NAME

       ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Tutorial - Writing a module with MakeMaker

SYNOPSIS

           use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;

           WriteMakefile(
               NAME            => 'Your::Module',
               VERSION_FROM    => 'lib/Your/Module.pm'
           );

DESCRIPTION

       This is a short tutorial on writing a simple module with MakeMaker.  It's really not that
       hard.

   The Mantra
       MakeMaker modules are installed using this simple mantra

               perl Makefile.PL
               make
               make test
               make install

       There are lots more commands and options, but the above will do it.

   The Layout
       The basic files in a module look something like this.

               Makefile.PL
               MANIFEST
               lib/Your/Module.pm

       That's all that's strictly necessary.  There's additional files you might want:

               lib/Your/Other/Module.pm
               t/some_test.t
               t/some_other_test.t
               Changes
               README
               INSTALL
               MANIFEST.SKIP
               bin/some_program

       Makefile.PL
           When you run Makefile.PL, it makes a Makefile.  That's the whole point of MakeMaker.
           The Makefile.PL is a simple program which loads ExtUtils::MakeMaker and runs the
           WriteMakefile() function to generate a Makefile.

           Here's an example of what you need for a simple module:

               use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;

               WriteMakefile(
                   NAME            => 'Your::Module',
                   VERSION_FROM    => 'lib/Your/Module.pm'
               );

           NAME is the top-level namespace of your module.  VERSION_FROM is the file which
           contains the $VERSION variable for the entire distribution.  Typically this is the
           same as your top-level module.

       MANIFEST
           A simple listing of all the files in your distribution.

                   Makefile.PL
                   MANIFEST
                   lib/Your/Module.pm

           File paths in a MANIFEST always use Unix conventions (ie. /) even if you're not on
           Unix.

           You can write this by hand or generate it with 'make manifest'.

           See ExtUtils::Manifest for more details.

       lib/
           This is the directory where the .pm and .pod files you wish to have installed go.
           They are laid out according to namespace.  So Foo::Bar is lib/Foo/Bar.pm.

       t/  Tests for your modules go here.  Each test filename ends with a .t.  So t/foo.t/
           'make test' will run these tests.  The directory is flat, you cannot, for example,
           have t/foo/bar.t run by 'make test'.

           Tests are run from the top level of your distribution.  So inside a test you would
           refer to ./lib to enter the lib directory, for example.

       Changes
           A log of changes you've made to this module.  The layout is free-form.  Here's an
           example:

               1.01 Fri Apr 11 00:21:25 PDT 2003
                   - thing() does some stuff now
                   - fixed the wiggy bug in withit()

               1.00 Mon Apr  7 00:57:15 PDT 2003
                   - "Rain of Frogs" now supported

       README
           A short description of your module, what it does, why someone would use it and its
           limitations.  CPAN automatically pulls your README file out of the archive and makes
           it available to CPAN users, it is the first thing they will read to decide if your
           module is right for them.

       INSTALL
           Instructions on how to install your module along with any dependencies.  Suggested
           information to include here:

               any extra modules required for use
               the minimum version of Perl required
               if only works on certain operating systems

       MANIFEST.SKIP
           A file full of regular expressions to exclude when using 'make manifest' to generate
           the MANIFEST.  These regular expressions are checked against each file path found in
           the distribution (so you're matching against "t/foo.t" not "foo.t").

           Here's a sample:

               ~$          # ignore emacs and vim backup files
               .bak$       # ignore manual backups
               \#          # ignore CVS old revision files and emacs temp files

           Since # can be used for comments, # must be escaped.

           MakeMaker comes with a default MANIFEST.SKIP to avoid things like version control
           directories and backup files.  Specifying your own will override this default.

       bin/

SEE ALSO

       perlmodstyle gives stylistic help writing a module.

       perlnewmod gives more information about how to write a module.

       There are modules to help you through the process of writing a module:
       ExtUtils::ModuleMaker, Module::Install, PAR