NAME

Perl::Critic::Policy::Compatibility::PerlMinimumVersionAndWhy - explicit Perl version for features used

DESCRIPTION

This policy is part of the "Perl::Critic::Pulp" add-on. It requires that you have an explicit "use 5.XXX" etc for the Perl syntax features you use, as determined by "Perl::MinimumVersion".

    use 5.010;       # the // operator is new in perl 5.010
    print $x // $y;  # ok

If you don't have the "Perl::MinimumVersion" module then nothing is reported. Certain nasty hacks are used to extract reasons and locations from "Perl::MinimumVersion".

This policy is under the "compatibility" theme (see "POLICY THEMES" in Perl::Critic). Its best use is when it picks up things like "//" or "qr" which are only available in a newer Perl than you meant to target.

An explicit "use 5.xxx" can be a little tedious, but has the advantage of making it clear what's needed (or supposed to be needed) and it gives a good error message if run on an older Perl.

Disabling

The config options below let you limit how far back to go. Or if you don't care at all about this sort of thing you can always disable the policy completely from your ~/.perlcriticrc file in the usual way (see "CONFIGURATION" in Perl::Critic),

    [-Compatibility::PerlMinimumVersionAndWhy]

MinimumVersion Mangling

Some mangling is applied to what "Perl::MinimumVersion" normally reports (as of its version 1.28).

A multi-constant hash with the "constant" module is not reported, since that's covered better by Compatibility::ConstantPragmaHash.
Module requirements for things like "use Errno" are dropped, since you might get a back-port from CPAN etc and the need for a module is better expressed in a distribution "prereq".
But pragma modules like "use warnings" are still reported. They're normally an interface to a feature new in the Perl version it comes with and can't be back-ported. (See "OTHER NOTES" below too.)

MinimumVersion Extras

The following extra checks are added to "Perl::MinimumVersion".

5.12 for

•: new "keys @array", "values @array" and "each @array"

5.10 for

"qr//m", since "m" modifier doesn't propagate correctly on a "qr" until 5.10
"-e -f -x" stacked filetest operators.
"pack()" new "<" and ">" endianness.
new "UNIVERSAL.pm" method "DOES()"

5.8 for

new "word [newline] =>" fat comma quoting across a newline
For earlier Perl "word" ended up a function call. It's presumed such code is meant to quote in the 5.8 style, and thus requires 5.8 or higher.
"eval '#line ...'" with "#line" the very first thing
In earlier Perl a "#line" as the very first thing in an "eval" doesn't take effect. Adding a blank line so it's not first is enough.
"pack()" new "F" native NV, "D" long double, "i" IV, "j" UV, "()" group, "[]" repeat count

5.6 for

new "exists &subr", "exists $array[0]" and "delete $array[0]"
new "0b110011" binary number literals
new "open(my $fh,...)" etc auto-creation of filehandle
"syswrite()" length parameter optional
"Foo->$method" no-args call without parens
For earlier Perl a no-args call to a method named in a variable must be "Foo->$method()". The parens are optional in 5.6 up.
"pack()" new "Z" asciz, "q","Q" quads, "!" native size, "/" counted string, "#" comment

5.005 for

new "Foo::Bar::" double-colon package name quoting
new "my ($x, undef, $y) = @values", using "undef" as a dummy in a "my" list

5.004 for

new "use 5.xxx" Perl version check through "use". For earlier Perl it can be "BEGIN { require 5.000 }" etc
new "__PACKAGE__" special literal
new "foreach my $foo" lexical loop variable
new "$coderef->()" call with "->"
new "sysseek()" builtin function
"pack()" new "w" BER integer
new "UNIVERSAL.pm" with "VERSION()", "isa()" and "can()" methods

"pack()" and "unpack()" format strings are only checked if they're literal strings or here-documents without interpolations, or "." operator concats of those.

The "qr//m" report concerns a misfeature fixed in perl 5.10.0 (see perl5101delta). In earlier versions a regexp like "$re = qr/^x/m" within another regexp like "/zz|$re/" loses the "/m" attribute from $re, changing the interpretation of the "^" (and "$" similarly). Forms like "(\A|\n)" are a possible workaround, though are uncommon so may be a little obscure. "RegularExpressions::RequireLineBoundaryMatching" asks for "/m" in all cases so if think you want that then you probably want Perl 5.10 or up for the fix too.

"Modern::Perl"

"use Modern::Perl" is taken to mean Perl 5.10. This is slightly experimental and in principle the actual minimum it implies is forever rising, and even now could be more, or depends on it date argument scheme. Maybe if could say its actual current desire then an installed version could be queried.

CONFIGURATION

"above_version" (version string, default none)

Set a minimum version of Perl you always use, so that reports are only about things higher than this and higher than what the document declares. The value is anything the "version.pm" module can parse.

    [Compatibility::PerlMinimumVersionAndWhy]
    above_version = 5.006

For example if you always use Perl 5.6 and set 5.006 like this then you can have "our" package variables without an explicit "use 5.006".

"skip_checks" (list of check names, default none)

Skip the given MinimumVersion checks (a space separated list). The check names are shown in the violation message and come from "Perl::MinimumVersion::CHECKS". For example,

    [Compatibility::PerlMinimumVersionAndWhy]
    skip_checks = _some_thing _another_thing

This can be used for checks you believe are wrong, or where the compatibility matter only affects limited circumstances which you understand.

The check names are likely to be a moving target, especially the Pulp additions. Unknown checks in the list are quietly ignored.

OTHER NOTES

"use warnings" is reported as a Perl 5.6 feature since the lexically-scoped fine grain warnings control it gives is new in that version. If targeting earlier versions then it's often enough to drop "use warnings", ensure your code runs cleanly under "perl -w", and leave it to applications to use "-w" (or set $^W) if they desire.

"warnings::compat" offers a "use warnings" for earlier Perl, but it's not lexical, instead setting $^W globally. In a script this might be an alternative to "#!/usr/bin/perl -w" (per perlrun), but in a module it's probably not a good idea to change global settings.

The "UNIVERSAL.pm" methods "VERSION()", "isa()", "can()" or "DOES()" might in principle be implemented explicitly by a particular class, but it's assumed that's not so and that any call to those requires the respective minimum Perl version.

HOME PAGE

<http://user42.tuxfamily.org/perl-critic-pulp/index.html>

COPYRIGHT

Perl-Critic-Pulp is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option) any later version.

Perl-Critic-Pulp is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with Perl-Critic-Pulp. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.