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Diffstat (limited to 'Porting')
| -rw-r--r-- | Porting/pumpkin.pod | 133 |
1 files changed, 63 insertions, 70 deletions
diff --git a/Porting/pumpkin.pod b/Porting/pumpkin.pod index 8e83d74b87..55c1eb84b4 100644 --- a/Porting/pumpkin.pod +++ b/Porting/pumpkin.pod @@ -47,63 +47,46 @@ Archives of the list are held at: =head1 How are Perl Releases Numbered? -Perl version numbers are floating point numbers, such as 5.004. -(Observations about the imprecision of floating point numbers for -representing reality probably have more relevance than you might -imagine :-) The major version number is 5 and the '004' is the -patchlevel. (Questions such as whether or not '004' is really a minor -version number can safely be ignored.:) +Beginning with v5.6.0, even versions will stand for maintenance releases +and odd versions for development releases, i.e., v5.6.x for maintenance +releases, and v5.7.x for development releases. Before v5.6.0, subversions +_01 through _49 were reserved for bug-fix maintenance releases, and +subversions _50 through _99 for unstable development versions. -The version number is available as the magic variable $], -and can be used in comparisons, e.g. +For example, in v5.6.1, the revision number is 5, the version is 6, +and 1 is the subversion. - print "You've got an old perl\n" if $] < 5.002; +For compatibility with the older numbering scheme the composite floating +point version number continues to be available as the magic variable $], +and amounts to C<$revision + $version/1000 + $subversion/1000000>. This +can still be used in comparisons. -You can also require particular version (or later) with + print "You've got an old perl\n" if $] < 5.005_03; - use 5.002; +In addition, the version is also available as a string in $^V. -At some point in the future, we may need to decide what to call the -next big revision. In the .package file used by metaconfig to -generate Configure, there are two variables that might be relevant: -$baserev=5.0 and $package=perl5. At various times, I have suggested -we might change them to $baserev=5.1 and $package=perl5.1 if want -to signify a fairly major update. Or, we might want to jump to perl6. -Let's worry about that problem when we get there. + print "You've got a new perl\n" if $^V and $^V ge v5.6.0; -=head2 Subversions +You can also require particular version (or later) with: -In addition, there usually are sub-versions available. Sub-versions -are numbered with sub-version numbers. For example, version 5.003_04 -is the 4'th developer version built on top of 5.003. It might include -the _01, _02, and _03 changes, but it also might not. Sub-versions are -allowed to be subversive. (But see the next section for recent -changes.) + use 5.006; -These sub-versions can also be used as floating point numbers, so -you can do things such as +or using the new syntax available only from v5.6 onward: - print "You've got an unstable perl\n" if $] == 5.00303; + use v5.6.0; -You can also require particular version (or later) with - - use 5.003_03; # the "_" is optional +At some point in the future, we may need to decide what to call the +next big revision. In the .package file used by metaconfig to +generate Configure, there are two variables that might be relevant: +$baserev=5 and $package=perl5. -Sub-versions produced by the members of perl5-porters are usually +Perl releases produced by the members of perl5-porters are usually available on CPAN in the F<src/5.0/maint> and F<src/5.0/devel> directories. =head2 Maintenance and Development Subversions -Starting with version 5.004, subversions _01 through _49 are reserved -for bug-fix maintenance releases, and subversions _50 through _99 for -unstable development versions. - -The separate bug-fix track is being established to allow us an easy -way to distribute important bug fixes without waiting for the -developers to untangle all the other problems in the current -developer's release. The first rule of maintenance work is "First, do -no harm." +The first rule of maintenance work is "First, do no harm." Trial releases of bug-fix maintenance releases are announced on perl5-porters. Trial releases use the new subversion number (to avoid @@ -113,17 +96,12 @@ string C<MAINT_TRIAL> to make clear that the file is not meant for public consumption. In general, the names of official distribution files for the public -always match the regular expression - - ^perl5\.\d{3}(_[0-4]\d)?\.tar\.gz$ +always match the regular expression: -Developer releases always match + ^perl\d+\.(\d+)\.\d+(-MAINT_TRIAL_\d+)\.tar\.gz$ - ^perl5\.\d{3}(_[5-9]\d)?\.tar\.gz$ - -And the trial versions for a new maintainance release match - - ^perl5\.\d{3}(_[0-4]\d)-MAINT_TRIAL_\d+\.tar\.gz$ +C<$1> in the pattern is always an even number for maintenance +versions, and odd for developer releases. In the past it has been observed that pumkings tend to invent new naming conventions on the fly. If you are a pumpking, before you @@ -132,26 +110,6 @@ please inform the guys from the CPAN who are doing indexing and provide the trees of symlinks and the like. They will have to know I<in advance> what you decide. -=head2 Why such a complicated scheme? - -Two reasons, really. At least. - -First, we need some way to identify and release collections of patches -that are known to have new features that need testing and exploration. The -subversion scheme does that nicely while fitting into the -C<use 5.004;> mold. - -Second, since most of the folks who help maintain perl do so on a -free-time voluntary basis, perl development does not proceed at a -precise pace, though it always seems to be moving ahead quickly. -We needed some way to pass around the "patch pumpkin" to allow -different people chances to work on different aspects of the -distribution without getting in each other's way. It wouldn't be -constructive to have multiple people working on incompatible -implementations of the same idea. Instead what was needed was -some kind of "baton" or "token" to pass around so everyone knew -whose turn was next. - =head2 Why is it called the patch pumpkin? Chip Salzenberg gets credit for that, with a nod to his cow orker, @@ -743,6 +701,41 @@ supports dynamic loading, you can also test static loading with You can also hand-tweak your config.h to try out different #ifdef branches. +=head1 Purify runs + +Purify is a commercial tool that is helpful in identifying memory +overruns, wild pointers, memory leaks and other such badness. Perl +must be compiled in a specific way for optimal testing with Purify. + +Use the following commands to test perl with Purify: + + sh Configure -des -Doptimize=-g -Uusemymalloc -Dusemultiplicity \ + -Accflags=-DPURIFY + setenv PURIFYOPTIONS "-chain-length=25" + make all pureperl + cd t + ln -s ../pureperl perl + ./perl TEST + +Disabling Perl's malloc allows Purify to monitor allocations and leaks +more closely; using Perl's malloc will make Purify report most leaks +in the "potential" leaks category. Enabling the multiplicity option +allows perl to clean up thoroughly when the interpreter shuts down, which +reduces the number of bogus leak reports from Purify. The -DPURIFY +enables any Purify-specific debugging code in the sources. + +Purify outputs messages in "Viewer" windows by default. If you don't have +a windowing environment or if you simply want the Purify output to +unobtrusively go to a log file instead of to the interactive window, +use the following options instead: + + setenv PURIFYOPTIONS "-chain-length=25 -windows=no -log-file=perl.log \ + -append-logfile=yes" + +The only currently known leaks happen when there are compile-time errors +within eval or require. (Fixing these is non-trivial, unfortunately, but +they must be fixed eventually.) + =head1 Common Gotcha's =over 4 |