CPAN Tools

For the last 6 months, at the new job I've been coding as though I was distributing to CPAN --even when not distributing is the much more common case. And it has been amazing, Mainly because of the toolkits available. There are 2 major niceties:

Module Construction

It used to be that that you had to "ALWAYS BEGIN WITH H2XS!" . This was fine advise for distribution but I never found it usable - much less a productivity enhancer. These days I use Module::Starter and am a VERY happy camper -- particularly when I use it inconjunction with Damian's Module::Starter::PBP. An Excellent way to get rolling.

Module Distribution

I find that compared with a lot of the distribution hacks I've used over my career ExtUtils::MakeMaker doesn't actually suck. Module::Build very nearly rocks. And Autrijus's ExtUtils::AutoInstall rocks hard. The last is a must when distributing you're modules out without a local CPAN site - It integrates prereqs and CPAN installs with you make process.

Finally I've found that building projects in this fashion helps in little ways. You get used to using make test - and as such you test driven development becomes easier. You think more about distribution, and where a Module ends and a new one begins. Documentation, and Help get baked in as you go, etc, etc.

I truly think this is the way to go even when stuck behind a firewall ....

Add your comments