well be none in a stable release.
157 =item Modules and Pragmata
159 All changes to installed files in F<cpan/>, F<dist/>, F<ext/> and F<lib/> go
160 here, in a list ordered by distribution name. Minimally it should be the
161 module version, but it's more useful to the end user to give a paragraph's
162 summary of the module's changes. In an ideal world, dual-life modules would
163 have a F<Changes> file that could be cribbed.
165 Whilst this section could be built by incrementally working through change
166 descriptions applying to files, this is prone to error. It's better to
167 collate changes by module, and then summarize all changes to a module as a
170 If Module::CoreList has been updated, then F<Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl>
171 will automatically update two sections in F<perldelta>:
173 * New Modules and Pragmata
174 * Updated Modules and Pragmata
175 * Removed Modules and Pragmata
177 Each section will have stub entries following a template like this:
181 Upgraded from version 0.01 to 0.02
183 It does not include modules listed in F<Porting/Maintainers.pl> under
184 C<_PERLLIB>, but it's a start. Where relevant, a summary of changes can be
187 A more adventurous enhancement would be to automate grabbing
188 the changelogs for dual lived modules. For each of them, grab the relevant
189 changes files from CPAN for the old and new versions, and if the old one is
190 a strict subset of the new one, use the extra lines as a basis for summarizing.
192 (And if not, experiment with using F<git> to get the relevant part of changelog
193 for the particular file in core.)
195 =item New Documentation
197 Changes which create B<new> files in F<pod/> go here.
199 B<FIXME> - this could be automated, at least as far as generating a first
206 Start with a clean exploded tarball of the previous release, and a clean
207 checkout of the branch in question
211 Take the F<MANIFEST> file of each
215 Search for lines matching C<m!^pod/.*\.pod!>
223 Explode if anyone deleted documentation. [No idea what the policy on that is
228 For each file only in the newer F<MANIFEST>
234 Use F<git> to determine its Author
238 Open the pod file itself
242 Grab the description section
246 Write out a block of text starting roughly
248 L<perlfoo>, by A. U. Thor, provides @description
254 =item Changes to Existing Documentation
256 Changes which significantly change existing files in F<pod/> go here.
257 Any changes to F<pod/perldiag.pod> should go in
258 L</New Diagnostics> or L</Changed Diagnostics>.
260 =item New Diagnostics
262 New warnings emitted by the core's C<C> code go here.
264 =item Changed Diagnostics
266 Changed warnings emitted by the core's C<C> code go here.
268 =item Utility Changes
270 Changes to installed programs such as F<perldoc> and F<xsubpp> go here. Most
271 of these are built within the directory F<utils>.
273 =item Configuration and Compilation
275 Changes to F<Configure>, F<installperl>, F<installman>, and analogous tools
280 Changes which create B<new> files in F<t/> go here. Changes to existing files
281 in F<t/> aren't worth summarizing, although the bugs that they represent
284 Autogenerate this section by running something like this:
286 # perl newtests-perldelta.pl v5.11.1 HEAD
288 =item Platform Support
290 Any changes specific to a particular platform. VMS and Win32 are the usual
291 stars here. It's probably best to group changes under the same section layout
292 as the main perldelta.
296 List any platforms that this version of perl compiles on, that previous
297 versions did not. These will either be enabled by new files in the F<hints/>
298 directories, or new subdirectories and F<README> files at the top level of the
301 =item Discontinued Platforms
303 List any platforms that this version of perl no longer compiles on. The
304 reverse of the advice above applies - look for removed hints or README files.
306 =item Platform-Specific Notes
308 Changes of note to specific platforms go here.
310 =item Internal Changes
312 Changes which affect the interface available to C<XS> code go here.
314 =item Selected Bug Fixes
316 Important bug fixes in the core language are summarized here.
317 Bug fixes in files in F<ext/> and F<lib/> are best summarized in
318 L</Modules and Pragmata>.
322 Descriptions of platform agnostic bugs we know we can't fix go here. Any
323 tests that had to be C<TODO>ed for the release would be noted here, unless
324 they were specific to a particular platform (see below).
326 =item Errata From Previous Releases
332 If any significant core contributor has died, we've added a short obituary
335 =item Acknowledgements
339 perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.15.0..HEAD
343 This doesn't usually need to be changed from the previous perldelta.
347 This doesn't usually need to be changed from the previous perldelta.
351 This doesn't usually need to be changed from the previous perldelta.