new perldelta

11 files changed, 645 insertions, 223 deletions

diff --git a/MANIFEST b/MANIFEST
index 633a8bd547..abf62fdef3 100644
--- a/MANIFEST
+++ b/MANIFEST
@@ -4645,6 +4645,7 @@ pod/perl5233delta.pod		Perl changes in version 5.23.3
 pod/perl5234delta.pod		Perl changes in version 5.23.4
 pod/perl5235delta.pod		Perl changes in version 5.23.5
 pod/perl5236delta.pod		Perl changes in version 5.23.6
+pod/perl5237delta.pod		Perl changes in version 5.23.7
 pod/perl561delta.pod		Perl changes in version 5.6.1
 pod/perl56delta.pod		Perl changes in version 5.6
 pod/perl581delta.pod		Perl changes in version 5.8.1
diff --git a/Makefile.SH b/Makefile.SH
index ed95386422..2278f9fc8f 100755
--- a/Makefile.SH
+++ b/Makefile.SH
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ mini_obj = $(minindt_obj) $(MINIDTRACE_O)
 ndt_obj = $(obj0) $(obj1) $(obj2) $(obj3) $(ARCHOBJS)
 obj = $(ndt_obj) $(DTRACE_O)
 
-perltoc_pod_prereqs = extra.pods pod/perl5237delta.pod pod/perlapi.pod pod/perlintern.pod pod/perlmodlib.pod pod/perluniprops.pod
+perltoc_pod_prereqs = extra.pods pod/perl5238delta.pod pod/perlapi.pod pod/perlintern.pod pod/perlmodlib.pod pod/perluniprops.pod
 generated_pods = pod/perltoc.pod $(perltoc_pod_prereqs)
 generated_headers = uudmap.h bitcount.h mg_data.h
 
@@ -1064,9 +1064,9 @@ pod/perlintern.pod: $(MINIPERL_EXE) autodoc.pl embed.fnc
 pod/perlmodlib.pod: $(MINIPERL_EXE) pod/perlmodlib.PL MANIFEST
 	$(MINIPERL) pod/perlmodlib.PL -q
 
-pod/perl5237delta.pod: pod/perldelta.pod
-	$(RMS) pod/perl5237delta.pod
-	$(LNS) perldelta.pod pod/perl5237delta.pod
+pod/perl5238delta.pod: pod/perldelta.pod
+	$(RMS) pod/perl5238delta.pod
+	$(LNS) perldelta.pod pod/perl5238delta.pod
 
 extra.pods: $(MINIPERL_EXE)
 	-@test ! -f extra.pods || rm -f `cat extra.pods`
diff --git a/pod/.gitignore b/pod/.gitignore
index 939933aaf0..0831b34615 100644
--- a/pod/.gitignore
+++ b/pod/.gitignore
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 /roffitall
 
 # generated
-/perl5237delta.pod
+/perl5238delta.pod
 /perlapi.pod
 /perlintern.pod
 *.html
diff --git a/pod/perl.pod b/pod/perl.pod
index a11439d2cb..9e35996f14 100644
--- a/pod/perl.pod
+++ b/pod/perl.pod
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ aux c2ph h2ph h2xs perlbug pl2pm pod2html pod2man splain xsubpp
 
     perlhist		Perl history records
     perldelta		Perl changes since previous version
+    perl5237delta	Perl changes in version 5.23.7
     perl5236delta	Perl changes in version 5.23.6
     perl5235delta	Perl changes in version 5.23.5
     perl5234delta	Perl changes in version 5.23.4
diff --git a/pod/perl5237delta.pod b/pod/perl5237delta.pod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2f960f5aae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pod/perl5237delta.pod
@@ -0,0 +1,438 @@
+=encoding utf8
+
+=head1 NAME
+
+perl5237delta - what is new for perl v5.23.7
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+This document describes differences between the 5.23.6 release and the 5.23.7
+release.
+
+If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.23.5, first read
+L<perl5236delta>, which describes differences between 5.23.5 and 5.23.6.
+
+=head1 Core Enhancements
+
+=head2 New C<\b{lb}> boundary in regular expressions
+
+C<lb> stands for Line Break.  It is a Unicode property
+that determines where a line of text is suitable to break (typically so
+that it can be output without overflowing the available horizontal
+space).  This capability has long been furnished by the
+L<Unicode::LineBreak> module, but now a light-weight, non-customizable
+version that is suitable for many purposes is in core Perl.
+
+=head1 Security
+
+=head2 fix out of boundary access in Win32 path handling
+
+This is CVE-2015-8608.  For more information see
+L<[perl #126755]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126755>
+
+=head2 fix loss of taint in canonpath
+
+This is CVE-2015-8607.  For more information see
+L<[perl #126862]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126862>
+
+=head2 Avoid accessing uninitialized memory in win32 C<crypt()>
+
+Added validation that will detect both a short salt and invalid characters
+in the salt.  L<[perl #126922]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126922>
+
+=head1 Incompatible Changes
+
+=head2 C<qr/\b{wb}/> is now tailored to Perl expectations
+
+This is now more suited to be a drop-in replacement for plain C<\b>, but
+giving better results for parsing natural language.  Previously it
+strictly followed the current Unicode rules which calls for it to match
+between each white space character.  Now it doesn't generally match
+within spans of white space, behaving like C<\b> does.  See
+L<perlrebackslash/\b{wb}>
+
+=head1 Modules and Pragmata
+
+=head2 Updated Modules and Pragmata
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+The F<cpan/podlators/> bundle has been upgraded from version 2.28 to 4.04.
+
+=item *
+
+L<B> has been upgraded from version 1.61 to 1.62.
+
+=item *
+
+L<B::Deparse> has been upgraded from version 1.36 to 1.37.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Benchmark> has been upgraded from version 1.21 to 1.22.
+
+=item *
+
+L<bignum> has been upgraded from version 0.41 to 0.42.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Data::Dumper> has been upgraded from version 2.159 to 2.160.
+
+=item *
+
+L<ExtUtils::ParseXS> has been upgraded from version 3.30 to 3.31.
+
+=item *
+
+L<ExtUtils::Typemaps> has been upgraded from version 3.30 to 3.31.
+
+=item *
+
+L<File::Find> has been upgraded from version 1.32 to 1.33.
+
+=item *
+
+L<File::Spec> has been upgraded from version 3.60 to 3.62.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Math::BigInt> has been upgraded from version 1.999710 to 1.999715.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Math::BigInt::FastCalc> has been upgraded from version 0.38 to 0.40.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Math::BigRat> has been upgraded from version 0.260801 to 0.260802.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Module::CoreList> has been upgraded from version 5.20151220 to 5.20160120.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Pod::Usage> has been upgraded from version 1.67 to 1.68.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Test::Harness> has been upgraded from version 3.35 to 3.36.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Unicode::Normalize> has been upgraded from version 1.24 to 1.25.
+
+=item *
+
+L<Unicode::UCD> has been upgraded from version 0.63 to 0.64.
+
+=item *
+
+L<utf8> has been upgraded from version 1.18 to 1.19.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Documentation
+
+=head2 Changes to Existing Documentation
+
+=head3 L<perlsyn>
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Fixed a broken example where C<=> was used instead of
+C<==> in conditional in do/while example.
+
+=back
+
+=head3 L<perlfunc>
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Better explain meaning of negative PIDs in C<waitpid>.
+L<[perl #127080]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=127080>
+
+=back
+
+=head3 L<perlgit>
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Move sample commands into verbatim paragraphs.
+
+=item *
+
+Improve hyperlinks for all email addresses, RT tickets
+and commit hashes.
+
+=item *
+
+Consistently refer to bisect.pl as F<Porting/bisect.pl>
+
+=item *
+
+Miscellaneous grammar and POD fixes.
+
+=back
+
+=head3 L<perlreftut>
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Fix some examples to be L<strict> clean.
+
+=back
+
+=head3 L<perlrebackslash>
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Clarify that in languages like Japanese and Thai, dictionary lookup
+is required to determine word boundaries.
+
+=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 Changes to Existing Diagnostics
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Accessing the C<IO> part of a glob as C<FILEHANDLE> instead of C<IO> is no
+longer deprecated.  It is discouraged to encourage uniformity (so that, for
+example, one can grep more easily) but it will not be removed.
+L<[perl #127060]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=127060>
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Configuration and Compilation
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+F<Configure> no longer probes for F<libnm> by default.  Originally
+this was the "New Math" library, but the name has been re-used by the
+GNOME NetworkManager.
+L<[perl #127131]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=127131>
+
+=item *
+
+No longer generate EBCDIC POSIX-BC tables.  We don't believe anyone is
+using Perl and POSIX-BC at this time, and by not generating these tables
+it saves time during development, and makes the resulting tar ball smaller.
+
+=item *
+
+The Win32 miniperl now has a real C<getcwd> which increases build performance
+resulting in C<getcwd()> being 605x faster in Win32 miniperl.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Platform Support
+
+=head2 Platform-Specific Notes
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+On VMS, the math function prototypes in C<math.h> are now visible under C++.
+Now building the POSIX extension with C++ will no longer crash.
+
+=item *
+
+VMS has had C<setenv/unsetenv> since v7.0 (released in 1996), C<Perl_vmssetenv>
+now always uses C<setenv/unsetenv>.
+
+=item *
+
+Try more crypt algorithms in the tests, for OpenBSD. OpenBSD implements the
+Blowfish algorithm, but not the MD5 one used by C<glibc>. Enhance the crypt and
+taint tests to try both algorithms. If neither works, fall back to no algorithm.
+The Blowfish salt is taken from the OpenBSD C<crypt(3)> page.
+
+=item *
+
+Use the C<fdclose()> function from FreeBSD if it is available.
+L<[perl #126847]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126847>
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Internal Changes
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+The obscure C<PL_timesbuf> variable, effectively a vestige of Perl 1, has
+been removed. It was documented as deprecated in Perl 5.20, with a statement
+that it would be removed early in the 5.21.x series; that has now finally
+happened.
+L<[perl #121351]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=121351>
+
+=item *
+
+Remove unwarranted assertion in C<Perl_newATTRSUB_x()>. If a stub subroutine
+definition with a prototype has been seen, then any subsequent stub (or
+definition) of the same subroutine with an attribute was causing an assertion
+failure because of a null pointer.
+L<[perl #126845]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126845>
+
+=item *
+
+Replace C<::> with C<__> in C<ExtUtils::ParseXS> like it's done for
+parameters/return values. This is more consistent, and simplifies writing XS
+code wrapping C++ classes into a nested Perl namespace (it requires only
+a typedef for C<Foo__Bar> rather than two, one for C<Foo_Bar> and the other
+for C<Foo::Bar>).
+
+=item *
+
+Deprecate the C<to_utf8_case()> function, see
+L<http://nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/233287>.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Selected Bug Fixes
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+A regression that allowed undeclared barewords in hash keys to work despite
+strictures has been fixed.
+L<[perl #126981]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126981>
+
+=item *
+
+Calls to the placeholder C<&PL_sv_yes> used internally when an C<import()>
+or C<unimport()> method isn't found now correctly handle scalar context.
+L<[perl #126042]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126042>
+
+=item *
+
+Fixed some problems introduced in 5.23.2 with list assignment dealing
+with magic and XS functions returning their arguments.
+L<[perl #126633]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126633>
+
+=item *
+
+Report more context when we see an array where we expect to see an
+operator and avoid an assertion failure.
+L<[perl #123737]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=123737>
+
+=item *
+
+Modifying an array that was previously a package C<@ISA> no longer
+causes assertion failures or crashes.
+L<[perl #123788]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=123788>
+
+=item *
+
+Retain binary compatibility across plain and DEBUGGING perl builds.
+L<[perl #127212]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=127212>
+
+=item *
+
+Avoid leaking memory when setting C<$ENV{foo}> on darwin.
+L<[perl #126240]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126240>
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Known Problems
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+Statically building perl is not currently working due to a problem
+related to multiple definitions of the C<cp1252_encoding> in the
+C<Encode> module.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Acknowledgements
+
+Perl 5.23.7 represents approximately 4 weeks of development since Perl 5.23.6
+and contains approximately 87,000 lines of changes across 450 files from 21
+authors.
+
+Excluding auto-generated files, documentation and release tools, there were
+approximately 67,000 lines of changes to 320 .pm, .t, .c and .h files.
+
+Perl continues to flourish into its third decade thanks to a vibrant community
+of users and developers. The following people are known to have contributed the
+improvements that became Perl 5.23.7:
+
+Aaron Crane, Andreas König, Andy Dougherty, Chris 'BinGOs' Williams, Craig A.
+Berry, Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsåker, Daniel Dragan, David Golden, David Mitchell,
+James E Keenan, Jarkko Hietaniemi, Karen Etheridge, Karl Williamson, Lukas Mai,
+Mattia Barbon, Ricardo Signes, Stevan Little, Steve Hay, Todd Rinaldo, Tom
+Hukins, Tony Cook.
+
+The list above is almost certainly incomplete as it is automatically generated
+from version control history. In particular, it does not include the names of
+the (very much appreciated) contributors who reported issues to the Perl bug
+tracker.
+
+Many of the changes included in this version originated in the CPAN modules
+included in Perl's core. We're grateful to the entire CPAN community for
+helping Perl to flourish.
+
+For a more complete list of all of Perl's historical contributors, please see
+the F<AUTHORS> file in the Perl source distribution.
+
+=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
+L<https://rt.perl.org/> .  There may also be information at
+L<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 will 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 cad0892fc7..1493551e23 100644
--- a/pod/perldelta.pod
+++ b/pod/perldelta.pod
@@ -2,405 +2,383 @@
 
 =head1 NAME
 
-perldelta - what is new for perl v5.23.7
+[ this is a template for a new perldelta file.  Any text flagged as XXX needs
+to be processed before release. ]
+
+perldelta - what is new for perl v5.23.8
 
 =head1 DESCRIPTION
 
-This document describes differences between the 5.23.6 release and the 5.23.7
+This document describes differences between the 5.23.7 release and the 5.23.8
 release.
 
-If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.23.5, first read
-L<perl5236delta>, which describes differences between 5.23.5 and 5.23.6.
-
-=head1 Core Enhancements
+If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.23.6, first read
+L<perl5237delta>, which describes differences between 5.23.6 and 5.23.7.
 
-=head2 New C<\b{lb}> boundary in regular expressions
+=head1 Notice
 
-C<lb> stands for Line Break.  It is a Unicode property
-that determines where a line of text is suitable to break (typically so
-that it can be output without overflowing the available horizontal
-space).  This capability has long been furnished by the
-L<Unicode::LineBreak> module, but now a light-weight, non-customizable
-version that is suitable for many purposes is in core Perl.
+XXX Any important notices here
 
-=head1 Security
-
-=head2 fix out of boundary access in Win32 path handling
+=head1 Core Enhancements
 
-This is CVE-2015-8608.  For more information see
-L<[perl #126755]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126755>
+XXX New core language features go here.  Summarize user-visible core language
+enhancements.  Particularly prominent performance optimisations could go
+here, but most should go in the L</Performance Enhancements> section.
 
-=head2 fix loss of taint in canonpath
+[ List each enhancement as a =head2 entry ]
 
-This is CVE-2015-8607.  For more information see
-L<[perl #126862]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126862>
+=head1 Security
 
-=head2 Avoid accessing uninitialized memory in win32 C<crypt()>
+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.
 
-Added validation that will detect both a short salt and invalid characters
-in the salt.  L<[perl #126922]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126922>
+[ List each security issue as a =head2 entry ]
 
 =head1 Incompatible Changes
 
-=head2 C<qr/\b{wb}/> is now tailored to Perl expectations
+XXX For a release on a stable branch, this section aspires to be:
 
-This is now more suited to be a drop-in replacement for plain C<\b>, but
-giving better results for parsing natural language.  Previously it
-strictly followed the current Unicode rules which calls for it to match
-between each white space character.  Now it doesn't generally match
-within spans of white space, behaving like C<\b> does.  See
-L<perlrebackslash/\b{wb}>
+    There are no changes intentionally incompatible with 5.XXX.XXX
+    If any exist, they are bugs, and we request that you submit a
+    report.  See L</Reporting Bugs> below.
 
-=head1 Modules and Pragmata
+[ List each incompatible change as a =head2 entry ]
 
-=head2 Updated Modules and Pragmata
+=head1 Deprecations
 
-=over 4
+XXX Any deprecated features, syntax, modules etc. should be listed here.
 
-=item *
-
-The F<cpan/podlators/> bundle has been upgraded from version 2.28 to 4.04.
-
-=item *
+=head2 Module removals
 
-L<B> has been upgraded from version 1.61 to 1.62.
+XXX Remove this section if inapplicable.
 
-=item *
+The following modules will be removed from the core distribution in a
+future release, and will at that time need to be installed from CPAN.
+Distributions on CPAN which require these modules will need to list them as
+prerequisites.
 
-L<B::Deparse> has been upgraded from version 1.36 to 1.37.
+The core versions of these modules will now issue C<"deprecated">-category
+warnings to alert you to this fact.  To silence these deprecation warnings,
+install the modules in question from CPAN.
 
-=item *
+Note that these are (with rare exceptions) fine modules that you are encouraged
+to continue to use.  Their disinclusion from core primarily hinges on their
+necessity to bootstrapping a fully functional, CPAN-capable Perl installation,
+not usually on concerns over their design.
 
-L<Benchmark> has been upgraded from version 1.21 to 1.22.
+=over
 
-=item *
+=item XXX
 
-L<bignum> has been upgraded from version 0.41 to 0.42.
+XXX Note that deprecated modules should be listed here even if they are listed
+as an updated module in the L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
 
-=item *
+=back
 
-L<Data::Dumper> has been upgraded from version 2.159 to 2.160.
+[ List each other deprecation as a =head2 entry ]
 
-=item *
+=head1 Performance Enhancements
 
-L<ExtUtils::ParseXS> has been upgraded from version 3.30 to 3.31.
+XXX Changes which enhance performance without changing behaviour go here.
+There may well be none in a stable release.
 
-=item *
+[ List each enhancement as a =item entry ]
 
-L<ExtUtils::Typemaps> has been upgraded from version 3.30 to 3.31.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-L<File::Find> has been upgraded from version 1.32 to 1.33.
+XXX
 
-=item *
+=back
 
-L<File::Spec> has been upgraded from version 3.60 to 3.62.
+=head1 Modules and Pragmata
 
-=item *
+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>.  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.
 
-L<Math::BigInt> has been upgraded from version 1.999710 to 1.999715.
+[ Within each section, list entries as a =item entry ]
 
-=item *
+=head2 New Modules and Pragmata
 
-L<Math::BigInt::FastCalc> has been upgraded from version 0.38 to 0.40.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-L<Math::BigRat> has been upgraded from version 0.260801 to 0.260802.
+XXX
 
-=item *
-
-L<Module::CoreList> has been upgraded from version 5.20151220 to 5.20160120.
+=back
 
-=item *
+=head2 Updated Modules and Pragmata
 
-L<Pod::Usage> has been upgraded from version 1.67 to 1.68.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-L<Test::Harness> has been upgraded from version 3.35 to 3.36.
-
-=item *
+L<XXX> has been upgraded from version A.xx to B.yy.
 
-L<Unicode::Normalize> has been upgraded from version 1.24 to 1.25.
+=back
 
-=item *
+=head2 Removed Modules and Pragmata
 
-L<Unicode::UCD> has been upgraded from version 0.63 to 0.64.
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-L<utf8> has been upgraded from version 1.18 to 1.19.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
 =head1 Documentation
 
-=head2 Changes to Existing Documentation
+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>.
 
-=head3 L<perlsyn>
+=head2 New Documentation
 
-=over 4
+XXX Changes which create B<new> files in F<pod/> go here.
 
-=item *
+=head3 L<XXX>
 
-Fixed a broken example where C<=> was used instead of
-C<==> in conditional in do/while example.
+XXX Description of the purpose of the new file here
 
-=back
+=head2 Changes to Existing Documentation
 
-=head3 L<perlfunc>
+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.
+
+=head3 L<XXX>
 
 =over 4
 
 =item *
 
-Better explain meaning of negative PIDs in C<waitpid>.
-L<[perl #127080]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=127080>
+XXX Description of the change here
 
 =back
 
-=head3 L<perlgit>
-
-=over 4
+=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>.
 
-Move sample commands into verbatim paragraphs.
+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.
 
-=item *
+=head2 New Diagnostics
 
-Improve hyperlinks for all email addresses, RT tickets
-and commit hashes.
+XXX Newly added diagnostic messages go under here, separated into New Errors
+and New Warnings
 
-=item *
+=head3 New Errors
 
-Consistently refer to bisect.pl as F<Porting/bisect.pl>
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-Miscellaneous grammar and POD fixes.
+XXX L<message|perldiag/"message">
 
 =back
 
-=head3 L<perlreftut>
+=head3 New Warnings
 
 =over 4
 
 =item *
 
-Fix some examples to be L<strict> clean.
+XXX L<message|perldiag/"message">
 
 =back
 
-=head3 L<perlrebackslash>
+=head2 Changes to Existing Diagnostics
+
+XXX Changes (i.e. rewording) of diagnostic messages go here
 
 =over 4
 
 =item *
 
-Clarify that in languages like Japanese and Thai, dictionary lookup
-is required to determine word boundaries.
+XXX Describe change here
 
 =back
 
-=head1 Diagnostics
+=head1 Utility Changes
 
-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 Changes to installed programs such as F<perlbug> and F<xsubpp> go here.
+Most of these are built within the directory F<utils>.
 
-=head2 Changes to Existing Diagnostics
+[ List utility changes as a =head2 entry for each utility and =item
+entries for each change
+Use L<XXX> with program names to get proper documentation linking. ]
+
+=head2 L<XXX>
 
 =over 4
 
 =item *
 
-Accessing the C<IO> part of a glob as C<FILEHANDLE> instead of C<IO> is no
-longer deprecated.  It is discouraged to encourage uniformity (so that, for
-example, one can grep more easily) but it will not be removed.
-L<[perl #127060]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=127060>
+XXX
 
 =back
 
 =head1 Configuration and Compilation
 
+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.
+
+[ List changes as a =item entry ].
+
 =over 4
 
 =item *
 
-F<Configure> no longer probes for F<libnm> by default.  Originally
-this was the "New Math" library, but the name has been re-used by the
-GNOME NetworkManager.
-L<[perl #127131]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=127131>
+XXX
 
-=item *
+=back
+
+=head1 Testing
+
+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 summarizing, although the bugs
+that they represent may be covered elsewhere.
 
-No longer generate EBCDIC POSIX-BC tables.  We don't believe anyone is
-using Perl and POSIX-BC at this time, and by not generating these tables
-it saves time during development, and makes the resulting tar ball smaller.
+[ List each test improvement as a =item entry ]
+
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-The Win32 miniperl now has a real C<getcwd> which increases build performance
-resulting in C<getcwd()> being 605x faster in Win32 miniperl.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
 =head1 Platform Support
 
-=head2 Platform-Specific Notes
+XXX Any changes to platform support should be listed in the sections below.
+
+[ Within the sections, list each platform as a =item entry with specific
+changes as paragraphs below it. ]
+
+=head2 New Platforms
+
+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
 
-On VMS, the math function prototypes in C<math.h> are now visible under C++.
-Now building the POSIX extension with C++ will no longer crash.
+XXX
 
-=item *
+=back
 
-VMS has had C<setenv/unsetenv> since v7.0 (released in 1996), C<Perl_vmssetenv>
-now always uses C<setenv/unsetenv>.
+=head2 Discontinued Platforms
 
-=item *
+XXX List any platforms that this version of perl no longer compiles on.
 
-Try more crypt algorithms in the tests, for OpenBSD. OpenBSD implements the
-Blowfish algorithm, but not the MD5 one used by C<glibc>. Enhance the crypt and
-taint tests to try both algorithms. If neither works, fall back to no algorithm.
-The Blowfish salt is taken from the OpenBSD C<crypt(3)> page.
+=over 4
 
-=item *
+=item XXX-some-platform
 
-Use the C<fdclose()> function from FreeBSD if it is available.
-L<[perl #126847]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126847>
+XXX
 
 =back
 
-=head1 Internal Changes
+=head2 Platform-Specific Notes
+
+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.
 
 =over 4
 
-=item *
+=item XXX-some-platform
 
-The obscure C<PL_timesbuf> variable, effectively a vestige of Perl 1, has
-been removed. It was documented as deprecated in Perl 5.20, with a statement
-that it would be removed early in the 5.21.x series; that has now finally
-happened.
-L<[perl #121351]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=121351>
+XXX
 
-=item *
+=back
 
-Remove unwarranted assertion in C<Perl_newATTRSUB_x()>. If a stub subroutine
-definition with a prototype has been seen, then any subsequent stub (or
-definition) of the same subroutine with an attribute was causing an assertion
-failure because of a null pointer.
-L<[perl #126845]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126845>
+=head1 Internal Changes
 
-=item *
+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.
+
+[ List each change as a =item entry ]
 
-Replace C<::> with C<__> in C<ExtUtils::ParseXS> like it's done for
-parameters/return values. This is more consistent, and simplifies writing XS
-code wrapping C++ classes into a nested Perl namespace (it requires only
-a typedef for C<Foo__Bar> rather than two, one for C<Foo_Bar> and the other
-for C<Foo::Bar>).
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-Deprecate the C<to_utf8_case()> function, see
-L<http://nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/233287>.
+XXX
 
 =back
 
 =head1 Selected Bug Fixes
 
-=over 4
-
-=item *
+XXX Important bug fixes in the core language are summarized here.  Bug fixes in
+files in F<ext/> and F<lib/> are best summarized in L</Modules and Pragmata>.
 
-A regression that allowed undeclared barewords in hash keys to work despite
-strictures has been fixed.
-L<[perl #126981]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126981>
+[ List each fix as a =item entry ]
 
-=item *
-
-Calls to the placeholder C<&PL_sv_yes> used internally when an C<import()>
-or C<unimport()> method isn't found now correctly handle scalar context.
-L<[perl #126042]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126042>
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-Fixed some problems introduced in 5.23.2 with list assignment dealing
-with magic and XS functions returning their arguments.
-L<[perl #126633]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126633>
+XXX
 
-=item *
-
-Report more context when we see an array where we expect to see an
-operator and avoid an assertion failure.
-L<[perl #123737]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=123737>
+=back
 
-=item *
+=head1 Known Problems
 
-Modifying an array that was previously a package C<@ISA> no longer
-causes assertion failures or crashes.
-L<[perl #123788]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=123788>
+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.  Unfixed
+platform specific bugs also go here.
 
-=item *
+[ List each fix as a =item entry ]
 
-Retain binary compatibility across plain and DEBUGGING perl builds.
-L<[perl #127212]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=127212>
+=over 4
 
 =item *
 
-Avoid leaking memory when setting C<$ENV{foo}> on darwin.
-L<[perl #126240]|https://rt.perl.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=126240>
+XXX
 
 =back
 
-=head1 Known Problems
+=head1 Errata From Previous Releases
 
 =over 4
 
 =item *
 
-Statically building perl is not currently working due to a problem
-related to multiple definitions of the C<cp1252_encoding> in the
-C<Encode> module.
+XXX Add anything here that we forgot to add, or were mistaken about, in
+the perldelta of a previous release.
 
 =back
 
-=head1 Acknowledgements
-
-Perl 5.23.7 represents approximately 4 weeks of development since Perl 5.23.6
-and contains approximately 87,000 lines of changes across 450 files from 21
-authors.
+=head1 Obituary
 
-Excluding auto-generated files, documentation and release tools, there were
-approximately 67,000 lines of changes to 320 .pm, .t, .c and .h files.
+XXX If any significant core contributor has died, we've added a short obituary
+here.
 
-Perl continues to flourish into its third decade thanks to a vibrant community
-of users and developers. The following people are known to have contributed the
-improvements that became Perl 5.23.7:
-
-Aaron Crane, Andreas König, Andy Dougherty, Chris 'BinGOs' Williams, Craig A.
-Berry, Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsåker, Daniel Dragan, David Golden, David Mitchell,
-James E Keenan, Jarkko Hietaniemi, Karen Etheridge, Karl Williamson, Lukas Mai,
-Mattia Barbon, Ricardo Signes, Stevan Little, Steve Hay, Todd Rinaldo, Tom
-Hukins, Tony Cook.
-
-The list above is almost certainly incomplete as it is automatically generated
-from version control history. In particular, it does not include the names of
-the (very much appreciated) contributors who reported issues to the Perl bug
-tracker.
+=head1 Acknowledgements
 
-Many of the changes included in this version originated in the CPAN modules
-included in Perl's core. We're grateful to the entire CPAN community for
-helping Perl to flourish.
+XXX Generate this with:
 
-For a more complete list of all of Perl's historical contributors, please see
-the F<AUTHORS> file in the Perl source distribution.
+  perl Porting/acknowledgements.pl v5.23.7..HEAD
 
 =head1 Reporting Bugs
 
diff --git a/vms/descrip_mms.template b/vms/descrip_mms.template
index 7382f62288..26d0624e35 100644
--- a/vms/descrip_mms.template
+++ b/vms/descrip_mms.template
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ utils : $(utils1) $(utils2) $(utils3) $(utils4) $(utils5)
 extra.pods : miniperl
 	@ @extra_pods.com
 
-PERLDELTA_CURRENT = [.pod]perl5237delta.pod
+PERLDELTA_CURRENT = [.pod]perl5238delta.pod
 
 $(PERLDELTA_CURRENT) : [.pod]perldelta.pod
 	Copy/NoConfirm/Log $(MMS$SOURCE) $(PERLDELTA_CURRENT)
diff --git a/win32/GNUmakefile b/win32/GNUmakefile
index cd2107e6a2..62f562cc13 100644
--- a/win32/GNUmakefile
+++ b/win32/GNUmakefile
@@ -1127,7 +1127,7 @@ utils: $(PERLEXE) ..\utils\Makefile
 	copy ..\README.tw       ..\pod\perltw.pod
 	copy ..\README.vos      ..\pod\perlvos.pod
 	copy ..\README.win32    ..\pod\perlwin32.pod
-	copy ..\pod\perldelta.pod ..\pod\perl5237delta.pod
+	copy ..\pod\perldelta.pod ..\pod\perl5238delta.pod
 	$(PERLEXE) $(PL2BAT) $(UTILS)
 	$(MINIPERL) -I..\lib ..\autodoc.pl ..
 	$(MINIPERL) -I..\lib ..\pod\perlmodlib.PL -q ..
@@ -1222,7 +1222,7 @@ distclean: realclean
 	-if exist $(LIBDIR)\Win32API rmdir /s /q $(LIBDIR)\Win32API
 	-if exist $(LIBDIR)\XS rmdir /s /q $(LIBDIR)\XS
 	-cd $(PODDIR) && del /f *.html *.bat roffitall \
-	    perl5237delta.pod perlaix.pod perlamiga.pod perlandroid.pod \
+	    perl5238delta.pod perlaix.pod perlamiga.pod perlandroid.pod \
 	    perlapi.pod perlbs2000.pod perlce.pod perlcn.pod perlcygwin.pod \
 	    perldos.pod perlfreebsd.pod perlhaiku.pod perlhpux.pod \
 	    perlhurd.pod perlintern.pod perlirix.pod perljp.pod perlko.pod \
diff --git a/win32/Makefile b/win32/Makefile
index b2fb8f54fd..15127b96b2 100644
--- a/win32/Makefile
+++ b/win32/Makefile
@@ -1216,7 +1216,7 @@ utils: $(PERLEXE) ..\utils\Makefile
 	copy ..\README.tw       ..\pod\perltw.pod
 	copy ..\README.vos      ..\pod\perlvos.pod
 	copy ..\README.win32    ..\pod\perlwin32.pod
-	copy ..\pod\perldelta.pod ..\pod\perl5237delta.pod
+	copy ..\pod\perldelta.pod ..\pod\perl5238delta.pod
 	cd ..\win32
 	$(PERLEXE) $(PL2BAT) $(UTILS)
 	$(MINIPERL) -I..\lib ..\autodoc.pl ..
@@ -1313,7 +1313,7 @@ distclean: realclean
 	-if exist $(LIBDIR)\Win32API rmdir /s /q $(LIBDIR)\Win32API
 	-if exist $(LIBDIR)\XS rmdir /s /q $(LIBDIR)\XS
 	-cd $(PODDIR) && del /f *.html *.bat roffitall \
-	    perl5237delta.pod perlaix.pod perlamiga.pod perlandroid.pod \
+	    perl5238delta.pod perlaix.pod perlamiga.pod perlandroid.pod \
 	    perlapi.pod perlbs2000.pod perlce.pod perlcn.pod perlcygwin.pod \
 	    perldos.pod perlfreebsd.pod perlhaiku.pod perlhpux.pod \
 	    perlhurd.pod perlintern.pod perlirix.pod perljp.pod perlko.pod \
diff --git a/win32/makefile.mk b/win32/makefile.mk
index ee92417e23..53f3263fbb 100644
--- a/win32/makefile.mk
+++ b/win32/makefile.mk
@@ -1539,7 +1539,7 @@ utils: $(HAVEMINIPERL) ..\utils\Makefile
 	copy ..\README.tw       ..\pod\perltw.pod
 	copy ..\README.vos      ..\pod\perlvos.pod
 	copy ..\README.win32    ..\pod\perlwin32.pod
-	copy ..\pod\perldelta.pod ..\pod\perl5237delta.pod
+	copy ..\pod\perldelta.pod ..\pod\perl5238delta.pod
 	$(MINIPERL) -I..\lib $(PL2BAT) $(UTILS)
 	$(MINIPERL) -I..\lib ..\autodoc.pl ..
 	$(MINIPERL) -I..\lib ..\pod\perlmodlib.PL -q ..
@@ -1635,7 +1635,7 @@ distclean: realclean
 	-if exist $(LIBDIR)\Win32API rmdir /s /q $(LIBDIR)\Win32API
 	-if exist $(LIBDIR)\XS rmdir /s /q $(LIBDIR)\XS
 	-cd $(PODDIR) && del /f *.html *.bat roffitall \
-	    perl5237delta.pod perlaix.pod perlamiga.pod perlandroid.pod \
+	    perl5238delta.pod perlaix.pod perlamiga.pod perlandroid.pod \
 	    perlapi.pod perlbs2000.pod perlce.pod perlcn.pod perlcygwin.pod \
 	    perldos.pod perlfreebsd.pod perlhaiku.pod perlhpux.pod \
 	    perlhurd.pod perlintern.pod perlirix.pod perljp.pod perlko.pod \
diff --git a/win32/pod.mak b/win32/pod.mak
index 6a13061d2b..8834156ce1 100644
--- a/win32/pod.mak
+++ b/win32/pod.mak
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ POD = perl.pod	\
 	perl5235delta.pod	\
 	perl5236delta.pod	\
 	perl5237delta.pod	\
+	perl5238delta.pod	\
 	perl561delta.pod	\
 	perl56delta.pod	\
 	perl581delta.pod	\
@@ -194,6 +195,7 @@ MAN = perl.man	\
 	perl5235delta.man	\
 	perl5236delta.man	\
 	perl5237delta.man	\
+	perl5238delta.man	\
 	perl561delta.man	\
 	perl56delta.man	\
 	perl581delta.man	\
@@ -338,6 +340,7 @@ HTML = perl.html	\
 	perl5235delta.html	\
 	perl5236delta.html	\
 	perl5237delta.html	\
+	perl5238delta.html	\
 	perl561delta.html	\
 	perl56delta.html	\
 	perl581delta.html	\
@@ -482,6 +485,7 @@ TEX = perl.tex	\
 	perl5235delta.tex	\
 	perl5236delta.tex	\
 	perl5237delta.tex	\
+	perl5238delta.tex	\
 	perl561delta.tex	\
 	perl56delta.tex	\
 	perl581delta.tex	\