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.\" ========================================================================
.\"
.IX Title "Perl::Critic 3pm"
.TH Perl::Critic 3pm "2014-08-26" "perl v5.20.0" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
.\" For nroff, turn off justification. Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
.\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
.if n .ad l
.nh
.SH "NAME"
Perl::Critic \- Critique Perl source code for best\-practices.
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
.Vb 5
\& use Perl::Critic;
\& my $file = shift;
\& my $critic = Perl::Critic\->new();
\& my @violations = $critic\->critique($file);
\& print @violations;
.Ve
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
Perl::Critic is an extensible framework for creating and applying
coding standards to Perl source code. Essentially, it is a static
source code analysis engine. Perl::Critic is distributed with a
number of Perl::Critic::Policy modules that
attempt to enforce various coding guidelines. Most Policy modules are
based on Damian Conway's book \fBPerl Best Practices\fR. However,
Perl::Critic is \fBnot\fR limited to \s-1PBP\s0 and will even support Policies
that contradict Conway. You can enable, disable, and customize those
Polices through the Perl::Critic interface. You can also create new
Policy modules that suit your own tastes.
.PP
For a command-line interface to Perl::Critic, see the documentation
for perlcritic. If you want to integrate Perl::Critic
with your build process, Test::Perl::Critic
provides an interface that is suitable for test programs. Also,
Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive is
useful for gradually applying coding standards to legacy code. For
the ultimate convenience (at the expense of some flexibility) see the
criticism pragma.
.PP
Win32 and ActivePerl users can find \s-1PPM\s0 distributions of Perl::Critic at
and Alexandr Ciornii's downloadable
executable at .
.PP
If you'd like to try Perl::Critic without installing anything,
there is a web-service available at . The web-service
does not yet support all the configuration features that are available in the
native Perl::Critic \s-1API,\s0 but it should give you a good idea of what it does.
You can also invoke the perlcritic web-service from the command-line by doing
an HTTP-post, such as one of these:
.PP
.Vb 3
\& $> lwp\-request \-m POST http://perlcritic.com/perl/critic.pl < MyModule.pm
\& $> wget \-q \-O \- \-\-post\-file=MyModule.pm http://perlcritic.com/perl/critic.pl
\& $> curl \-\-data @MyModule.pm http://perlcritic.com/perl/critic.pl
.Ve
.PP
Please note that the perlcritic web-service is still alpha code. The
\&\s-1URL\s0 and interface to the service are subject to change.
.PP
Also, ActivePerl includes a very slick graphical interface to Perl-Critic
called \f(CW\*(C`perlcritic\-gui\*(C'\fR. You can get a free community edition of ActivePerl
from .
.SH "INTERFACE SUPPORT"
.IX Header "INTERFACE SUPPORT"
This is considered to be a public class. Any changes to its interface
will go through a deprecation cycle.
.SH "CONSTRUCTOR"
.IX Header "CONSTRUCTOR"
.ie n .IP """new( [ \-profile => $FILE, \-severity => $N, \-theme => $string, \-include => \e@PATTERNS, \-exclude => \e@PATTERNS, \-top => $N, \-only => $B, \-profile\-strictness => $PROFILE_STRICTNESS_{WARN|FATAL|QUIET}, \-force => $B, \-verbose => $N ], \-color => $B, \-pager => $string, \-allow\-unsafe => $B, \-criticism\-fatal => $B)""" 4
.el .IP "\f(CWnew( [ \-profile => $FILE, \-severity => $N, \-theme => $string, \-include => \e@PATTERNS, \-exclude => \e@PATTERNS, \-top => $N, \-only => $B, \-profile\-strictness => $PROFILE_STRICTNESS_{WARN|FATAL|QUIET}, \-force => $B, \-verbose => $N ], \-color => $B, \-pager => $string, \-allow\-unsafe => $B, \-criticism\-fatal => $B)\fR" 4
.IX Item "new( [ -profile => $FILE, -severity => $N, -theme => $string, -include => @PATTERNS, -exclude => @PATTERNS, -top => $N, -only => $B, -profile-strictness => $PROFILE_STRICTNESS_{WARN|FATAL|QUIET}, -force => $B, -verbose => $N ], -color => $B, -pager => $string, -allow-unsafe => $B, -criticism-fatal => $B)"
.PD 0
.ie n .IP """new()""" 4
.el .IP "\f(CWnew()\fR" 4
.IX Item "new()"
.PD
Returns a reference to a new Perl::Critic object. Most arguments are
just passed directly into
Perl::Critic::Config, but I have described
them here as well. The default value for all arguments can be defined
in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR file. See the \*(L"\s-1CONFIGURATION\*(R"\s0 section for
more information about that. All arguments are optional key-value
pairs as follows:
.Sp
\&\fB\-profile\fR is a path to a configuration file. If \f(CW$FILE\fR is not
defined, Perl::Critic::Config attempts to find a \fI.perlcriticrc\fR
configuration file in the current directory, and then in your home
directory. Alternatively, you can set the \f(CW\*(C`PERLCRITIC\*(C'\fR environment
variable to point to a file in another location. If a configuration
file can't be found, or if \f(CW$FILE\fR is an empty string, then all
Policies will be loaded with their default configuration. See
\&\*(L"\s-1CONFIGURATION\*(R"\s0 for more information.
.Sp
\&\fB\-severity\fR is the minimum severity level. Only Policy modules that
have a severity greater than \f(CW$N\fR will be applied. Severity values
are integers ranging from 1 (least severe violations) to 5 (most
severe violations). The default is 5. For a given \f(CW\*(C`\-profile\*(C'\fR,
decreasing the \f(CW\*(C`\-severity\*(C'\fR will usually reveal more Policy violations.
You can set the default value for this option in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR
file. Users can redefine the severity level for any Policy in their
\&\fI.perlcriticrc\fR file. See \*(L"\s-1CONFIGURATION\*(R"\s0 for more information.
.Sp
If it is difficult for you to remember whether severity \*(L"5\*(R" is the
most or least restrictive level, then you can use one of these named
values:
.Sp
.Vb 7
\& SEVERITY NAME ...is equivalent to... SEVERITY NUMBER
\& \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& \-severity => \*(Aqgentle\*(Aq \-severity => 5
\& \-severity => \*(Aqstern\*(Aq \-severity => 4
\& \-severity => \*(Aqharsh\*(Aq \-severity => 3
\& \-severity => \*(Aqcruel\*(Aq \-severity => 2
\& \-severity => \*(Aqbrutal\*(Aq \-severity => 1
.Ve
.Sp
The names reflect how severely the code is criticized: a \f(CW\*(C`gentle\*(C'\fR
criticism reports only the most severe violations, and so on down to a
\&\f(CW\*(C`brutal\*(C'\fR criticism which reports even the most minor violations.
.Sp
\&\fB\-theme\fR is special expression that determines which Policies to
apply based on their respective themes. For example, the following
would load only Policies that have a 'bugs' \s-1AND \s0'pbp' theme:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $critic = Perl::Critic\->new( \-theme => \*(Aqbugs && pbp\*(Aq );
.Ve
.Sp
Unless the \f(CW\*(C`\-severity\*(C'\fR option is explicitly given, setting \f(CW\*(C`\-theme\*(C'\fR
silently causes the \f(CW\*(C`\-severity\*(C'\fR to be set to 1. You can set the
default value for this option in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR file. See the
\&\*(L"\s-1POLICY THEMES\*(R"\s0 section for more information about themes.
.Sp
\&\fB\-include\fR is a reference to a list of string \f(CW@PATTERNS\fR. Policy
modules that match at least one \f(CW\*(C`m/$PATTERN/ixms\*(C'\fR will always be
loaded, irrespective of all other settings. For example:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $critic = Perl::Critic\->new(\-include => [\*(Aqlayout\*(Aq] \-severity => 4);
.Ve
.Sp
This would cause Perl::Critic to apply all the \f(CW\*(C`CodeLayout::*\*(C'\fR Policy
modules even though they have a severity level that is less than 4.
You can set the default value for this option in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR
file. You can also use \f(CW\*(C`\-include\*(C'\fR in conjunction with the
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-exclude\*(C'\fR option. Note that \f(CW\*(C`\-exclude\*(C'\fR takes precedence over
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-include\*(C'\fR when a Policy matches both patterns.
.Sp
\&\fB\-exclude\fR is a reference to a list of string \f(CW@PATTERNS\fR. Policy
modules that match at least one \f(CW\*(C`m/$PATTERN/ixms\*(C'\fR will not be loaded,
irrespective of all other settings. For example:
.Sp
.Vb 1
\& my $critic = Perl::Critic\->new(\-exclude => [\*(Aqstrict\*(Aq] \-severity => 1);
.Ve
.Sp
This would cause Perl::Critic to not apply the \f(CW\*(C`RequireUseStrict\*(C'\fR and
\&\f(CW\*(C`ProhibitNoStrict\*(C'\fR Policy modules even though they have a severity
level that is greater than 1. You can set the default value for this
option in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR file. You can also use \f(CW\*(C`\-exclude\*(C'\fR in
conjunction with the \f(CW\*(C`\-include\*(C'\fR option. Note that \f(CW\*(C`\-exclude\*(C'\fR takes
precedence over \f(CW\*(C`\-include\*(C'\fR when a Policy matches both patterns.
.Sp
\&\fB\-single\-policy\fR is a string \f(CW\*(C`PATTERN\*(C'\fR. Only one policy that
matches \f(CW\*(C`m/$PATTERN/ixms\*(C'\fR will be used. Policies that do not match
will be excluded. This option has precedence over the \f(CW\*(C`\-severity\*(C'\fR,
\&\f(CW\*(C`\-theme\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`\-include\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`\-exclude\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`\-only\*(C'\fR options. You can
set the default value for this option in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR file.
.Sp
\&\fB\-top\fR is the maximum number of Violations to return when ranked by
their severity levels. This must be a positive integer. Violations
are still returned in the order that they occur within the file.
Unless the \f(CW\*(C`\-severity\*(C'\fR option is explicitly given, setting \f(CW\*(C`\-top\*(C'\fR
silently causes the \f(CW\*(C`\-severity\*(C'\fR to be set to 1. You can set the
default value for this option in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR file.
.Sp
\&\fB\-only\fR is a boolean value. If set to a true value, Perl::Critic
will only choose from Policies that are mentioned in the user's
profile. If set to a false value (which is the default), then
Perl::Critic chooses from all the Policies that it finds at your site.
You can set the default value for this option in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR
file.
.Sp
\&\fB\-profile\-strictness\fR is an enumerated value, one of
\&\*(L"$PROFILE_STRICTNESS_WARN\*(R" in Perl::Critic::Utils::Constants (the
default),
\&\*(L"$PROFILE_STRICTNESS_FATAL\*(R" in Perl::Critic::Utils::Constants, and
\&\*(L"$PROFILE_STRICTNESS_QUIET\*(R" in Perl::Critic::Utils::Constants. If set
to \*(L"$PROFILE_STRICTNESS_FATAL\*(R" in Perl::Critic::Utils::Constants,
Perl::Critic will make certain warnings about problems found in a
\&\fI.perlcriticrc\fR or file specified via the \fB\-profile\fR option fatal.
For example, Perl::Critic normally only \f(CW\*(C`warn\*(C'\fRs about profiles
referring to non-existent Policies, but this value makes this
situation fatal. Correspondingly,
\&\*(L"$PROFILE_STRICTNESS_QUIET\*(R" in Perl::Critic::Utils::Constants makes
Perl::Critic shut up about these things.
.Sp
\&\fB\-force\fR is a boolean value that controls whether Perl::Critic
observes the magical \f(CW"## no critic"\fR annotations in your code.
If set to a true value, Perl::Critic will analyze all code. If set to
a false value (which is the default) Perl::Critic will ignore code
that is tagged with these annotations. See \*(L"\s-1BENDING THE RULES\*(R"\s0 for
more information. You can set the default value for this option in
your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR file.
.Sp
\&\fB\-verbose\fR can be a positive integer (from 1 to 11), or a literal
format specification. See
Perl::Critic::Violation for an explanation
of format specifications. You can set the default value for this
option in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR file.
.Sp
\&\fB\-unsafe\fR directs Perl::Critic to allow the use of Policies that are marked
as \*(L"unsafe\*(R" by the author. Such policies may compile untrusted code or do
other nefarious things.
.Sp
\&\fB\-color\fR and \fB\-pager\fR are not used by Perl::Critic but is provided for the benefit
of perlcritic.
.Sp
\&\fB\-criticism\-fatal\fR is not used by Perl::Critic but is provided for
the benefit of criticism.
.Sp
\&\fB\-color\-severity\-highest\fR, \fB\-color\-severity\-high\fR,
\&\fB\-color\-severity\-medium\fR, \fB\-color\-severity\-low\fR, and
\&\fB\-color\-severity\-lowest\fR are not used by Perl::Critic, but are provided for
the benefit of perlcritic. Each is set to the Term::ANSIColor
color specification to be used to display violations of the corresponding
severity.
.Sp
\&\fB\-files\-with\-violations\fR and \fB\-files\-without\-violations\fR are not used by
Perl::Critic, but are provided for the benefit of perlcritic, to
cause only the relevant filenames to be displayed.
.SH "METHODS"
.IX Header "METHODS"
.ie n .IP """critique( $source_code )""" 4
.el .IP "\f(CWcritique( $source_code )\fR" 4
.IX Item "critique( $source_code )"
Runs the \f(CW$source_code\fR through the Perl::Critic engine using all the
Policies that have been loaded into this engine. If \f(CW$source_code\fR
is a scalar reference, then it is treated as a string of actual Perl
code. If \f(CW$source_code\fR is a reference to an instance of
PPI::Document, then that instance is used directly.
Otherwise, it is treated as a path to a local file containing Perl
code. This method returns a list of
Perl::Critic::Violation objects for each
violation of the loaded Policies. The list is sorted in the order
that the Violations appear in the code. If there are no violations,
this method returns an empty list.
.ie n .IP """add_policy( \-policy => $policy_name, \-params => \e%param_hash )""" 4
.el .IP "\f(CWadd_policy( \-policy => $policy_name, \-params => \e%param_hash )\fR" 4
.IX Item "add_policy( -policy => $policy_name, -params => %param_hash )"
Creates a Policy object and loads it into this Critic. If the object
cannot be instantiated, it will throw a fatal exception. Otherwise,
it returns a reference to this Critic.
.Sp
\&\fB\-policy\fR is the name of a
Perl::Critic::Policy subclass module. The
\&\f(CW\*(AqPerl::Critic::Policy\*(Aq\fR portion of the name can be omitted for
brevity. This argument is required.
.Sp
\&\fB\-params\fR is an optional reference to a hash of Policy parameters.
The contents of this hash reference will be passed into to the
constructor of the Policy module. See the documentation in the
relevant Policy module for a description of the arguments it supports.
.ie n .IP """ policies() """ 4
.el .IP "\f(CW policies() \fR" 4
.IX Item " policies() "
Returns a list containing references to all the Policy objects that
have been loaded into this engine. Objects will be in the order that
they were loaded.
.ie n .IP """ config() """ 4
.el .IP "\f(CW config() \fR" 4
.IX Item " config() "
Returns the Perl::Critic::Config object that
was created for or given to this Critic.
.ie n .IP """ statistics() """ 4
.el .IP "\f(CW statistics() \fR" 4
.IX Item " statistics() "
Returns the Perl::Critic::Statistics
object that was created for this Critic. The Statistics object
accumulates data for all files that are analyzed by this Critic.
.SH "FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE"
.IX Header "FUNCTIONAL INTERFACE"
For those folks who prefer to have a functional interface, The
\&\f(CW\*(C`critique\*(C'\fR method can be exported on request and called as a static
function. If the first argument is a hashref, its contents are used
to construct a new Perl::Critic object internally. The keys of that
hash should be the same as those supported by the \f(CW\*(C`Perl::Critic::new\*(C'\fR
method. Here are some examples:
.PP
.Vb 1
\& use Perl::Critic qw(critique);
\&
\& # Use default parameters...
\& @violations = critique( $some_file );
\&
\& # Use custom parameters...
\& @violations = critique( {\-severity => 2}, $some_file );
\&
\& # As a one\-liner
\& %> perl \-MPerl::Critic=critique \-e \*(Aqprint critique(shift)\*(Aq some_file.pm
.Ve
.PP
None of the other object-methods are currently supported as static
functions. Sorry.
.SH "CONFIGURATION"
.IX Header "CONFIGURATION"
Most of the settings for Perl::Critic and each of the Policy modules
can be controlled by a configuration file. The default configuration
file is called \fI.perlcriticrc\fR. Perl::Critic will look for this file
in the current directory first, and then in your home directory.
Alternatively, you can set the \f(CW\*(C`PERLCRITIC\*(C'\fR environment variable to
explicitly point to a different file in another location. If none of
these files exist, and the \f(CW\*(C`\-profile\*(C'\fR option is not given to the
constructor, then all the modules that are found in the
Perl::Critic::Policy namespace will be loaded with their default
configuration.
.PP
The format of the configuration file is a series of INI-style blocks
that contain key-value pairs separated by '='. Comments should start
with '#' and can be placed on a separate line or after the name-value
pairs if you desire.
.PP
Default settings for Perl::Critic itself can be set \fBbefore the first
named block.\fR For example, putting any or all of these at the top of
your configuration file will set the default value for the
corresponding constructor argument.
.PP
.Vb 12
\& severity = 3 #Integer or named level
\& only = 1 #Zero or One
\& force = 0 #Zero or One
\& verbose = 4 #Integer or format spec
\& top = 50 #A positive integer
\& theme = (pbp || security) && bugs #A theme expression
\& include = NamingConventions ClassHierarchies #Space\-delimited list
\& exclude = Variables Modules::RequirePackage #Space\-delimited list
\& criticism\-fatal = 1 #Zero or One
\& color = 1 #Zero or One
\& allow\-unsafe = 1 #Zero or One
\& pager = less #pager to pipe output to
.Ve
.PP
The remainder of the configuration file is a series of blocks like
this:
.PP
.Vb 7
\& [Perl::Critic::Policy::Category::PolicyName]
\& severity = 1
\& set_themes = foo bar
\& add_themes = baz
\& maximum_violations_per_document = 57
\& arg1 = value1
\& arg2 = value2
.Ve
.PP
\&\f(CW\*(C`Perl::Critic::Policy::Category::PolicyName\*(C'\fR is the full name of a
module that implements the policy. The Policy modules distributed
with Perl::Critic have been grouped into categories according to the
table of contents in Damian Conway's book \fBPerl Best Practices\fR. For
brevity, you can omit the \f(CW\*(AqPerl::Critic::Policy\*(Aq\fR part of the module
name.
.PP
\&\f(CW\*(C`severity\*(C'\fR is the level of importance you wish to assign to the
Policy. All Policy modules are defined with a default severity value
ranging from 1 (least severe) to 5 (most severe). However, you may
disagree with the default severity and choose to give it a higher or
lower severity, based on your own coding philosophy. You can set the
\&\f(CW\*(C`severity\*(C'\fR to an integer from 1 to 5, or use one of the equivalent
names:
.PP
.Vb 7
\& SEVERITY NAME ...is equivalent to... SEVERITY NUMBER
\& \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& gentle 5
\& stern 4
\& harsh 3
\& cruel 2
\& brutal 1
.Ve
.PP
The names reflect how severely the code is criticized: a \f(CW\*(C`gentle\*(C'\fR
criticism reports only the most severe violations, and so on down to a
\&\f(CW\*(C`brutal\*(C'\fR criticism which reports even the most minor violations.
.PP
\&\f(CW\*(C`set_themes\*(C'\fR sets the theme for the Policy and overrides its default
theme. The argument is a string of one or more whitespace-delimited
alphanumeric words. Themes are case-insensitive. See \*(L"\s-1POLICY
THEMES\*(R"\s0 for more information.
.PP
\&\f(CW\*(C`add_themes\*(C'\fR appends to the default themes for this Policy. The
argument is a string of one or more whitespace-delimited words.
Themes are case-insensitive. See \*(L"\s-1POLICY THEMES\*(R"\s0 for more
information.
.PP
\&\f(CW\*(C`maximum_violations_per_document\*(C'\fR limits the number of Violations the
Policy will return for a given document. Some Policies have a default
limit; see the documentation for the individual Policies to see
whether there is one. To force a Policy to not have a limit, specify
\&\*(L"no_limit\*(R" or the empty string for the value of this parameter.
.PP
The remaining key-value pairs are configuration parameters that will
be passed into the constructor for that Policy. The constructors for
most Policy objects do not support arguments, and those that do should
have reasonable defaults. See the documentation on the appropriate
Policy module for more details.
.PP
Instead of redefining the severity for a given Policy, you can
completely disable a Policy by prepending a '\-' to the name of the
module in your configuration file. In this manner, the Policy will
never be loaded, regardless of the \f(CW\*(C`\-severity\*(C'\fR given to the
Perl::Critic constructor.
.PP
A simple configuration might look like this:
.PP
.Vb 2
\& #\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& # I think these are really important, so always load them
\&
\& [TestingAndDebugging::RequireUseStrict]
\& severity = 5
\&
\& [TestingAndDebugging::RequireUseWarnings]
\& severity = 5
\&
\& #\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& # I think these are less important, so only load when asked
\&
\& [Variables::ProhibitPackageVars]
\& severity = 2
\&
\& [ControlStructures::ProhibitPostfixControls]
\& allow = if unless # My custom configuration
\& severity = cruel # Same as "severity = 2"
\&
\& #\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& # Give these policies a custom theme. I can activate just
\& # these policies by saying \`perlcritic \-theme larry\`
\&
\& [Modules::RequireFilenameMatchesPackage]
\& add_themes = larry
\&
\& [TestingAndDebugging::RequireTestLables]
\& add_themes = larry curly moe
\&
\& #\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& # I do not agree with these at all, so never load them
\&
\& [\-NamingConventions::Capitalization]
\& [\-ValuesAndExpressions::ProhibitMagicNumbers]
\&
\& #\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& # For all other Policies, I accept the default severity,
\& # so no additional configuration is required for them.
.Ve
.PP
For additional configuration examples, see the \fIperlcriticrc\fR file
that is included in this \fIexamples\fR directory of this distribution.
.PP
Damian Conway's own Perl::Critic configuration is also included in
this distribution as \fIexamples/perlcriticrc\-conway\fR.
.SH "THE POLICIES"
.IX Header "THE POLICIES"
A large number of Policy modules are distributed with Perl::Critic.
They are described briefly in the companion document
Perl::Critic::PolicySummary and in more
detail in the individual modules themselves. Say \f(CW"perlcritic \-doc
PATTERN"\fR to see the perldoc for all Policy modules that match the
regex \f(CW\*(C`m/PATTERN/ixms\*(C'\fR
.PP
There are a number of distributions of additional policies on \s-1CPAN.\s0
If Perl::Critic doesn't contain a policy that you
want, some one may have already written it. See the \*(L"\s-1SEE ALSO\*(R"\s0
section below for a list of some of these distributions.
.SH "POLICY THEMES"
.IX Header "POLICY THEMES"
Each Policy is defined with one or more \*(L"themes\*(R". Themes can be used
to create arbitrary groups of Policies. They are intended to provide
an alternative mechanism for selecting your preferred set of Policies.
For example, you may wish disable a certain subset of Policies when
analyzing test programs. Conversely, you may wish to enable only a
specific subset of Policies when analyzing modules.
.PP
The Policies that ship with Perl::Critic have been broken into the
following themes. This is just our attempt to provide some basic
logical groupings. You are free to invent new themes that suit your
needs.
.PP
.Vb 12
\& THEME DESCRIPTION
\& \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& core All policies that ship with Perl::Critic
\& pbp Policies that come directly from "Perl Best Practices"
\& bugs Policies that that prevent or reveal bugs
\& certrec Policies that CERT recommends
\& certrule Policies that CERT considers rules
\& maintenance Policies that affect the long\-term health of the code
\& cosmetic Policies that only have a superficial effect
\& complexity Policies that specificaly relate to code complexity
\& security Policies that relate to security issues
\& tests Policies that are specific to test programs
.Ve
.PP
Any Policy may fit into multiple themes. Say \f(CW"perlcritic \-list"\fR to
get a listing of all available Policies and the themes that are
associated with each one. You can also change the theme for any
Policy in your \fI.perlcriticrc\fR file. See the \*(L"\s-1CONFIGURATION\*(R"\s0
section for more information about that.
.PP
Using the \f(CW\*(C`\-theme\*(C'\fR option, you can create an arbitrarily complex rule
that determines which Policies will be loaded. Precedence is the same
as regular Perl code, and you can use parentheses to enforce
precedence as well. Supported operators are:
.PP
.Vb 5
\& Operator Altertative Example
\& \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\& && and \*(Aqpbp && core\*(Aq
\& || or \*(Aqpbp || (bugs && security)\*(Aq
\& ! not \*(Aqpbp && ! (portability || complexity)\*(Aq
.Ve
.PP
Theme names are case-insensitive. If the \f(CW\*(C`\-theme\*(C'\fR is set to an empty
string, then it evaluates as true all Policies.
.SH "BENDING THE RULES"
.IX Header "BENDING THE RULES"
Perl::Critic takes a hard-line approach to your code: either you
comply or you don't. In the real world, it is not always practical
(nor even possible) to fully comply with coding standards. In such
cases, it is wise to show that you are knowingly violating the
standards and that you have a Damn Good Reason (\s-1DGR\s0) for doing so.
.PP
To help with those situations, you can direct Perl::Critic to ignore
certain lines or blocks of code by using annotations:
.PP
.Vb 2
\& require \*(AqLegacyLibaray1.pl\*(Aq; ## no critic
\& require \*(AqLegacyLibrary2.pl\*(Aq; ## no critic
\&
\& for my $element (@list) {
\&
\& ## no critic
\&
\& $foo = ""; #Violates \*(AqProhibitEmptyQuotes\*(Aq
\& $barf = bar() if $foo; #Violates \*(AqProhibitPostfixControls\*(Aq
\& #Some more evil code...
\&
\& ## use critic
\&
\& #Some good code...
\& do_something($_);
\& }
.Ve
.PP
The \f(CW"## no critic"\fR annotations direct Perl::Critic to ignore the remaining
lines of code until a \f(CW"## use critic"\fR annotation is found. If the \f(CW"## no
critic"\fR annotation is on the same line as a code statement, then only that
line of code is overlooked. To direct perlcritic to ignore the \f(CW"## no
critic"\fR annotations, use the \f(CW\*(C`\-\-force\*(C'\fR option.
.PP
A bare \f(CW"## no critic"\fR annotation disables all the active Policies. If
you wish to disable only specific Policies, add a list of Policy names
as arguments, just as you would for the \f(CW"no strict"\fR or \f(CW"no
warnings"\fR pragmas. For example, this would disable the
\&\f(CW\*(C`ProhibitEmptyQuotes\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`ProhibitPostfixControls\*(C'\fR policies until
the end of the block or until the next \f(CW"## use critic"\fR annotation
(whichever comes first):
.PP
.Vb 1
\& ## no critic (EmptyQuotes, PostfixControls)
\&
\& # Now exempt from ValuesAndExpressions::ProhibitEmptyQuotes
\& $foo = "";
\&
\& # Now exempt ControlStructures::ProhibitPostfixControls
\& $barf = bar() if $foo;
\&
\& # Still subjected to ValuesAndExpression::RequireNumberSeparators
\& $long_int = 10000000000;
.Ve
.PP
Since the Policy names are matched against the \f(CW"## no critic"\fR
arguments as regular expressions, you can abbreviate the Policy names
or disable an entire family of Policies in one shot like this:
.PP
.Vb 1
\& ## no critic (NamingConventions)
\&
\& # Now exempt from NamingConventions::Capitalization
\& my $camelHumpVar = \*(Aqfoo\*(Aq;
\&
\& # Now exempt from NamingConventions::Capitalization
\& sub camelHumpSub {}
.Ve
.PP
The argument list must be enclosed in parentheses and must contain one
or more comma-separated barewords (e.g. don't use quotes). The
\&\f(CW"## no critic"\fR annotations can be nested, and Policies named by an
inner annotation will be disabled along with those already disabled an
outer annotation.
.PP
Some Policies like \f(CW\*(C`Subroutines::ProhibitExcessComplexity\*(C'\fR apply to
an entire block of code. In those cases, \f(CW"## no critic"\fR must
appear on the line where the violation is reported. For example:
.PP
.Vb 3
\& sub complicated_function { ## no critic (ProhibitExcessComplexity)
\& # Your code here...
\& }
.Ve
.PP
Policies such as \f(CW\*(C`Documentation::RequirePodSections\*(C'\fR apply to the
entire document, in which case violations are reported at line 1.
.PP
Use this feature wisely. \f(CW"## no critic"\fR annotations should be used in the
smallest possible scope, or only on individual lines of code. And you
should always be as specific as possible about which Policies you want
to disable (i.e. never use a bare \f(CW"## no critic"\fR). If Perl::Critic
complains about your code, try and find a compliant solution before
resorting to this feature.
.SH "THE Perl::Critic PHILOSOPHY"
.IX Header "THE Perl::Critic PHILOSOPHY"
Coding standards are deeply personal and highly subjective. The goal
of Perl::Critic is to help you write code that conforms with a set of
best practices. Our primary goal is not to dictate what those
practices are, but rather, to implement the practices discovered by
others. Ultimately, you make the rules \*(-- Perl::Critic is merely a
tool for encouraging consistency. If there is a policy that you think
is important or that we have overlooked, we would be very grateful for
contributions, or you can simply load your own private set of policies
into Perl::Critic.
.SH "EXTENDING THE CRITIC"
.IX Header "EXTENDING THE CRITIC"
The modular design of Perl::Critic is intended to facilitate the
addition of new Policies. You'll need to have some understanding of
\&\s-1PPI\s0, but most Policy modules are pretty straightforward and
only require about 20 lines of code. Please see the
Perl::Critic::DEVELOPER file included in
this distribution for a step-by-step demonstration of how to create
new Policy modules.
.PP
If you develop any new Policy modules, feel free to send them to \f(CW\*(C`\*(C'\fR and I'll be happy to put them into the
Perl::Critic distribution. Or if you would like to work on the
Perl::Critic project directly, check out our repository at
. To subscribe to our mailing list,
send a message to .
.PP
The Perl::Critic team is also available for hire. If your
organization has its own coding standards, we can create custom
Policies to enforce your local guidelines. Or if your code base is
prone to a particular defect pattern, we can design Policies that will
help you catch those costly defects \fBbefore\fR they go into production.
To discuss your needs with the Perl::Critic team, just contact \f(CW\*(C`\*(C'\fR.
.SH "PREREQUISITES"
.IX Header "PREREQUISITES"
Perl::Critic requires the following modules:
.PP
B::Keywords
.PP
Config::Tiny
.PP
Email::Address
.PP
Exception::Class
.PP
File::HomeDir
.PP
File::Spec
.PP
File::Spec::Unix
.PP
File::Which
.PP
IO::String
.PP
List::MoreUtils
.PP
List::Util
.PP
Module::Pluggable
.PP
Perl::Tidy
.PP
Pod::Spell
.PP
\&\s-1PPI\s0
.PP
Pod::PlainText
.PP
Pod::Select
.PP
Pod::Usage
.PP
Readonly
.PP
Scalar::Util
.PP
String::Format
.PP
Task::Weaken
.PP
Term::ANSIColor
.PP
Text::ParseWords
.PP
version
.SH "CONTACTING THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM"
.IX Header "CONTACTING THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM"
You are encouraged to subscribe to the mailing list; send a message to
. See also the archives at
.
You can also contact the author at \f(CW\*(C`\*(C'\fR.
.PP
At least one member of the development team has started hanging around
in .
.PP
You can also follow Perl::Critic on Twitter, at
.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
There are a number of distributions of additional Policies available.
A few are listed here:
.PP
Perl::Critic::More
.PP
Perl::Critic::Bangs
.PP
Perl::Critic::Lax
.PP
Perl::Critic::StricterSubs
.PP
Perl::Critic::Swift
.PP
Perl::Critic::Tics
.PP
These distributions enable you to use Perl::Critic in your unit tests:
.PP
Test::Perl::Critic
.PP
Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive
.PP
There is also a distribution that will install all the Perl::Critic related
modules known to the development team:
.PP
Task::Perl::Critic
.PP
If you want to make sure you have absolutely everything, you can use this:
.PP
Task::Perl::Critic::IncludingOptionalDependencies
.SH "BUGS"
.IX Header "BUGS"
Scrutinizing Perl code is hard for humans, let alone machines. If you
find any bugs, particularly false-positives or false-negatives from a
Perl::Critic::Policy, please submit them to
. Thanks.
.PP
Most policies will produce false-negatives if they cannot understand a
particular block of code.
.SH "CREDITS"
.IX Header "CREDITS"
Adam Kennedy \- For creating \s-1PPI\s0, the heart and soul of
Perl::Critic.
.PP
Damian Conway \- For writing \fBPerl Best Practices\fR, finally :)
.PP
Chris Dolan \- For contributing the best features and Policy modules.
.PP
Andy Lester \- Wise sage and master of all-things-testing.
.PP
Elliot Shank \- The self-proclaimed quality freak.
.PP
Giuseppe Maxia \- For all the great ideas and positive encouragement.
.PP
and Sharon, my wife \- For putting up with my all-night code sessions.
.PP
Thanks also to the Perl Foundation for providing a grant to support
Chris Dolan's project to implement twenty \s-1PBP\s0 policies.
.SH "AUTHOR"
.IX Header "AUTHOR"
Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer
.SH "COPYRIGHT"
.IX Header "COPYRIGHT"
Copyright (c) 2005\-2013 Imaginative Software Systems. All rights reserved.
.PP
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the same terms as Perl itself. The full text of this license
can be found in the \s-1LICENSE\s0 file included with this module.