ch01_03.htm

by Randal L. Schwartz and Tom Phoenix ISBN 0-596-00132-0 Third Edition, published July 2001. (See

<a name="lperl3-CHP-1-SECT-3.3" /><div class="sect2">
<h3 class="sect2">1.3.3. Are There Any Other Kinds of Support?</h3>

<p>Sure; one of our favorites is the Perl Mongers. This is a worldwide
association of Perl users' groups; see <a href="http://www.pm.org/">http://www.pm.org/</a> for more information.
There's probably a group near you with an expert or someone who
knows an expert. If there's no group, you can easily start one.
</p>

<p>Of course, for the first line of support, you shouldn't neglect
the <a name="INDEX-40" />
<a name="INDEX-41" />documentation. Besides the
<a name="INDEX-42" />manpages<a href="#FOOTNOTE-26">[26]</a> themselves,
Perl's documentation includes the voluminous FAQ (Frequently
Asked Questions) and many tutorials.
</p><blockquote class="footnote">
<a name="FOOTNOTE-26" /><p>[26]The term <em class="firstterm">manpages </em>is a Unix-ism meaning
documentation. If you're not on a Unix system, the manpages for
Perl should be available via your system's native documentation
system. If you can't find them anywhere else, the manpages are
available directly on CPAN.</p> </blockquote>

<p>Another authoritative source is the book <em class="emphasis">Programming
Perl</em><a name="INDEX-43" />, commonly known as "the
<a name="INDEX-44" />Camel book"
because of its cover animal (just as this book has come to be known
as "the <a name="INDEX-45" />Llama book"). The Camel book contains
the complete reference information, some tutorial stuff, and a bunch
of miscellaneous information about Perl. There's also a
separate pocket-sized <a name="INDEX-46" />quick reference to Perl (by Johan
<a name="INDEX-47" />Vromans)
that's handy to keep at hand (or in your pocket).
</p>

<p>If you need to ask a question of someone, there are
<a name="INDEX-48" />newsgroups on Usenet and any number of
<a name="INDEX-49" />
<a name="INDEX-50" />mailing lists.<a href="#FOOTNOTE-27">[27]</a> At
any hour of the day or night, there's a Perl expert awake in
some timezone answering questions on Usenet's Perl
newsgroups -- the sun never sets on the Perl empire. This means
that if you ask a question, you'll often get an answer within
minutes. If you didn't check the documentation and FAQ first,
you'll get flamed within minutes.
</p><blockquote class="footnote">
<a name="FOOTNOTE-27" /><p>[27]Many mailing lists are listed at <a href="http://lists.perl.org">http://lists.perl.org</a>.</p> </blockquote>

<p>We generally recommend the newsgroup
<em class="emphasis">comp.lang.perl.moderated</em><a name="INDEX-51" />, where (as the name implies) a
moderator will check over your question before posting it. If
there's something wrong with your question, you'll still
get flamed of course, but it's a small, private flame in email
rather than a big public one in a newsgroup.<a href="#FOOTNOTE-28">[28]</a> But for
most questions, you'll get an answer back within the hour. Just
try getting that level of support from your favorite software vendor
for free!
</p><blockquote class="footnote"> <a name="FOOTNOTE-28" /><p>[28]Of
course, we're joking here. Unless you've done something
amazingly boneheaded, the moderators are all kind, polite, helpful
folks, who will gently point you in the direction of the information
you need, with just enough flame to remind you to be more careful
next time. Don't be afraid to ask.</p> </blockquote>

<p>The official Perl newsgroups on Usenet are located in the
<em class="emphasis">comp.lang.perl.*</em> part of the hierarchy. As of
this writing, there are five of them, but they change from time to
time. You (or whoever is in charge of Perl at your site) should
generally subscribe to <em class="emphasis">comp.lang.perl.announce,</em>
which is a low-volume newsgroup just for important announcements
about Perl, including especially any security-related announcements.
Ask your local expert if you need help with Usenet.
</p>

<p>Also, a few web communities have sprung up around Perl discussions.
One very popular one, known as The <a name="INDEX-52" />
<a name="INDEX-53" />Perl Monastery (<a href="http://www.perlmonks.org">http://www.perlmonks.org</a>) has seen quite a
bit of participation from many Perl book and column authors,
including at least one of the authors of this book.
</p>

<p>If you find yourself needing a support contract for Perl, there are a
number of firms who are willing to charge as much as you'd
like. In most cases, these other support avenues will take care of
you for free.<a name="INDEX-54" /> <a name="INDEX-55" /> 
</p>

</div>
<a name="lperl3-CHP-1-SECT-3.4" /><div class="sect2">
<h3 class="sect2">1.3.4. What If I Find a Bug in Perl?</h3>

<p>The first thing to do when you find a bug is to check the
documentation<a href="#FOOTNOTE-29">[29]</a> again.<a href="#FOOTNOTE-30">[30]</a> Perl has so many special features and
exceptions to rules that you may have discovered a feature, not a
bug. Also, check that you don't have an older version of Perl;
maybe you found something that's been fixed in a more recent
version.
</p><blockquote class="footnote"> <a name="FOOTNOTE-29" /><p>[29]Even Larry admits to consulting the
documentation from time to time.</p> </blockquote><blockquote class="footnote">
<a name="FOOTNOTE-30" /><p>[30]Maybe even twice or three times. Many times, we've gone
into the documentation looking to explain a particular unexpected
behavior and found some new little nuance that ends up on a slide or
in a column.</p> </blockquote>

<p>Once you're 99% certain that you've found a real bug, ask
around. Ask someone at work, at your local Perl Mongers'
meeting, or at a Perl conference. Chances are, it's
<em class="emphasis">still</em> a feature, not a bug.
</p>

<p>Once you're 100% certain that you've found a real bug,
cook up a test case (if you haven't done so already). The ideal
test case is a tiny self-contained program that any Perl user could
run to see the same (mis-)behavior as you've found. Once
you've got a test case that clearly shows the bug, use the
<i class="command">perlbug</i><a name="INDEX-56" /> <a name="INDEX-57" />
<a name="INDEX-58" />
<a name="INDEX-59" />
<a name="INDEX-60" /> utility (which comes with Perl) to
report the bug. That will normally send email from you to the Perl
developers, so don't use <i class="command">perlbug</i> until
you've got your test case ready.
</p>

<p>Once you've sent off your bug report, if you've done
everything right, it's not unusual to get a response within
minutes. Typically, you can apply a simple patch and get right back
to work. Of course, you may (at worst) get no response at all; the
Perl developers are under no obligation to even read your bug
reports. But all of us love Perl, so nobody likes to let a bug escape
our notice.
</p>

</div>


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