NAME

       Dist::Zilla::Tutorial - how to use this "Dist::Zilla" thing

VERSION

       version 6.010

SYNOPSIS

       BEFORE YOU GET STARTED:  Maybe you should be looking at the web-based tutorial instead.  It's more
       complete.  <http://dzil.org/tutorial/start.html>

       Dist::Zilla builds distributions to be uploaded to the CPAN.  That means that the first thing you'll need
       is some code.

       Once you've got that, you'll need to configure Dist::Zilla.  Here's a simple dist.ini:

         name    = Carbon-Dating
         version = 0.003
         author  = Alan Smithee <asmithee@example.org>
         license = Perl_5
         copyright_holder = Alan Smithee

         [@Basic]

         [Prereqs]
         App::Cmd          = 0.013
         Number::Nary      = 0
         Sub::Exporter     = 0.981

       The topmost section configures Dist::Zilla itself.  Here are some of the entries it expects:

         name     - (required) the name of the dist being built
         version  - (required) the version of the dist
         abstract - (required) a short description of the dist
         author   - (optional) the dist author (you may have multiple entries for this)
         license  - (required) the dist license; must be a Software::License::* name

         copyright_holder - (required) the entity holding copyright on the dist

       Some of the required values above may actually be provided by means other than the top-level section of
       the config.  For example, VersionProvider plugins can set the version, and a line like this in the "main
       module" of the dist will set the abstract:

         # ABSTRACT: a totally cool way to do totally great stuff

       The main modules is the module that shares the same name as the dist, in general.

       Named sections load plugins, with the following rules:

       If a section name begins with an equals sign ("="), the rest of the section name is left intact and not
       expanded.  If the section name begins with an at sign ("@"), it is prepended with
       "Dist::Zilla::PluginBundle::".  Otherwise, it is prepended with "Dist::Zilla::Plugin::".

       The values inside a section are given as configuration to the plugin.  Consult each plugin's
       documentation for more information.

       The "Basic" bundle, seen above, builds a fairly normal distribution.  It rewrites tests from ./xt, adds
       some information to POD, and builds a Makefile.PL.  For more information, you can look at the docs for
       @Basic and see the plugins it includes.

BUILDING YOUR DIST

       Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves, here.  Configuring a bunch of plugins won't do you a lot of good
       unless you know how to use them to build your dist.

       Dist::Zilla ships with a command called dzil that will get installed by default.  While it can be
       extended to offer more commands, there are two really useful ones:

         $ dzil build

       The "build" command will build the distribution.  Say you're using the configuration in the SYNOPSIS
       above.  You'll end up with a file called Carbon-Dating-0.004.tar.gz.  As long as you've done everything
       right, it will be suitable for uploading to the CPAN.

       Of course, you should really test it out first.  You can test the dist you'd be building by running
       another dzil command:

         $ dzil test

       This will build a new copy of your distribution and run its tests, so you'll know whether the dist that
       "build" would build is worth releasing!

HOW BUILDS GET BUILT

       This is really more of a sketchy overview than a spec.

       First, all the plugins that perform the BeforeBuild perform their "before_build" tasks.

       The build root (where the dist is being built) is made.

       The FileGatherers gather and inject files into the distribution, then the FilePruners remove some of
       them.

       All the FileMungers get a chance to muck about with each file, possibly changing its name, content, or
       installability.

       Now that the distribution is basically set up, it needs an install tool, like a Makefile.PL.  All the
       InstallTool-performing plugins are used to do whatever is needed to make the dist installable.

       Everything is just about done.  The files are all written out to disk and the AfterBuild plugins do their
       thing.

RELEASING YOUR DIST

       By running "dzil release", you'll test your distribution, build a tarball of it, and upload it to the
       CPAN.  Plugins are able to do things like check your version control system to make sure you're releasing
       a new version and that you tag the version you've just uploaded.  It can also update your Changelog file,
       too, making sure that you don't need to know what your next version number will be before releasing.

       The final CPAN release process is implemented by the UploadToCPAN plugin. However you can replace it by
       your own to match your own (company?) process.

SEE ALSO

       dzil

AUTHOR

       Ricardo SIGNES 😏 <rjbs@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

       This software is copyright (c) 2017 by Ricardo SIGNES.

       This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5
       programming language system itself.