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.\" ========================================================================
.\"
.IX Title "ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Tutorial 3"
.TH ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Tutorial 3 "2023-03-26" "perl v5.16.3" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
.\" For nroff, turn off justification.  Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
.\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
.if n .ad l
.nh
.SH "NAME"
ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Tutorial \- Writing a module with MakeMaker
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
.Vb 1
\&    use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;
\&
\&    WriteMakefile(
\&        NAME            => \*(AqYour::Module\*(Aq,
\&        VERSION_FROM    => \*(Aqlib/Your/Module.pm\*(Aq
\&    );
.Ve
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
This is a short tutorial on writing a simple module with MakeMaker.
It's really not that hard.
.SS "The Mantra"
.IX Subsection "The Mantra"
MakeMaker modules are installed using this simple mantra
.PP
.Vb 4
\&        perl Makefile.PL
\&        make
\&        make test
\&        make install
.Ve
.PP
There are lots more commands and options, but the above will do it.
.SS "The Layout"
.IX Subsection "The Layout"
The basic files in a module look something like this.
.PP
.Vb 3
\&        Makefile.PL
\&        MANIFEST
\&        lib/Your/Module.pm
.Ve
.PP
That's all that's strictly necessary.  There's additional files you might
want:
.PP
.Vb 8
\&        lib/Your/Other/Module.pm
\&        t/some_test.t
\&        t/some_other_test.t
\&        Changes
\&        README
\&        INSTALL
\&        MANIFEST.SKIP
\&        bin/some_program
.Ve
.IP "Makefile.PL" 4
.IX Item "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 \fIWriteMakefile()\fR function to generate a
Makefile.
.Sp
Here's an example of what you need for a simple module:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\&    use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;
\&
\&    WriteMakefile(
\&        NAME            => \*(AqYour::Module\*(Aq,
\&        VERSION_FROM    => \*(Aqlib/Your/Module.pm\*(Aq
\&    );
.Ve
.Sp
\&\s-1NAME\s0 is the top-level namespace of your module.  \s-1VERSION_FROM\s0 is the file
which contains the \f(CW$VERSION\fR variable for the entire distribution.  Typically
this is the same as your top-level module.
.IP "\s-1MANIFEST\s0" 4
.IX Item "MANIFEST"
A simple listing of all the files in your distribution.
.Sp
.Vb 3
\&        Makefile.PL
\&        MANIFEST
\&        lib/Your/Module.pm
.Ve
.Sp
File paths in a \s-1MANIFEST\s0 always use Unix conventions (ie. /) even if you're
not on Unix.
.Sp
You can write this by hand or generate it with 'make manifest'.
.Sp
See ExtUtils::Manifest for more details.
.IP "lib/" 4
.IX Item "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 \fIlib/Foo/Bar.pm\fR.
.IP "t/" 4
.IX Item "t/"
Tests for your modules go here.  Each test filename ends with a .t.
So \fIt/foo.t\fR  'make test' will run these tests.
.Sp
Typically, the \fIt/\fR test directory is flat, with all test files located
directly within it. However, you can nest tests within subdirectories, for
example:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\&    t/foo/subdir_test.t
.Ve
.Sp
To do this, you need to inform \f(CW\*(C`WriteMakefile()\*(C'\fR in your \fIMakefile.PL\fR file
in the following fashion:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\&    test => {TESTS => \*(Aqt/*.t t/*/*.t\*(Aq}
.Ve
.Sp
That will run all tests in \fIt/\fR, as well as all tests in all subdirectories
that reside under \fIt/\fR. You can nest as deeply as makes sense for your project. 
Simply add another entry in the test location string. For example, to test:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\&    t/foo/bar/subdir_test.t
.Ve
.Sp
You would use the following \f(CW\*(C`test\*(C'\fR directive:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\&    test => {TESTS => \*(Aqt/*.t t/*/*/*.t\*(Aq}
.Ve
.Sp
Note that in the above example, tests in the first subdirectory will not be
run. To run all tests in the intermediary subdirectory preceding the one
the test files are in, you need to explicitly note it:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\&    test => {TESTS => \*(Aqt/*.t t/*/*.t t/*/*/*.t\*(Aq}
.Ve
.Sp
You don't need to specify wildcards if you only want to test within specific
subdirectories. The following example will only run tests in \fIt/foo\fR:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\&    test => {TESTS => \*(Aqt/foo/*.t\*(Aq}
.Ve
.Sp
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.
.IP "Changes" 4
.IX Item "Changes"
A log of changes you've made to this module.  The layout is free-form.
Here's an example:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\&    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
.Ve
.IP "\s-1README\s0" 4
.IX Item "README"
A short description of your module, what it does, why someone would use it
and its limitations.  \s-1CPAN\s0 automatically pulls your \s-1README\s0 file out of
the archive and makes it available to \s-1CPAN\s0 users, it is the first thing
they will read to decide if your module is right for them.
.IP "\s-1INSTALL\s0" 4
.IX Item "INSTALL"
Instructions on how to install your module along with any dependencies.
Suggested information to include here:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\&    any extra modules required for use
\&    the minimum version of Perl required
\&    if only works on certain operating systems
.Ve
.IP "\s-1MANIFEST.SKIP\s0" 4
.IX Item "MANIFEST.SKIP"
A file full of regular expressions to exclude when using 'make
manifest' to generate the \s-1MANIFEST. \s0 These regular expressions
are checked against each file path found in the distribution (so
you're matching against \*(L"t/foo.t\*(R" not \*(L"foo.t\*(R").
.Sp
Here's a sample:
.Sp
.Vb 3
\&    ~$          # ignore emacs and vim backup files
\&    .bak$       # ignore manual backups
\&    \e#          # ignore CVS old revision files and emacs temp files
.Ve
.Sp
Since # can be used for comments, # must be escaped.
.Sp
MakeMaker comes with a default \s-1MANIFEST.SKIP\s0 to avoid things like
version control directories and backup files.  Specifying your own
will override this default.
.IP "bin/" 4
.IX Item "bin/"
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
perlmodstyle gives stylistic help writing a module.
.PP
perlnewmod gives more information about how to write a module.
.PP
There are modules to help you through the process of writing a module:
ExtUtils::ModuleMaker, Module::Starter, Minilla::Tutorial,
Dist::Milla::Tutorial, Dist::Zilla::Starter