Pic has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I'm working on adding some functionality to a CPAN module (making Parse::RecDescent recognize all forms of left-recursion, not just the simple cases it currently does), and I'm wondering what the best way to submit my changes is. Should I just send an e-mail to the maintainer address listed in the module documentation, or is there a more centralised way to do it?
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Re: Best practice for contributing to CPAN modules.
by xdg (Monsignor) on Oct 25, 2007 at 10:37 UTC
    Should I just send an e-mail to the maintainer address listed in the module documentation

    That's a good way to start, particularly if you're thinking about doing a good deal of work and if you might be annoyed if you did the work and found that it wasn't accepted. Also, some authors keep a source code repository and may be willing to give you access. Even if they don't, it might be helpful to know if they prefer to get patches against current code or a complete tarball of changes.

    You can also submit patches via the RT bug tracker -- this makes your work visible to others, which is often handy for bug-fixes where the maintainer is slow to apply submitted patches.

    As a minor note -- if you're working with someone's code, it's a good idea to try to match their style, space vs. tab preference and so on. If they use Perl::Tidy or Perl::Critic they may be able to share their settings with you.

    -xdg

    Code written by xdg and posted on PerlMonks is public domain. It is provided as is with no warranties, express or implied, of any kind. Posted code may not have been tested. Use of posted code is at your own risk.

      As well as getting a PAUSE account, I think I'll do that as well. Letting the maintainer know is only polite, and he might have some pointers as well.
Re: Best practice for contributing to CPAN modules.
by TOD (Friar) on Oct 25, 2007 at 09:59 UTC
    you will have to register as CPAN-user first. after that you'll find your way.
    --------------------------------
    masses are the opiate for religion.
      I'll do that. I've been thinking about getting a PAUSE account for a while anyways, so I guess this is a good time to get off my lazy back-side and actually do it. The fact that I have to apply for any account is a bit intimidating tho'. =)