On 2011.11.5 5:23 AM, James E Keenan wrote:
> Does anyone actually use t/test.pl? What does it do? What is it for?
test.pl has the classic meaning of pl meaning "Perl Library" not the
bastardized "Perl Executable". It's a simpler, parallel alternative to
Test::More written using simpler Perl features less likely to break. It has
most of Test::More's API, plus a few tricks of its own.
Its original purpose was back in 2001 when Test::More was a bit more unstable
(so was the Perl core) and testing was not entirely accepted. Jarkko started
it to use in the most basic perl tests and invoking as few complicated Perl
features as possible.
I co-opted it to test Test::More for similar purposes. If part of Test::More
broke (and it was rather broken during a lot of Test::Builder2 development)
test.pl would continue to work. It also resolved the "test yourself" problem
without complicated hacks.
You're absolutely correct that it has no docs. Some of this is to avoid using
the inline POD feature, in case it breaks while developing the core. But it
could be documented either in comments, or POD in an __END__ block, or (the
safest) in a separate POD file. Documenting it, even a little bit, would be
very helpful.
Mostly it acts like Test::More, but figuring out what the other functions do
will be a matter of looking at the code and also how its used in the Perl core
tests.
--
3. Not allowed to threaten anyone with black magic.
-- The 213 Things Skippy Is No Longer Allowed To Do In The U.S. Army
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