NAME

       HACKING.pod - contributing to TAP::Harness

ABOUT

       This is the guide for TAP::Harness internals contributors (developers, testers,
       documenters.)

       If you are looking for more information on how to use TAP::Harness, you probably want
       <http://testanything.org/testing-with-tap/perl/tap::parser-cookbook.html> instead.

Getting Started

       See the resources section in META.yml or Build.PL for links to the project mailing list,
       bug tracker, svn repository, etc.

       For ease of reference, at the time of writing the SVN repository was at:

         http://svn.hexten.net/tapx

       To get the latest version of trunk:

         git clone git://github.com/Perl-Toolchain-Gang/Test-Harness.git

       For best results, read the rest of this file, check RT for bugs which scratch your itch,
       join the mailing list, etc.

Formatting

   perltidy
       The project comes with a ".perltidyrc", which perltidy will automatically use if the
       project root is your working directory.  This is setup by default to read and write the
       perl code on a pipe.  To configure your editor:

       •   vim

           In ".vimrc", you can add the following lines:

            nnoremap <Leader>pt :%!perltidy -q<cr> " only work in 'normal' mode
            vnoremap <Leader>pt :!perltidy -q<cr>  " only work in 'visual' mode

           In other words, if your "Leader" is a backslash, you can type "\pt" to reformat the
           file using the ".perltidyrc".  If you are in visual mode (selecting lines with shift-
           v), then only the code you have currently have selected will be reformatted.

       •   emacs

           For emacs, you can use this snippet from Sam Tregar
           (<http://use.perl.org/~samtregar/journal/30185>):

            (defun perltidy-region ()
               "Run perltidy on the current region."
               (interactive)
               (save-excursion
                 (shell-command-on-region (point) (mark) "perltidy -q" nil t)
                 (cperl-mode)))

            (defun perltidy-all ()
               "Run perltidy on the current region."
               (interactive)
               (let ((p (point)))
                 (save-excursion
                   (shell-command-on-region (point-min) (point-max) "perltidy -q" nil t)
                   )
                 (goto-char p)
                 (cperl-mode)))

            (global-set-key "\M-t" `perltidy-region)
            (global-set-key "\M-T" `perltidy-all)

Tests and Coverage

       ...

Writing for Compatibility

       ...

Use TAP::Object

       TAP::Object is the common base class to all TAP::* modules, and should be for any that you
       write.

Exception Handling

       Exceptions should be raised with Carp:

         require Carp;
         Carp::croak("Unsupported syntax version: $version");

         require Carp;
         Carp::confess("Unsupported syntax version: $version");

Deprecation cycle

       Any documented sub that needs to be changed or removed (and would therefore cause a
       backwards-compat issue) must go through a deprecation cycle to give developers a chance to
       adjust:

         1. Document the deprecation
         2. Carp a suitable message
         3. Release
         4. Change the code
         5. Release

Documentation

       The end-user and API documentation is all in the 'lib/' directory.  In .pm files, the pod
       is "inline" to the code.  See perlpod for more about pod.

   Pod Commands
       For compatibility's sake, we do not use the =head3 and =head4 commands.

       "=head1 SECTION"
           Sections begin with an "=head1" command and are all-caps.

             NAME
             VERSION
             SYNOPSIS
             CONSTRUCTOR
             METHODS
             CLASS METHODS
             SOME OTHER SORT OF METHODS
             SEE ALSO

       "=head2 method"
           The "=head2" command documents a method.  The name of the method should have no
           adornment (e.g. don't C<method> or C<method($list, $of, $params)>.)

           These sections should begin with a short description of what the method does, followed
           by one or more examples of usage.  If needed, elaborate on the subtleties of the
           parameters and context after (and/or between) the example(s).

             =head2 this_method

             This method does some blah blah blah.

               my @answer = $thing->this_method(@arguments);

             =head2 that_thing

             Returns true if the thing is true.

               if($thing->that_thing) {
                 ...
               }

       "=item parameter"
           Use "=item" commands for method arguments and parameters (and etc.)  In most html pod
           formatters, these do not get added to the table-of-contents at the top of the page.

   Pod Formatting Codes
       L<Some::Module>
           Be careful of the wording of "L<Some::Module>".  Older pod formatters would render
           this as "the Some::Module manpage", so it is best to either word your links as ""(see
           <Some::Module> for details.)"" or use the "explicit rendering" form of
           ""<Some::Module|Some::Module>"".

   VERSION
       The version numbers are updated by Perl::Version.

   DEVELOPER DOCS/NOTES
       The following "formats" are used with "=begin"/"=end" and "=for" commands for pod which is
       not part of the public end-user/API documentation.

       note
           Use this if you are uncertain about a change to some pod or think it needs work.

             =head2 some_method

               ...

             =for note
               This is either falsely documented or a bug -- see ...

       developer
             =begin developer

             Long-winded explanation of why some code is the way it is or various
             other subtleties which might incite head-scratching and WTF'ing.

             =end developer

       deprecated
             =for deprecated
               removed in 0.09, kill by ~0.25

Committing to Subversion

       If you have commit access, please bear this in mind.

       Development is done either on trunk or a branch, as appropriate:

       If it's something that might be controversial, break the build or take a long time (more
       than a couple of weeks) to complete then it'd probably be appropriate to branch. Otherwise
       it can go in trunk.

       If in doubt discuss it on the mailing list before you commit.