CPANTS Quality Goals

From Perl QA

This is currently a brainstorming page intended to categorize existing CPANTS metrics and expose areas where new metrics may be desirable. Existing metrics are named in bold. Other metrics are just ideas.

Contents 1 Goals 2 Sub-goals 2.1 should be easy to install 2.2 license should be clear 2.3 purpose should be clear 2.4 status should be clear 2.5 interface should be documented 2.6 documentation should be readable 2.7 should behave as expected 2.8 should behave as documented 2.9 should not interfere with unrelated software 2.10 should perform a useful purpose 2.11 should be maintainable 2.12 should be performant 2.13 code should conform to a standard 2.14 should have a stable public interface 2.15 license should be liberal 2.16 code should be readable 2.17 should be published 2.18 maintainer should be open to suggestions for improvement

[edit] Goals

Software should have high quality:

• should be easy to install
• license should be clear
• purpose should be clear
• status should be clear
• interface should be documented
• documentation should be readable
• should behave as expected
• should behave as documented
• should not interfere with unrelated software
• should perform a useful purpose
• should be maintainable
• should be performant
• code should conform to a standard
• should have a stable public interface

Open source software should maximize usability:

• license should be liberal
• code should be readable
• should be published
• maintainer should be open to suggestions for improvement

[edit] Sub-goals

[edit] should be easy to install

• extractable
• extracts_nicely
• has_manifest
• has_buildtool
• no_symlinks
• buildtool_not_executable
• has_working_buildtool
• manifest_matches_dist
• consistent filename case
• legal filenames (Test::Portability::Files)
• all non-core prereqs are declared in Meta.YML / Build.PL / Makefile.PL

[edit] license should be clear

• has_license (data available now!)
• has a LICENSE or COPYING or etc file
• license is of known type

[edit] purpose should be clear

• has_readme
• has_example

[edit] status should be clear

• has_meta_yml
• has_changelog
• has_version
• has_proper_version

[edit] interface should be documented

• has_test_pod_coverage
• has documentation
• has a Synopsis section

[edit] documentation should be readable

• no_pod_errors
• has_test_pod
• uses proper spelling (american/british differences notwithstanding)
• uses proper grammar

[edit] should behave as expected

• has_tests
• compiles ok
• has good code coverage in tests

[edit] should behave as documented

[edit] should not interfere with unrelated software

• uses @EXPORT_OK or nothing
• does not set variables in other packages

[edit] should perform a useful purpose

• is_prereq
• cpanratings.perl.org (risk of increasing the number of spurious ratings)

[edit] should be maintainable

• is pure Perl
• is portable
• declares a minimum Perl version

[edit] should be performant

[edit] code should conform to a standard

• no_cpants_errors
• use_strict
• uses Perl::Critic
• is either ASCII or UTF-8
• has consistent newlines
• uses Test::More

[edit] should have a stable public interface

• version is >= 1.0
• after 1.0, subroutine signatures have not changed without a major version change

[edit] license should be liberal

• license is same as Perl

[edit] code should be readable

• uses Perl::Critic

[edit] should be published

• is released on CPAN

[edit] maintainer should be open to suggestions for improvement

• RT is active
• source code repository is public
• forum url
• code has been updated in the last year
• has an Author section in the documentation
• Changelog or docs credits contributors