X-Git-Url: https://perl5.git.perl.org/perl5.git/blobdiff_plain/0135f10892ed8a21c4dbd1fca21fbcc365df99dd..7d6d3fb7dc08e427517e383b8ab9c9c47cbaab14:/pod/perlstyle.pod

diff --git a/pod/perlstyle.pod b/pod/perlstyle.pod
index 734b9ad..37dfaaf 100644
--- a/pod/perlstyle.pod
+++ b/pod/perlstyle.pod
@@ -6,17 +6,17 @@ perlstyle - Perl style guide
 
 Each programmer will, of course, have his or her own preferences in
 regards to formatting, but there are some general guidelines that will
-make your programs easier to read, understand, and maintain.  
+make your programs easier to read, understand, and maintain.
 
 The most important thing is to run your programs under the B<-w>
 flag at all times.  You may turn it off explicitly for particular
-portions of code via the C<$^W> variable if you must.  You should
-also always run under C<use strict> or know the reason why not.
-The C<use sigtrap> and even C<use diagnostics> pragmas may also prove
-useful.
+portions of code via the C<no warnings> pragma or the C<$^W> variable
+if you must.  You should also always run under C<use strict> or know the
+reason why not.  The C<use sigtrap> and even C<use diagnostics> pragmas
+may also prove useful.
 
 Regarding aesthetics of code lay out, about the only thing Larry
-cares strongly about is that the closing curly brace of
+cares strongly about is that the closing curly bracket of
 a multi-line BLOCK should line up with the keyword that started the construct.
 Beyond that, he has other preferences that aren't so strong:
 
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ Space after each comma.
 
 =item *
 
-Long lines broken after an operator (except "and" and "or").
+Long lines broken after an operator (except C<and> and C<or>).
 
 =item *
 
@@ -154,15 +154,15 @@ the middle.  Just "outdent" it a little to make it more visible:
 =item *
 
 Don't be afraid to use loop labels--they're there to enhance
-readability as well as to allow multi-level loop breaks.  See the
+readability as well as to allow multilevel loop breaks.  See the
 previous example.
 
 =item *
 
-Avoid using grep() (or map()) or `backticks` in a void context, that is,
-when you just throw away their return values.  Those functions all 
-have return values, so use them.  Otherwise use a foreach() loop or
-the system() function instead.
+Avoid using C<grep()> (or C<map()>) or `backticks` in a void context, that is,
+when you just throw away their return values.  Those functions all
+have return values, so use them.  Otherwise use a C<foreach()> loop or
+the C<system()> function instead.
 
 =item *
 
@@ -178,31 +178,32 @@ determined by the B<Configure> program when Perl was installed.
 Choose mnemonic identifiers.  If you can't remember what mnemonic means,
 you've got a problem.
 
-=item * 
+=item *
 
-While short identifiers like $gotit are probably ok, use underscores to
-separate words.  It is generally easier to read $var_names_like_this than
-$VarNamesLikeThis, especially for non-native speakers of English. It's
-also a simple rule that works consistently with VAR_NAMES_LIKE_THIS.
+While short identifiers like C<$gotit> are probably ok, use underscores to
+separate words in longer identifiers.  It is generally easier to read
+C<$var_names_like_this> than C<$VarNamesLikeThis>, especially for
+non-native speakers of English. It's also a simple rule that works
+consistently with C<VAR_NAMES_LIKE_THIS>.
 
 Package names are sometimes an exception to this rule.  Perl informally
 reserves lowercase module names for "pragma" modules like C<integer> and
 C<strict>.  Other modules should begin with a capital letter and use mixed
 case, but probably without underscores due to limitations in primitive
 file systems' representations of module names as files that must fit into a
-few sparse bites.
+few sparse bytes.
 
 =item *
 
-You may find it helpful to use letter case to indicate the scope 
-or nature of a variable. For example: 
+You may find it helpful to use letter case to indicate the scope
+or nature of a variable. For example:
 
-    $ALL_CAPS_HERE   constants only (beware clashes with perl vars!)  
-    $Some_Caps_Here  package-wide global/static 
-    $no_caps_here    function scope my() or local() variables 
+    $ALL_CAPS_HERE   constants only (beware clashes with perl vars!)
+    $Some_Caps_Here  package-wide global/static
+    $no_caps_here    function scope my() or local() variables
 
-Function and method names seem to work best as all lowercase. 
-E.g., $obj-E<gt>as_string(). 
+Function and method names seem to work best as all lowercase.
+E.g., C<$obj-E<gt>as_string()>.
 
 You can use a leading underscore to indicate that a variable or
 function should not be used outside the package that defined it.
@@ -215,24 +216,24 @@ Don't use slash as a delimiter when your regexp has slashes or backslashes.
 
 =item *
 
-Use the new "and" and "or" operators to avoid having to parenthesize
+Use the new C<and> and C<or> operators to avoid having to parenthesize
 list operators so much, and to reduce the incidence of punctuation
 operators like C<&&> and C<||>.  Call your subroutines as if they were
 functions or list operators to avoid excessive ampersands and parentheses.
 
 =item *
 
-Use here documents instead of repeated print() statements.
+Use here documents instead of repeated C<print()> statements.
 
 =item *
 
 Line up corresponding things vertically, especially if it'd be too long
-to fit on one line anyway.  
+to fit on one line anyway.
 
-    $IDX = $ST_MTIME;       
-    $IDX = $ST_ATIME 	   if $opt_u; 
-    $IDX = $ST_CTIME 	   if $opt_c;     
-    $IDX = $ST_SIZE  	   if $opt_s;     
+    $IDX = $ST_MTIME;
+    $IDX = $ST_ATIME 	   if $opt_u;
+    $IDX = $ST_CTIME 	   if $opt_c;
+    $IDX = $ST_SIZE  	   if $opt_s;
 
     mkdir $tmpdir, 0700	or die "can't mkdir $tmpdir: $!";
     chdir($tmpdir)      or die "can't chdir $tmpdir: $!";
@@ -241,8 +242,8 @@ to fit on one line anyway.
 =item *
 
 Always check the return codes of system calls.  Good error messages should
-go to STDERR, include which program caused the problem, what the failed
-system call and arguments were, and VERY IMPORTANT) should contain the
+go to C<STDERR>, include which program caused the problem, what the failed
+system call and arguments were, and (VERY IMPORTANT) should contain the
 standard system error message for what went wrong.  Here's a simple but
 sufficient example:
 
@@ -250,7 +251,7 @@ sufficient example:
 
 =item *
 
-Line up your translations when it makes sense:
+Line up your transliterations when it makes sense:
 
     tr [abc]
        [xyz];
@@ -260,9 +261,36 @@ Line up your translations when it makes sense:
 Think about reusability.  Why waste brainpower on a one-shot when you
 might want to do something like it again?  Consider generalizing your
 code.  Consider writing a module or object class.  Consider making your
-code run cleanly with C<use strict> and B<-w> in effect.  Consider giving away
-your code.  Consider changing your whole world view.  Consider... oh,
-never mind.
+code run cleanly with C<use strict> and C<use warnings> (or B<-w>) in
+effect.  Consider giving away your code.  Consider changing your whole
+world view.  Consider... oh, never mind.
+
+=item *
+
+Try to document your code and use Pod formatting in a consistent way. Here
+are commonly expected conventions:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+use C<CE<lt>E<gt>> for function, variable and module names (and more
+generally anything that can be considered part of code, like filehandles
+or specific values). Note that function names are considered more readable
+with parentheses after their name, that is C<function()>.
+
+=item *
+
+use C<BE<lt>E<gt>> for commands names like B<cat> or B<grep>.
+
+=item *
+
+use C<FE<lt>E<gt>> or C<CE<lt>E<gt>> for file names. C<FE<lt>E<gt>> should
+be the only Pod code for file names, but as most Pod formatters render it
+as italic, Unix and Windows paths with their slashes and backslashes may
+be less readable, and better rendered with C<CE<lt>E<gt>>.
+
+=back
 
 =item *