create perldelta for 5.13.9

3 files changed, 1076 insertions, 702 deletions

diff --git a/pod/.gitignore b/pod/.gitignore
index bb1bb4a338..cdc58654e8 100644
--- a/pod/.gitignore
+++ b/pod/.gitignore
@@ -59,6 +59,6 @@
 /podselect.bat
 
 # generated
-/perl5138delta.pod
+/perl5139delta.pod
 /perlapi.pod
 /perlintern.pod
diff --git a/pod/perl5138delta.pod b/pod/perl5138delta.pod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b01b2701c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pod/perl5138delta.pod
@@ -0,0 +1,912 @@
+=encoding utf8
+
+=head1 NAME
+
+perl5138delta - what is new for perl v5.13.8
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+This document describes differences between the 5.13.7 release and
+the 5.13.8 release.
+
+If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.13.6, first read
+L<perl5137delta>, which describes differences between 5.13.6 and
+5.13.7.
+
+=head1 Core Enhancements
+
+=head2 C<-d:-foo> calls C<Devel::foo::unimport>
+
+The syntax C<-dI<B<:>foo>> was extended in 5.6.1 to make C<-dI<:fooB<=bar>>>
+equivalent to C<-MDevel::foo=bar>, which expands
+internally to C<use Devel::foo 'bar';>.
+F<perl> now allows prefixing the module name with C<->, with the same
+semantics as C<-M>, I<i.e.>
+
+=over 4
+
+=item C<-d:-foo>
+
+Equivalent to C<-M-Devel::foo>, expands to
+C<no Devel::foo;>, calls C<< Devel::foo->unimport() >>
+if the method exists.
+
+=item C<-d:-foo=bar>
+
+Equivalent to C<-M-Devel::foo=bar>, expands to C<no Devel::foo 'bar';>,
+calls C<< Devel::foo->unimport('bar') >> if the method exists.
+
+=back
+
+This is particularly useful to suppresses the default actions of a
+C<Devel::*> module's C<import> method whilst still loading it for debugging.
+
+=head2 Filehandle method calls load L<IO::File> on demand
+
+When a method call on a filehandle would die because the method cannot
+be resolved, and L<IO::File> has not been loaded, Perl now loads L<IO::File>
+via C<require> and attempts method resolution again:
+
+  open my $fh, ">", $file;
+  $fh->binmode(":raw");     # loads IO::File and succeeds
+
+This also works for globs like STDOUT, STDERR and STDIN:
+
+  STDOUT->autoflush(1);
+
+Because this on-demand load only happens if method resolution fails, the
+legacy approach of manually loading an L<IO::File> parent class for partial
+method support still works as expected:
+
+  use IO::Handle;
+  open my $fh, ">", $file;
+  $fh->autoflush(1);        # IO::File not loaded
+
+=head2 Full functionality for C<use feature 'unicode_strings'>
+
+This release provides full functionality for C<use feature
+'unicode_strings'>.  Under its scope, all string operations executed and
+regular expressions compiled (even if executed outside its scope) have
+Unicode semantics.  See L<feature>.
+
+This feature avoids most forms of the "Unicode Bug" (See
+L<perlunicode/The "Unicode Bug"> for details.)  If there is a
+possibility that your code will process Unicode strings, you are
+B<strongly> encouraged to use this subpragma to avoid nasty surprises.
+
+The availability of this should strongly affect the whole tone of
+various documents, such as L<perlunicode> and L<perluniintro>, but this
+work has not been done yet.
+
+=head2 Exception Handling Backcompat Hack
+
+When an exception is thrown in an C<eval BLOCK>, C<$@> is now set before
+unwinding, as well as being set after unwinding as the eval block exits.  This
+early setting supports code that has historically treated C<$@> during unwinding
+as an indicator of whether the unwinding was due to an exception.  These modules
+had been broken by 5.13.1's change from setting C<$@> early to setting it late.
+This double setting arrangement is a stopgap until the reason for unwinding can
+be made properly introspectable.  C<$@> has never been a reliable indicator of
+the reason for unwinding.
+
+=head2 printf-like functions understand post-1980 size modifiers
+
+Perl's printf and sprintf operators, and Perl's internal printf replacement
+function, now understand the C90 size modifiers "hh" (C<char>), "z"
+(C<size_t>), and "t" (C<ptrdiff_t>).  Also, when compiled with a C99
+compiler, Perl now understands the size modifier "j" (C<intmax_t>).
+
+So, for example, on any modern machine, C<sprintf('%hhd', 257)> returns '1'.
+
+=head2 DTrace probes now include package name
+
+The DTrace probes now include an additional argument (C<arg3>) which contains
+the package the subroutine being entered or left was compiled in.
+
+For example using the following DTrace script:
+
+  perl$target:::sub-entry
+  {
+      printf("%s::%s\n", copyinstr(arg0), copyinstr(arg3));
+  }
+
+and then running:
+
+  perl -e'sub test { }; test'
+
+DTrace will print:
+
+  main::test
+
+=head2 Stacked labels
+
+Multiple statement labels can now appear before a single statement.
+
+=head1 Incompatible Changes
+
+=head2 C<:=> is now a syntax error
+
+Previously C<my $pi := 4;> was exactly equivalent to C<my $pi : = 4;>,
+with the C<:> being treated as the start of an attribute list, ending before
+the C<=>. The use of C<:=> to mean C<: => was deprecated in 5.12.0, and is now
+a syntax error. This will allow the future use of C<:=> as a new token.
+
+We find no Perl 5 code on CPAN using this construction, outside the core's
+tests for it, so we believe that this change will have very little impact on
+real-world codebases.
+
+If it is absolutely necessary to have empty attribute lists (for example,
+because of a code generator) then avoid the error by adding a space before
+the C<=>.
+
+=head2 Run-time code block in regular expressions
+
+Code blocks in regular expressions (C<(?{...})> and C<(??{...})>) used not
+to inherit any pragmata (strict, warnings, etc.) if the regular expression
+was compiled at run time as happens in cases like these two:
+
+  use re 'eval';
+  $foo =~ $bar; # when $bar contains (?{...})
+  $foo =~ /$bar(?{ $finished = 1 })/;
+
+This was a bug, which has now been fixed. But it has the potential to break
+any code that was relying on this bug.
+
+=head1 Deprecations
+
+=head2 C<?PATTERN?> is deprecated
+
+C<?PATTERN?> (without the initial m) has been deprecated and now produces
+a warning.  This is to allow future use of C<?> in new operators.
+The match-once functionality is still available in the form of C<m?PATTERN?>.
+
+=head2 C<sv_compile_2op()> is now deprecated
+
+The C<sv_compile_2op()> API function is now deprecated. Searches suggest
+that nothing on CPAN is using it, so this should have zero impact.
+
+It attempted to provide an API to compile code down to an optree, but failed
+to bind correctly to lexicals in the enclosing scope. It's not possible to
+fix this problem within the constraints of its parameters and return value.
+
+=head2 Tie functions on scalars holding typeglobs
+
+Calling a tie function (C<tie>, C<tied>, C<untie>) with a scalar argument
+acts on a file handle if the scalar happens to hold a typeglob.
+
+This is a long-standing bug that will be removed in Perl 5.16, as
+there is currently no way to tie the scalar itself when it holds
+a typeglob, and no way to untie a scalar that has had a typeglob
+assigned to it.
+
+This bug was fixed in 5.13.7 but, because of the breakage it caused, the
+fix has been reverted. Now there is a deprecation warning whenever a tie
+function is used on a handle without an explicit C<*>.
+
+=head1 Modules and Pragmata
+
+=head2 Updated Modules and Pragmata
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+C<Archive::Tar> has been upgraded from version 1.72 to 1.74.
+
+Skip extracting pax extended headers.
+
+=item *
+
+C<autodie> has been upgraded from version 2.10 to 2.1001.
+
+Test fix in blead for VMS.
+
+=item *
+
+C<B> has been upgraded from version 1.26 to 1.27.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<B::Concise> has been upgraded from version 0.81 to 0.82.
+
+It no longer produces mangled output with the C<-tree> option
+L<[perl #80632]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=80632>.
+
+=item *
+
+C<B::Deparse> has been upgraded from version 1.01 to 1.02.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Cwd> has been upgraded from version 3.34 to 3.35.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Data::Dumper> has been upgraded from version 2.130_01 to 2.130_02.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Devel::Peek> has been upgraded from version 1.05 to 1.06.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Devel::SelfStubber> has been upgraded from version 1.03 to 1.05.
+
+Whitespace changes.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Digest::SHA> has been upgraded from 5.48 to 5.50.
+
+C<shasum> now more closely mimics C<sha1sum>/C<md5sum>.
+
+C<Addfile> accepts all POSIX filenames.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Dumpvalue> has been upgraded from version 1.14 to 1.15.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<DynaLoader> has been upgraded from version 1.11 to 1.12.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Env> has been upgraded from version 1.01 to 1.02.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<ExtUtils::CBuilder> has been upgraded from 0.2703 to 0.280201.
+
+Handle C and C++ compilers separately.
+
+Preserves exit status on VMS.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<ExtUtils::Constant::Utils> has been upgraded from 0.02 to 0.03.
+
+Refactoring and fixing of backcompat code, preparing for resynchronisation
+with CPAN.
+
+=item *
+
+C<ExtUtils::Embed> has been upgraded from 1.29 to 1.30.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+=item *
+
+C<ExtUtils::ParseXS> has been upgraded from 2.2207 to 2.2208.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Fcntl> has been upgraded from 1.10 to 1.11.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<feature> has been upgraded from 1.18 to 1.19.
+
+Documentation and test updates for the C<unicode_strings> feature.
+See L</Full functionality for C<use feature 'unicode_strings'>>.
+
+=item *
+
+C<File::CheckTree> has been upgraded from 4.4 to 4.41.
+
+Whitespace changes.
+
+=item *
+
+C<File::Glob> has been upgraded from 1.10 to 1.11.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<GDBM_File> has been upgraded from 1.12 to 1.13.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Hash::Util::FieldHash> has been upgraded from 1.06 to 1.07.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<I18N::Collate> has been upgraded from 1.01 to 1.02.
+
+Whitespace changes.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<if> has been upgraded from 0.06 to 0.0601.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<IO> has been upgraded from 1.25_02 to 1.25_03.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<IPC::Cmd> has been upgraded from 0.64 to 0.66.
+
+Resolves an issue with splitting Win32 command lines.
+
+Documentation enhancements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<IPC::Open3> has been upgraded from 1.07 to 1.08.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Locale::Codes> has been upgraded from version 3.14 to 3.15.
+
+Adds some codes.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Math::BigInt> has been upgraded from 1.99_01 to 1.99_02.
+
+Documentation and comment spelling fixes.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Memoize> has been upgraded from version 1.01_03 to 1.02.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+Whitespace changes.
+
+=item *
+
+C<MIME::Base64> has been upgraded from 3.10 to 3.13.
+
+Now provides C<encode_base64url> and C<decode_base64url> functions to process
+the base64 scheme for "URL applications".
+
+=item *
+
+C<mro> has been upgraded from version 1.05 to 1.06.
+
+C<next::method> I<et al.> now take into account that every class inherits
+from UNIVERSAL
+L<[perl #68654]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68654>.
+
+=item *
+
+C<NDBM_File> has been upgraded from 1.10 to 1.11.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Net::Ping> has been upgraded from 2.36 to 2.37.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+=item *
+
+C<ODBM_File> has been upgraded from 1.09 to 1.10.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Opcode> has been upgraded from 1.17 to 1.18.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<overload> has been upgraded from 1.11 to 1.12.
+
+Avoid a taint problem in use of sprintf.
+
+Test asymmetric fallback cases
+L<[perl #71286]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=71286>.
+
+=item *
+
+C<PerlIO::encoding> has been upgraded from 0.13 to 0.14.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<PerlIO::scalar> has been upgraded from 0.10 to 0.11.
+
+A C<read> after a C<seek> beyond the end of the string no longer thinks it
+has data to read
+L<[perl #78716]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=78716>.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<PerlIO::via> has been upgraded from 0.10 to 0.11.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<POSIX> has been upgraded from 1.22 to 1.23.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<re> has been upgraded from 0.14 to 0.15.
+
+Enforce that C</d>, C</u>, and C</l> are mutually exclusive.
+
+=item *
+
+C<SDBM_File> has been upgraded from 1.08 to 1.09.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Socket> has been upgraded from 1.91 to 1.92.
+
+It has several new functions for handling IPv6 addresses.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Storable> has been upgraded from 2.24 to 2.25.
+
+This adds support for serialising code references that contain UTF-8 strings
+correctly. The Storable minor version number changed as a result, meaning that
+Storable users who set C<$Storable::accept_future_minor> to a C<FALSE> value
+will see errors (see L<Storable/FORWARD COMPATIBILITY> for more details).
+
+Freezing no longer gets confused if the Perl stack gets reallocated
+during freezing
+L<[perl #80074]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=80074>.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<threads> has been upgraded from 1.81_02 to 1.81_03.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<threads::shared> has been upgraded from 1.34 to 1.35.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Time::HiRes> has been upgraded from 1.9721 to 1.9721_01.
+
+Build fix in blead for VMS.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Unicode::Collate> has been upgraded from 0.67 to 0.6801.
+
+Documentation clarification.
+
+Test improvements.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Unicode::Normalize> has been upgraded from 1.07 to 1.08.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Unicode::UCD> has been upgraded from 0.29 to 0.30.
+
+Add info about named sequence alternatives.
+
+Don't use C<CompositionExclusions.txt>.
+
+=item *
+
+C<version> has been upgraded from 0.82 to 0.86.
+
+Modify export logic for C<is_strict> and C<is_lax>.
+
+Various backcompat fixes.
+
+=item *
+
+C<Win32> has been upgraded from 0.39 to 0.41.
+
+Add several functions.
+
+Corrections to names returned by C<Win32::GetOSName> and
+C<Win32::GetOSDisplayName>.
+
+=item *
+
+C<XS::APItest> has been upgraded from 0.26 to 0.27.
+
+Test new API functions.
+
+Avoid compiler warnings.
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Dual-life Modules and Pragmata
+
+These modules were formerly distributed only in the Perl core
+distribution, and are now dual-lifed (meaning they are now also available
+separately on CPAN):
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+C<autouse>
+
+=item *
+
+C<Devel::SelfStubber>
+
+=item *
+
+C<Dumpvalue>
+
+=item *
+
+C<Env>
+
+=item *
+
+C<File::CheckTree>
+
+=item *
+
+C<I18N::Collate>
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Diagnostics
+
+The following additions or changes have been made to diagnostic output,
+including warnings and fatal error messages.  For the complete list of
+diagnostic messages, see L<perldiag>.
+
+=head2 New Diagnostics
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+There is a new "Closure prototype called" error
+L<[perl #68560]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68560>.
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Changes to Existing Diagnostics
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+The "Found = in conditional" warning that is emitted when a constant is
+assigned to a variable in a condition is now withheld if the constant is
+actually a subroutine or one generated by C<use constant>, since the value
+of the constant may not be known at the time the program is written
+L<[perl #77762]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=77762>.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Configuration and Compilation
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+The C<Encode> module can now (once again) be included in a static Perl
+build.  The special-case handling for this situation got broken in Perl
+5.11.0, and has now been repaired.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Testing
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Tests for C<Fcntl>, C<File::Glob>, C<GDBM_File>, C<IPC::Open3>,
+C<NDBM_File>, C<ODBM_File>, C<Opcode>, C<PerlIO::encoding>, C<SDBM_File>,
+and C<Storable> now use the L<Test::More> framework.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Platform Support
+
+=head2 Platform-Specific Notes
+
+=over 4
+
+=item NetBSD
+
+The NetBSD hints file has been changed to make the system's malloc the
+default.
+
+=item Windows
+
+The option to use an externally-supplied C<crypt()>, or to build with no
+C<crypt()> at all, has been removed.  Perl supplies its own C<crypt()>
+implementation for Windows, and the political situation that required
+this part of the distribution to sometimes be omitted is long gone.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Internal Changes
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+The L<C<mg_findext()>|perlapi/mg_findext> and
+L<C<sv_unmagicext()>|perlapi/sv_unmagicext>
+functions have been added to the API.
+They allow extension authors to find and remove magic attached to
+scalars based on both the magic type and the magic virtual table, similar to how
+C<sv_magicext()> attaches magic of a certain type and with a given virtual table
+to a scalar. This eliminates the need for extensions to walk the list of
+C<MAGIC> pointers of an C<SV> to find the magic that belongs to them.
+
+=item *
+
+The
+L<C<parse_fullexpr()>|perlapi/parse_fullexpr>,
+L<C<parse_listexpr()>|perlapi/parse_listexpr>,
+L<C<parse_termexpr()>|perlapi/parse_termexpr>, and
+L<C<parse_arithexpr()>|perlapi/parse_arithexpr>
+functions have been added to the API.  They perform
+recursive-descent parsing of expressions at various precedence levels.
+They are expected to be used by syntax plugins.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Selected Bug Fixes
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+C<BEGIN {require 5.12.0}> now behaves as documented, rather than behaving
+identically to C<use 5.12.0;>. Previously, C<require> in a C<BEGIN> block
+was erroneously executing the C<use feature ':5.12.0'> and
+C<use strict; use warnings;> behaviour, which only C<use> was documented to
+provide
+L<[perl #69050]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=69050>.
+
+=item *
+
+C<use 5.42>
+L<[perl #69050]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=69050>,
+C<use 6> and C<no 5> no longer leak memory.
+
+=item *
+
+C<eval "BEGIN{die}"> no longer leaks memory on non-threaded builds.
+
+=item *
+
+PerlIO no longer crashes when called recursively, e.g., from a signal
+handler. Now it just leaks memory
+L<[perl #75556]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=75556>.
+
+=item *
+
+Defining a constant with the same name as one of perl's special blocks
+(e.g., INIT) stopped working in 5.12.0, but has now been fixed
+L<[perl #78634]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=78634>.
+
+=item *
+
+A reference to a literal value used as a hash key (C<$hash{\"foo"}>) used
+to be stringified, even if the hash was tied
+L<[perl #79178]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=79178>.
+
+=item *
+
+A closure containing an C<if> statement followed by a constant or variable
+is no longer treated as a constant
+L<[perl #63540]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=63540>.
+
+=item *
+
+Calling a closure prototype (what is passed to an attribute handler for a
+closure) now results in a "Closure prototype called" error message instead
+of a crash
+L<[perl #68560]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68560>.
+
+=item *
+
+A regular expression optimisation would sometimes cause a match with a
+C<{n,m}> quantifier to fail when it should match
+L<[perl #79152]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=79152>.
+
+=item *
+
+What has become known as the "Unicode Bug" is mostly resolved in this release.
+Under C<use feature 'unicode_strings'>, the internal storage format of a
+string no longer affects the external semantics.  There are two known
+exceptions.  User-defined case changing functions, which are planned to
+be deprecated in 5.14, require utf8-encoded strings to function; and the
+character C<LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S> in regular expression
+case-insensitive matching has a somewhat different set of bugs depending
+on the internal storage format.  Case-insensitive matching of all
+characters that have multi-character matches, as this one does, is
+problematical in Perl.
+L<[perl #58182]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=58182>.
+
+=item *
+
+Mentioning a read-only lexical variable from the enclosing scope in a
+string C<eval> no longer causes the variable to become writable
+L<[perl #19135]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=19135>.
+
+=item *
+
+C<state> can now be used with attributes. It used to mean the same thing as
+C<my> if attributes were present
+L<[perl #68658]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68658>.
+
+=item *
+
+Expressions like C<< @$a > 3 >> no longer cause C<$a> to be mentioned in
+the "Use of uninitialized value in numeric gt" warning when C<$a> is
+undefined (since it is not part of the C<E<gt>> expression, but the operand
+of the C<@>)
+L<[perl #72090]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=72090>.
+
+=item *
+
+C<require> no longer causes C<caller> to return the wrong file name for
+the scope that called C<require> and other scopes higher up that had the
+same file name
+L<[perl #68712]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68712>.
+
+=item *
+
+The ref types in the typemap for XS bindings now support magical variables
+L<[perl #72684]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=72684>.
+
+=item *
+
+Match variables (e.g., C<$1>) no longer persist between calls to a sort
+subroutine
+L<[perl #76026]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=76026>.
+
+=item *
+
+The C<B> module was returning C<B::OP>s instead of C<B::LOGOP>s for C<entertry>
+L<[perl #80622]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=80622>.
+This was due to a bug in the perl core, not in C<B> itself.
+
+=item *
+
+Some numeric operators were converting integers to floating point,
+resulting in loss of precision on 64-bit platforms
+L<[perl #77456]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=77456>.
+
+=item *
+
+The fallback behaviour of overloading on binary operators was asymmetric
+L<[perl #71286]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=71286>.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Acknowledgements
+
+Perl 5.13.8 represents approximately one month of development since
+Perl 5.13.7 and contains 38715 lines of changes across 546 files from
+38 authors and committers.
+
+Thank you to the following for contributing to this release:
+
+Abhijit Menon-Sen, Abigail, Andreas KE<0xf6>nig, Ben Morrow, Brad Gilbert,
+brian d foy, Chip Salzenberg, Chris 'BinGOs' Williams, Craig A. Berry,
+David Golden, David Leadbeater, David Mitchell, Father Chrysostomos,
+Florian Ragwitz, Goro Fuji, H.Merijn Brand, Jan Dubois, Jerry D. Hedden,
+Jesse Vincent, John Peacock, Karl Williamson, Lukas Mai, Marvin Humphrey,
+Max Maischein, Michael Breen, Michael Fig, Nicholas Clark, Nick Cleaton,
+Paul Evans, Peter J. Holzer, Peter John Acklam, Rafael Garcia-Suarez,
+Reini Urban, Renee Baecker, Ricardo Signes, Tony Cook, Yves Orton, Zefram
+
+=head1 Reporting Bugs
+
+If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles
+recently posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl
+bug database at http://rt.perl.org/perlbug/ .  There may also be
+information at http://www.perl.org/ , the Perl Home Page.
+
+If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the L<perlbug>
+program included with your release.  Be sure to trim your bug down
+to a tiny but sufficient test case.  Your bug report, along with the
+output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be
+analysed by the Perl porting team.
+
+If the bug you are reporting has security implications, which make it
+inappropriate to send to a publicly archived mailing list, then please send
+it to perl5-security-report@perl.org. This points to a closed subscription
+unarchived mailing list, which includes all the core committers, who be able
+to help assess the impact of issues, figure out a resolution, and help
+co-ordinate the release of patches to mitigate or fix the problem across all
+platforms on which Perl is supported. Please only use this address for
+security issues in the Perl core, not for modules independently
+distributed on CPAN.
+
+=head1 SEE ALSO
+
+The F<Changes> file for an explanation of how to view exhaustive details
+on what changed.
+
+The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl.
+
+The F<README> file for general stuff.
+
+The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information.
+
+=cut
diff --git a/pod/perldelta.pod b/pod/perldelta.pod
index c5ef57c194..34e4b030ae 100644
--- a/pod/perldelta.pod
+++ b/pod/perldelta.pod
@@ -2,878 +2,340 @@
 
 =head1 NAME
 
-perldelta - what is new for perl v5.13.8
+[ this is a template for a new perldelta file. Any text flagged as
+XXX needs to be processed before release. ]
 
-=head1 DESCRIPTION
-
-This document describes differences between the 5.13.7 release and
-the 5.13.8 release.
-
-If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.13.6, first read
-L<perl5137delta>, which describes differences between 5.13.6 and
-5.13.7.
-
-=head1 Core Enhancements
-
-=head2 C<-d:-foo> calls C<Devel::foo::unimport>
-
-The syntax C<-dI<B<:>foo>> was extended in 5.6.1 to make C<-dI<:fooB<=bar>>>
-equivalent to C<-MDevel::foo=bar>, which expands
-internally to C<use Devel::foo 'bar';>.
-F<perl> now allows prefixing the module name with C<->, with the same
-semantics as C<-M>, I<i.e.>
-
-=over 4
-
-=item C<-d:-foo>
-
-Equivalent to C<-M-Devel::foo>, expands to
-C<no Devel::foo;>, calls C<< Devel::foo->unimport() >>
-if the method exists.
-
-=item C<-d:-foo=bar>
-
-Equivalent to C<-M-Devel::foo=bar>, expands to C<no Devel::foo 'bar';>,
-calls C<< Devel::foo->unimport('bar') >> if the method exists.
-
-=back
-
-This is particularly useful to suppresses the default actions of a
-C<Devel::*> module's C<import> method whilst still loading it for debugging.
-
-=head2 Filehandle method calls load L<IO::File> on demand
-
-When a method call on a filehandle would die because the method cannot
-be resolved, and L<IO::File> has not been loaded, Perl now loads L<IO::File>
-via C<require> and attempts method resolution again:
-
-  open my $fh, ">", $file;
-  $fh->binmode(":raw");     # loads IO::File and succeeds
-
-This also works for globs like STDOUT, STDERR and STDIN:
-
-  STDOUT->autoflush(1);
-
-Because this on-demand load only happens if method resolution fails, the
-legacy approach of manually loading an L<IO::File> parent class for partial
-method support still works as expected:
+perldelta - what is new for perl v5.13.9
 
-  use IO::Handle;
-  open my $fh, ">", $file;
-  $fh->autoflush(1);        # IO::File not loaded
-
-=head2 Full functionality for C<use feature 'unicode_strings'>
-
-This release provides full functionality for C<use feature
-'unicode_strings'>.  Under its scope, all string operations executed and
-regular expressions compiled (even if executed outside its scope) have
-Unicode semantics.  See L<feature>.
-
-This feature avoids most forms of the "Unicode Bug" (See
-L<perlunicode/The "Unicode Bug"> for details.)  If there is a
-possibility that your code will process Unicode strings, you are
-B<strongly> encouraged to use this subpragma to avoid nasty surprises.
-
-The availability of this should strongly affect the whole tone of
-various documents, such as L<perlunicode> and L<perluniintro>, but this
-work has not been done yet.
-
-=head2 Exception Handling Backcompat Hack
-
-When an exception is thrown in an C<eval BLOCK>, C<$@> is now set before
-unwinding, as well as being set after unwinding as the eval block exits.  This
-early setting supports code that has historically treated C<$@> during unwinding
-as an indicator of whether the unwinding was due to an exception.  These modules
-had been broken by 5.13.1's change from setting C<$@> early to setting it late.
-This double setting arrangement is a stopgap until the reason for unwinding can
-be made properly introspectable.  C<$@> has never been a reliable indicator of
-the reason for unwinding.
-
-=head2 printf-like functions understand post-1980 size modifiers
-
-Perl's printf and sprintf operators, and Perl's internal printf replacement
-function, now understand the C90 size modifiers "hh" (C<char>), "z"
-(C<size_t>), and "t" (C<ptrdiff_t>).  Also, when compiled with a C99
-compiler, Perl now understands the size modifier "j" (C<intmax_t>).
-
-So, for example, on any modern machine, C<sprintf('%hhd', 257)> returns '1'.
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
 
-=head2 DTrace probes now include package name
+This document describes differences between the 5.13.8 release and
+the 5.13.9 release.
 
-The DTrace probes now include an additional argument (C<arg3>) which contains
-the package the subroutine being entered or left was compiled in.
+If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.13.7, first read
+L<perl5138delta>, which describes differences between 5.13.7 and
+5.13.8.
 
-For example using the following DTrace script:
+=head1 Notice
 
-  perl$target:::sub-entry
-  {
-      printf("%s::%s\n", copyinstr(arg0), copyinstr(arg3));
-  }
+XXX Any important notices here
 
-and then running:
+=head1 Core Enhancements
 
-  perl -e'sub test { }; test'
+XXX New core language features go here. Summarise user-visible core language
+enhancements. Particularly prominent performance optimisations could go
+here, but most should go in the L</Performance Enhancements> section.
 
-DTrace will print:
+[ List each enhancement as a =head2 entry ]
 
-  main::test
+=head1 Security
 
-=head2 Stacked labels
+XXX Any security-related notices go here.  In particular, any security
+vulnerabilities closed should be noted here rather than in the
+L</Selected Bug Fixes> section.
 
-Multiple statement labels can now appear before a single statement.
+[ List each security issue as a =head2 entry ]
 
 =head1 Incompatible Changes
 
-=head2 C<:=> is now a syntax error
+XXX For a release on a stable branch, this section aspires to be:
 
-Previously C<my $pi := 4;> was exactly equivalent to C<my $pi : = 4;>,
-with the C<:> being treated as the start of an attribute list, ending before
-the C<=>. The use of C<:=> to mean C<: => was deprecated in 5.12.0, and is now
-a syntax error. This will allow the future use of C<:=> as a new token.
+    There are no changes intentionally incompatible with 5.XXX.XXX. If any
+    exist, they are bugs and reports are welcome.
 
-We find no Perl 5 code on CPAN using this construction, outside the core's
-tests for it, so we believe that this change will have very little impact on
-real-world codebases.
-
-If it is absolutely necessary to have empty attribute lists (for example,
-because of a code generator) then avoid the error by adding a space before
-the C<=>.
-
-=head2 Run-time code block in regular expressions
-
-Code blocks in regular expressions (C<(?{...})> and C<(??{...})>) used not
-to inherit any pragmata (strict, warnings, etc.) if the regular expression
-was compiled at run time as happens in cases like these two:
-
-  use re 'eval';
-  $foo =~ $bar; # when $bar contains (?{...})
-  $foo =~ /$bar(?{ $finished = 1 })/;
-
-This was a bug, which has now been fixed. But it has the potential to break
-any code that was relying on this bug.
+[ List each incompatible change as a =head2 entry ]
 
 =head1 Deprecations
 
-=head2 C<?PATTERN?> is deprecated
-
-C<?PATTERN?> (without the initial m) has been deprecated and now produces
-a warning.  This is to allow future use of C<?> in new operators.
-The match-once functionality is still available in the form of C<m?PATTERN?>.
-
-=head2 C<sv_compile_2op()> is now deprecated
-
-The C<sv_compile_2op()> API function is now deprecated. Searches suggest
-that nothing on CPAN is using it, so this should have zero impact.
-
-It attempted to provide an API to compile code down to an optree, but failed
-to bind correctly to lexicals in the enclosing scope. It's not possible to
-fix this problem within the constraints of its parameters and return value.
-
-=head2 Tie functions on scalars holding typeglobs
+XXX Any deprecated features, syntax, modules etc. should be listed here.
+In particular, deprecated modules should be listed here even if they are
+listed as an updated module in the L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
 
-Calling a tie function (C<tie>, C<tied>, C<untie>) with a scalar argument
-acts on a file handle if the scalar happens to hold a typeglob.
+[ List each deprecation as a =head2 entry ]
 
-This is a long-standing bug that will be removed in Perl 5.16, as
-there is currently no way to tie the scalar itself when it holds
-a typeglob, and no way to untie a scalar that has had a typeglob
-assigned to it.
+=head1 Performance Enhancements
 
-This bug was fixed in 5.13.7 but, because of the breakage it caused, the
-fix has been reverted. Now there is a deprecation warning whenever a tie
-function is used on a handle without an explicit C<*>.
+XXX Changes which enhance performance without changing behaviour go here. There
+may well be none in a stable release.
 
-=head1 Modules and Pragmata
-
-=head2 Updated Modules and Pragmata
+[ List each enhancement as a =item entry ]
 
 =over 4
 
 =item *
 
-C<Archive::Tar> has been upgraded from version 1.72 to 1.74.
-
-Skip extracting pax extended headers.
-
-=item *
-
-C<autodie> has been upgraded from version 2.10 to 2.1001.
-
-Test fix in blead for VMS.
-
-=item *
-
-C<B> has been upgraded from version 1.26 to 1.27.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-=item *
-
-C<B::Concise> has been upgraded from version 0.81 to 0.82.
-
-It no longer produces mangled output with the C<-tree> option
-L<[perl #80632]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=80632>.
-
-=item *
-
-C<B::Deparse> has been upgraded from version 1.01 to 1.02.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Cwd> has been upgraded from version 3.34 to 3.35.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Data::Dumper> has been upgraded from version 2.130_01 to 2.130_02.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Devel::Peek> has been upgraded from version 1.05 to 1.06.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Devel::SelfStubber> has been upgraded from version 1.03 to 1.05.
-
-Whitespace changes.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Digest::SHA> has been upgraded from 5.48 to 5.50.
-
-C<shasum> now more closely mimics C<sha1sum>/C<md5sum>.
-
-C<Addfile> accepts all POSIX filenames.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Dumpvalue> has been upgraded from version 1.14 to 1.15.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<DynaLoader> has been upgraded from version 1.11 to 1.12.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Env> has been upgraded from version 1.01 to 1.02.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<ExtUtils::CBuilder> has been upgraded from 0.2703 to 0.280201.
-
-Handle C and C++ compilers separately.
-
-Preserves exit status on VMS.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<ExtUtils::Constant::Utils> has been upgraded from 0.02 to 0.03.
-
-Refactoring and fixing of backcompat code, preparing for resynchronisation
-with CPAN.
-
-=item *
-
-C<ExtUtils::Embed> has been upgraded from 1.29 to 1.30.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-=item *
-
-C<ExtUtils::ParseXS> has been upgraded from 2.2207 to 2.2208.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Fcntl> has been upgraded from 1.10 to 1.11.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<feature> has been upgraded from 1.18 to 1.19.
-
-Documentation and test updates for the C<unicode_strings> feature.
-See L</Full functionality for C<use feature 'unicode_strings'>>.
-
-=item *
-
-C<File::CheckTree> has been upgraded from 4.4 to 4.41.
-
-Whitespace changes.
-
-=item *
-
-C<File::Glob> has been upgraded from 1.10 to 1.11.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<GDBM_File> has been upgraded from 1.12 to 1.13.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Hash::Util::FieldHash> has been upgraded from 1.06 to 1.07.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-=item *
-
-C<I18N::Collate> has been upgraded from 1.01 to 1.02.
-
-Whitespace changes.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<if> has been upgraded from 0.06 to 0.0601.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<IO> has been upgraded from 1.25_02 to 1.25_03.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-=item *
-
-C<IPC::Cmd> has been upgraded from 0.64 to 0.66.
-
-Resolves an issue with splitting Win32 command lines.
-
-Documentation enhancements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<IPC::Open3> has been upgraded from 1.07 to 1.08.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Locale::Codes> has been upgraded from version 3.14 to 3.15.
-
-Adds some codes.
-
-=item *
+XXX
 
-C<Math::BigInt> has been upgraded from 1.99_01 to 1.99_02.
-
-Documentation and comment spelling fixes.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Memoize> has been upgraded from version 1.01_03 to 1.02.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-Whitespace changes.
-
-=item *
-
-C<MIME::Base64> has been upgraded from 3.10 to 3.13.
-
-Now provides C<encode_base64url> and C<decode_base64url> functions to process
-the base64 scheme for "URL applications".
-
-=item *
-
-C<mro> has been upgraded from version 1.05 to 1.06.
-
-C<next::method> I<et al.> now take into account that every class inherits
-from UNIVERSAL
-L<[perl #68654]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68654>.
-
-=item *
-
-C<NDBM_File> has been upgraded from 1.10 to 1.11.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Net::Ping> has been upgraded from 2.36 to 2.37.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-=item *
-
-C<ODBM_File> has been upgraded from 1.09 to 1.10.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<Opcode> has been upgraded from 1.17 to 1.18.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
-
-C<overload> has been upgraded from 1.11 to 1.12.
-
-Avoid a taint problem in use of sprintf.
-
-Test asymmetric fallback cases
-L<[perl #71286]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=71286>.
-
-=item *
-
-C<PerlIO::encoding> has been upgraded from 0.13 to 0.14.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-Test improvements.
-
-=item *
+=back
 
-C<PerlIO::scalar> has been upgraded from 0.10 to 0.11.
+=head1 Modules and Pragmata
 
-A C<read> after a C<seek> beyond the end of the string no longer thinks it
-has data to read
-L<[perl #78716]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=78716>.
+XXX All changes to installed files in F<cpan/>, F<dist/>, F<ext/> and F<lib/>
+go here.  If Module::CoreList is updated, generate an initial draft of the
+following sections using F<Porting/corelist-perldelta.pl>, which prints stub
+entries to STDOUT.  Results can be pasted in place of the '=head2' entries
+below.  A paragraph summary for important changes should then be added by hand.
+In an ideal world, dual-life modules would have a F<Changes> file that could be
+cribbed.
 
-Avoid compiler warnings.
+[ Within each section, list entries as a =item entry ]
 
-=item *
+=head2 New Modules and Pragmata
 
-C<PerlIO::via> has been upgraded from 0.10 to 0.11.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-C<POSIX> has been upgraded from 1.22 to 1.23.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
+XXX
 
-=item *
+=back
 
-C<re> has been upgraded from 0.14 to 0.15.
+=head2 Updated Modules and Pragmata
 
-Enforce that C</d>, C</u>, and C</l> are mutually exclusive.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-C<SDBM_File> has been upgraded from 1.08 to 1.09.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
-
-Remove obsolete RCS keywords.
-
-Test improvements.
+XXX
 
-=item *
+=back
 
-C<Socket> has been upgraded from 1.91 to 1.92.
+=head2 Removed Modules and Pragmata
 
-It has several new functions for handling IPv6 addresses.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-C<Storable> has been upgraded from 2.24 to 2.25.
+XXX
 
-This adds support for serialising code references that contain UTF-8 strings
-correctly. The Storable minor version number changed as a result, meaning that
-Storable users who set C<$Storable::accept_future_minor> to a C<FALSE> value
-will see errors (see L<Storable/FORWARD COMPATIBILITY> for more details).
-
-Freezing no longer gets confused if the Perl stack gets reallocated
-during freezing
-L<[perl #80074]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=80074>.
+=back
 
-Avoid compiler warnings.
+=head1 Documentation
 
-=item *
+XXX Changes to files in F<pod/> go here.  Consider grouping entries by
+file and be sure to link to the appropriate page, e.g. L<perlfunc>.
 
-C<threads> has been upgraded from 1.81_02 to 1.81_03.
+=head2 New Documentation
 
-Avoid compiler warnings.
+XXX Changes which create B<new> files in F<pod/> go here.
 
-=item *
+=head3 L<XXX>
 
-C<threads::shared> has been upgraded from 1.34 to 1.35.
+XXX Description of the purpose of the new file here
 
-Avoid compiler warnings.
+=head2 Changes to Existing Documentation
 
-=item *
+XXX Changes which significantly change existing files in F<pod/> go here.
+However, any changes to F<pod/perldiag.pod> should go in the L</Diagnostics>
+section.
 
-C<Time::HiRes> has been upgraded from 1.9721 to 1.9721_01.
+=head3 L<XXX>
 
-Build fix in blead for VMS.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-C<Unicode::Collate> has been upgraded from 0.67 to 0.6801.
+XXX Description of the change here
 
-Documentation clarification.
+=back
 
-Test improvements.
+=head1 Diagnostics
 
-=item *
+The following additions or changes have been made to diagnostic output,
+including warnings and fatal error messages.  For the complete list of
+diagnostic messages, see L<perldiag>.
 
-C<Unicode::Normalize> has been upgraded from 1.07 to 1.08.
+XXX New or changed warnings emitted by the core's C<C> code go here. Also
+include any changes in L<perldiag> that reconcile it to the C<C> code.
 
-Avoid compiler warnings.
+[ Within each section, list entries as a =item entry ]
 
-=item *
-
-C<Unicode::UCD> has been upgraded from 0.29 to 0.30.
+=head2 New Diagnostics
 
-Add info about named sequence alternatives.
+XXX Newly added diagnostic messages go here
 
-Don't use C<CompositionExclusions.txt>.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-C<version> has been upgraded from 0.82 to 0.86.
-
-Modify export logic for C<is_strict> and C<is_lax>.
-
-Various backcompat fixes.
+XXX
 
-=item *
+=back
 
-C<Win32> has been upgraded from 0.39 to 0.41.
+=head2 Changes to Existing Diagnostics
 
-Add several functions.
+XXX Changes (i.e. rewording) of diagnostic messages go here
 
-Corrections to names returned by C<Win32::GetOSName> and
-C<Win32::GetOSDisplayName>.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-C<XS::APItest> has been upgraded from 0.26 to 0.27.
-
-Test new API functions.
-
-Avoid compiler warnings.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
-=head2 Dual-life Modules and Pragmata
+=head1 Utility Changes
 
-These modules were formerly distributed only in the Perl core
-distribution, and are now dual-lifed (meaning they are now also available
-separately on CPAN):
+XXX Changes to installed programs such as F<perlbug> and F<xsubpp> go
+here. Most of these are built within the directories F<utils> and F<x2p>.
 
-=over 4
+[ List utility changes as a =head3 entry for each utility and =item
+entries for each change
+Use L<XXX> with program names to get proper documentation linking. ]
 
-=item *
+=head3 L<XXX>
 
-C<autouse>
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-C<Devel::SelfStubber>
-
-=item *
+XXX
 
-C<Dumpvalue>
+=back
 
-=item *
+=head1 Configuration and Compilation
 
-C<Env>
+XXX Changes to F<Configure>, F<installperl>, F<installman>, and analogous tools
+go here.  Any other changes to the Perl build process should be listed here.
+However, any platform-specific changes should be listed in the
+L</Platform Support> section, instead.
 
-=item *
+[ List changes as a =item entry ].
 
-C<File::CheckTree>
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-C<I18N::Collate>
+XXX
 
 =back
 
-=head1 Diagnostics
+=head1 Testing
 
-The following additions or changes have been made to diagnostic output,
-including warnings and fatal error messages.  For the complete list of
-diagnostic messages, see L<perldiag>.
+XXX Any significant changes to the testing of a freshly built perl should be
+listed here.  Changes which create B<new> files in F<t/> go here as do any
+large changes to the testing harness (e.g. when parallel testing was added).
+Changes to existing files in F<t/> aren't worth summarising, although the bugs
+that they represent may be covered elsewhere.
 
-=head2 New Diagnostics
+[ List each test improvement as a =item entry ]
 
 =over 4
 
 =item *
 
-There is a new "Closure prototype called" error
-L<[perl #68560]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68560>.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
-=head2 Changes to Existing Diagnostics
+=head1 Platform Support
 
-=over 4
+XXX Any changes to platform support should be listed in the sections below.
 
-=item *
+[ Within the sections, list each platform as a =item entry with specific
+changes as paragraphs below it. ]
 
-The "Found = in conditional" warning that is emitted when a constant is
-assigned to a variable in a condition is now withheld if the constant is
-actually a subroutine or one generated by C<use constant>, since the value
-of the constant may not be known at the time the program is written
-L<[perl #77762]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=77762>.
+=head2 New Platforms
 
-=back
-
-=head1 Configuration and Compilation
+XXX List any platforms that this version of perl compiles on, that previous
+versions did not. These will either be enabled by new files in the F<hints/>
+directories, or new subdirectories and F<README> files at the top level of the
+source tree.
 
 =over 4
 
-=item *
+=item XXX-some-platform
 
-The C<Encode> module can now (once again) be included in a static Perl
-build.  The special-case handling for this situation got broken in Perl
-5.11.0, and has now been repaired.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
-=head1 Testing
+=head2 Discontinued Platforms
+
+XXX List any platforms that this version of perl no longer compiles on.
 
 =over 4
 
-=item *
+=item XXX-some-platform
 
-Tests for C<Fcntl>, C<File::Glob>, C<GDBM_File>, C<IPC::Open3>,
-C<NDBM_File>, C<ODBM_File>, C<Opcode>, C<PerlIO::encoding>, C<SDBM_File>,
-and C<Storable> now use the L<Test::More> framework.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
-=head1 Platform Support
-
 =head2 Platform-Specific Notes
 
-=over 4
+XXX List any changes for specific platforms. This could include configuration
+and compilation changes or changes in portability/compatibility.  However,
+changes within modules for platforms should generally be listed in the
+L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
 
-=item NetBSD
-
-The NetBSD hints file has been changed to make the system's malloc the
-default.
+=over 4
 
-=item Windows
+=item XXX-some-platform
 
-The option to use an externally-supplied C<crypt()>, or to build with no
-C<crypt()> at all, has been removed.  Perl supplies its own C<crypt()>
-implementation for Windows, and the political situation that required
-this part of the distribution to sometimes be omitted is long gone.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
 =head1 Internal Changes
 
-=over 4
+XXX Changes which affect the interface available to C<XS> code go here.
+Other significant internal changes for future core maintainers should
+be noted as well.
 
-=item *
+[ List each test improvement as a =item entry ]
 
-The L<C<mg_findext()>|perlapi/mg_findext> and
-L<C<sv_unmagicext()>|perlapi/sv_unmagicext>
-functions have been added to the API.
-They allow extension authors to find and remove magic attached to
-scalars based on both the magic type and the magic virtual table, similar to how
-C<sv_magicext()> attaches magic of a certain type and with a given virtual table
-to a scalar. This eliminates the need for extensions to walk the list of
-C<MAGIC> pointers of an C<SV> to find the magic that belongs to them.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-The
-L<C<parse_fullexpr()>|perlapi/parse_fullexpr>,
-L<C<parse_listexpr()>|perlapi/parse_listexpr>,
-L<C<parse_termexpr()>|perlapi/parse_termexpr>, and
-L<C<parse_arithexpr()>|perlapi/parse_arithexpr>
-functions have been added to the API.  They perform
-recursive-descent parsing of expressions at various precedence levels.
-They are expected to be used by syntax plugins.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
 =head1 Selected Bug Fixes
 
-=over 4
-
-=item *
-
-C<BEGIN {require 5.12.0}> now behaves as documented, rather than behaving
-identically to C<use 5.12.0;>. Previously, C<require> in a C<BEGIN> block
-was erroneously executing the C<use feature ':5.12.0'> and
-C<use strict; use warnings;> behaviour, which only C<use> was documented to
-provide
-L<[perl #69050]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=69050>.
+XXX Important bug fixes in the core language are summarised here.
+Bug fixes in files in F<ext/> and F<lib/> are best summarised in
+L</Modules and Pragmata>.
 
-=item *
+[ List each fix as a =item entry ]
 
-C<use 5.42>
-L<[perl #69050]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=69050>,
-C<use 6> and C<no 5> no longer leak memory.
-
-=item *
-
-C<eval "BEGIN{die}"> no longer leaks memory on non-threaded builds.
-
-=item *
-
-PerlIO no longer crashes when called recursively, e.g., from a signal
-handler. Now it just leaks memory
-L<[perl #75556]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=75556>.
-
-=item *
-
-Defining a constant with the same name as one of perl's special blocks
-(e.g., INIT) stopped working in 5.12.0, but has now been fixed
-L<[perl #78634]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=78634>.
-
-=item *
-
-A reference to a literal value used as a hash key (C<$hash{\"foo"}>) used
-to be stringified, even if the hash was tied
-L<[perl #79178]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=79178>.
-
-=item *
-
-A closure containing an C<if> statement followed by a constant or variable
-is no longer treated as a constant
-L<[perl #63540]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=63540>.
-
-=item *
-
-Calling a closure prototype (what is passed to an attribute handler for a
-closure) now results in a "Closure prototype called" error message instead
-of a crash
-L<[perl #68560]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68560>.
-
-=item *
-
-A regular expression optimisation would sometimes cause a match with a
-C<{n,m}> quantifier to fail when it should match
-L<[perl #79152]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=79152>.
-
-=item *
-
-What has become known as the "Unicode Bug" is mostly resolved in this release.
-Under C<use feature 'unicode_strings'>, the internal storage format of a
-string no longer affects the external semantics.  There are two known
-exceptions.  User-defined case changing functions, which are planned to
-be deprecated in 5.14, require utf8-encoded strings to function; and the
-character C<LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S> in regular expression
-case-insensitive matching has a somewhat different set of bugs depending
-on the internal storage format.  Case-insensitive matching of all
-characters that have multi-character matches, as this one does, is
-problematical in Perl.
-L<[perl #58182]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=58182>.
-
-=item *
-
-Mentioning a read-only lexical variable from the enclosing scope in a
-string C<eval> no longer causes the variable to become writable
-L<[perl #19135]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=19135>.
-
-=item *
-
-C<state> can now be used with attributes. It used to mean the same thing as
-C<my> if attributes were present
-L<[perl #68658]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68658>.
-
-=item *
-
-Expressions like C<< @$a > 3 >> no longer cause C<$a> to be mentioned in
-the "Use of uninitialized value in numeric gt" warning when C<$a> is
-undefined (since it is not part of the C<E<gt>> expression, but the operand
-of the C<@>)
-L<[perl #72090]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=72090>.
-
-=item *
-
-C<require> no longer causes C<caller> to return the wrong file name for
-the scope that called C<require> and other scopes higher up that had the
-same file name
-L<[perl #68712]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=68712>.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-The ref types in the typemap for XS bindings now support magical variables
-L<[perl #72684]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=72684>.
+XXX
 
-=item *
+=back
 
-Match variables (e.g., C<$1>) no longer persist between calls to a sort
-subroutine
-L<[perl #76026]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=76026>.
+=head1 Known Problems
 
-=item *
+XXX Descriptions of platform agnostic bugs we know we can't fix go here. Any
+tests that had to be C<TODO>ed for the release would be noted here, unless
+they were specific to a particular platform (see below).
 
-The C<B> module was returning C<B::OP>s instead of C<B::LOGOP>s for C<entertry>
-L<[perl #80622]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=80622>.
-This was due to a bug in the perl core, not in C<B> itself.
+This is a list of some significant unfixed bugs, which are regressions
+from either 5.XXX.XXX or 5.XXX.XXX.
 
-=item *
+[ List each fix as a =item entry ]
 
-Some numeric operators were converting integers to floating point,
-resulting in loss of precision on 64-bit platforms
-L<[perl #77456]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=77456>.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-The fallback behaviour of overloading on binary operators was asymmetric
-L<[perl #71286]|http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=71286>.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
-=head1 Acknowledgements
+=head1 Obituary
 
-Perl 5.13.8 represents approximately one month of development since
-Perl 5.13.7 and contains 38715 lines of changes across 546 files from
-38 authors and committers.
+XXX If any significant core contributor has died, we've added a short obituary
+here.
 
-Thank you to the following for contributing to this release:
+=head1 Acknowledgements
 
-Abhijit Menon-Sen, Abigail, Andreas KE<0xf6>nig, Ben Morrow, Brad Gilbert,
-brian d foy, Chip Salzenberg, Chris 'BinGOs' Williams, Craig A. Berry,
-David Golden, David Leadbeater, David Mitchell, Father Chrysostomos,
-Florian Ragwitz, Goro Fuji, H.Merijn Brand, Jan Dubois, Jerry D. Hedden,
-Jesse Vincent, John Peacock, Karl Williamson, Lukas Mai, Marvin Humphrey,
-Max Maischein, Michael Breen, Michael Fig, Nicholas Clark, Nick Cleaton,
-Paul Evans, Peter J. Holzer, Peter John Acklam, Rafael Garcia-Suarez,
-Reini Urban, Renee Baecker, Ricardo Signes, Tony Cook, Yves Orton, Zefram
+XXX The list of people to thank goes here.
 
 =head1 Reporting Bugs