perl: new cpan module maker? local configuration text files and executables, too?
cpan, perl
Solution
If anything I say conflicts with Andy Lester, listen to him instead. He knows more than I ever will.
Module::Starter is a good, simple way to generate module scaffolding. My take is it's been the default for this sort of thing for a few years now.
For configuration/support files, I think you probably want File::ShareDir. Might be worth considering Data::Section if it's just a matter of needing multiple `__DATA__` sections though.
You can certainly put scripts in the `bin` subdirectory of your distribution, the build tool will put it in the right place at install time.
A build tool will take care of the work-flow you describe.
Bundles are something different. You make a distribution and share the tarball/archive.
If you set up `PERL5LIB` appropriately, then repeat `make test`, `make install`, `make dist` to your heart's content. For development/sharing purposes a lot of projects do their work on github or similar - makes it easy to share. They have private accounts for business purposes too. Very useful if you want to rewind and see where/when a problem was introduced.
If you get a copy of cpanm (simple to install, fairly lightweight) then it can install from a tar.gz file or even direct from a git repository. You can also tell it to install to a local dir (local::lib compatible - another utility that's very useful).
Hopefully that's reasonably up-to-date as of 2014. You may see Dist::Zilla mentioned for module development. My understanding is that it's most useful for those with a large family of CPAN distributions to manage. Oh - if you (or other readers) aren't aware of them, do check out autodie and Try::Tiny around errors and exceptions, Moose (for a full-featured object-oriented framework) and Moo (for a smaller lightweight version).
I think that advice is all reasonably non-controversial. I find `cpanm` to be much more pleasant than the "full" cpan client, and `Moo` seems pretty popular nowadays too.
Problem
I am writing a perl program that I want to share with others, eventually via cpan. it's getting to the point where I should start thinking about this on a bigger scale. a decade ago, I used the h2xs package maker once. is this still the most recommended way to get started? there used to be a couple of alternatives. because I am starting from scratch with very little recollection, anything simple will do at this point. I need to read a few long text files (not perl modules) for configuration. where do I put them and how do I access them, no matter where the module is installed? (FindBin?) _DATA_ is inconvenient. I need to provide an executable (linux and osx). can putting an executable into the user's path be part of the module installation? (how?) I would like to be able to continue developing it, run it for test purposes, have a new version, repack it, and reupload it easily. before uploading to cpan, can I share a cpan bundle for easy local installation to downloaders and testers? # cpan < mybundle.cpanbundle advice appreciated. regards, /iaw