Start Contributing to Perl, It's Easy!

The Perl community wants YOU to contribute! Whether you can barely write a line of code or have been hacking for years, you can make meaningful contributions! This year I made my first contributions to modules on CPAN and to the Perl core. It was pretty easy and painless. This session offers a high level tour of the CPAN and Perl core contribution process as well as a short tutorial for potential contributors on how to get started with patching CPAN modules and making Perl core contributions.

Transcript

1. Intro / Preface • Augustina Ragwitz – Perl Developer since 2007 – First YAPC in 2012 (Madison) • Currently at MediaMath in NYC (we're hiring) • auggy@cpan.org irc.perl.org: auggy freenode irc: mmmpork twitter: @mmmpork
2. Why Am I Giving This Talk? • I just made my first contributions • Share what I've learned • Encourage y'all to contribute!
3. Perl Wants You!
4. Open Source Software is Free! • But there is a cost...
5. Open Source Software is like Public Radio • Ok, more like Public Access TV...
6. Pay your dues! Contribute! • Or just do it cuz it's fun
7. Start Small • GOAL: Get familiar with the patching process first! • Small code patches • Documentation • Unit Tests
8. Remember... • Working in a new code base requires context! • Don't be intimidated!
9. Talk to the Community! • A lot of communication happens on IRC • If you're not familiar with IRC → • Server is irc.perl.org • Check documentation for irc channel info • Or ask in #perl-help or #p5p
10. Where can I contribute to Perl? • Any module on CPAN is fair game – http://www.metacpan.org • Perl core is managed through P5P (Perl 5 Porters)
11. Perl Core (Perl 5 Porters) • http://dev.perl.org • p5p mailing list – perl5-porters-subscribe@perl.org • irc channel: #p5p on irc.perl.org
12. Get your name in it! • Pumpkings – a rotating group of individuals responsible for cobbling together changes nd releasing new Perl versions • Patches go into new versions of Perl • Submit a patch and get immortalized! – Your name goes into the release doc
13. Wow that sounds cool! Sooo, now what? • Look for things that are easy to contribute! • Easy = small fixes for learning the patching process
14. Easy Contributions • Perl Core != C programming • Documentation • Patch supporting scripts • Improve unit test coverage • Some bugs are tagged in RT https://rt.perl.org/rt3/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=116469 • Check the todo list: http://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git/blob/HEAD:/Porting/todo.pod
15. How to contribute to Perl Core • Pretty well documented here - – http://perldoc.perl.org/perlhack.html • Perlbug + tips – http://perldoc.perl.org/perlbug.html • And here's a short walkthrough
16. CPAN • The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network • AKA the place where modules live • Basically, an index that maps a module name to a file archive location • http://www.metacpan.org - provides additional metadata not found in cpan.org
17. PAUSE • Perl Authors Upload Server • Where the file archives live (that CPAN points to) • Anyone can get an account – Only really need one to upload an archive • http://pause.perl.org
18. CPAN Testers • Goal: Test CPAN modules with as many versions and configurations of Perl as possible on as many platforms as possible • http://www.cpantesters.org • http://stats.cpantesters.org
19. What should I contribute to CPAN? • File a bug • Improve documentation on a module you struggled to use – Especially if you got help from the author! • If you had to make local changes to make it work, submit the patch!
20. Alright, that sounds good! How do I get started?
21. Disclaimer • All processes demonstrated here are my preference – TIMTOWTDI FTW! • Module maintainers will have their own preferences. • Check with the maintainer before following these steps to submit a patch.
22. Submit a Patch to CPAN • You need the following: – The location of the source code repository – Where the author wants patches submitted
23. Find the Repo • Some modules on Metacpan have repository info • Check Module documentation • Git::CPAN::Patch • Download the source tarball (last resort)
24. Where to Submit the Patch • GitHub, BitBucket, SourceForge... if the author has specified the bugtracker • Otherwise, use RT
25. RT • http://rt.cpan.org • Send email to bug-acme- auggy@rt.cpan.org • Use RT if: – The author says to, or – You can't find any bugtracker info in the module • You can attach your patch to the RT!
26. GitHub • http://github.com • Pull request is probably sufficient for submitting your patch • Optional: Create an RT ticket
27. How do I write a patch that's likely to get merged? • Don't submit a large complex patch • Each issue should be its own commit • Each commit should have a clear commit message • Be consistent, stick to the author's style • Update documentation when appropriate • Write tests to support your changes • Include a changelog entry
28. OK so how do I submit my patch!? • Download the source code • Make your changes • Submit the code
29. What happens when I submit a patch? • If the author accepts your change, they merge it into their repository and release the code! • If your change is rejected, the author will comment on the pull request or the RT ticket – Don't give up!! – Talk it out with the author – Use the feedback to fix your patch
30. How do I know my patch was submitted? • RT responds with an email – If you don't get an email, wait a couple of days and resubmit • GitHub shows your pull request – If you don't hear anything, submit an RT ticket
31. What if the author doesn't respond, at all? • Send email to modules@perl.org – Use this resource after several attempts to contact the author – State a log of your attempts to contact the author – If the author is unresponsive, you could end up being the maintainer • Fork! – This is Open Source after all...
32. Collaboration is fun! • Fun to work on interesting things! • Get others excited about your ideas... or get excited about someone else's! • Good feeling to help out others • Learn new things about programming! • Even people who aren't using Perl at work contribute because it's FUN!
33. Q&A