This document describes differences between the 5.XXX.XXX release and
the 5.XXX.XXX release.
-If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.XXX.XXX, first read
-L<perl5XXXdelta>, which describes differences between 5.XXX.XXX and
-5.XXX.XXX.
+If you are upgrading from an earlier release such as 5.YYY.YYY, first read
+L<perl5YYYdelta>, which describes differences between 5.ZZZ.ZZZ and
+5.YYY.YYY.
=head1 Notice
XXX Any important notices here
+=head1 Core Enhancements
+
+XXX New core language features go here. Summarise user-visible core language
+enhancements. Particularly prominent performance optimisations could go
+here, but most should go in the L</Performance Enhancements> section.
+
+[ List each enhancement as a =head2 entry ]
+
+=head1 Security
+
+XXX Any security-related notices go here. In particular, any security
+vulnerabilities closed should be noted here rather than in the
+L</Selected Bug Fixes> section.
+
+[ List each security issue as a =head2 entry ]
+
=head1 Incompatible Changes
XXX For a release on a stable branch, this section aspires to be:
There are no changes intentionally incompatible with 5.XXX.XXX. If any
exist, they are bugs and reports are welcome.
+[ List each incompatible change as a =head2 entry ]
-=head1 Core Enhancements
+=head1 Deprecations
-XXX New core language features go here. Summarise user-visible core language
-enhancements. Particularly prominent performance optimisations could go
-here, but most should go in the L</Performance Enhancements> section.
+XXX Any deprecated features, syntax, modules etc. should be listed here.
+In particular, deprecated modules should be listed here even if they are
+listed as an updated module in the L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
-=head1 New Platforms
+[ List each deprecation as a =head2 entry ]
-XXX List any platforms that this version of perl compiles on, that previous
-versions did not. These will either be enabled by new files in the F<hints/>
-directories, or new subdirectories and F<README> files at the top level of the
-source tree.
+=head1 Performance Enhancements
+
+XXX Changes which enhance performance without changing behaviour go here. There
+may well be none in a stable release.
+
+[ List each enhancement as a =item entry ]
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+XXX
+
+=back
=head1 Modules and Pragmata
In an ideal world, dual-life modules would have a F<Changes> file that could be
cribbed.
+[ Within each section, list entries as a =item entry ]
+
=head2 New Modules and Pragmata
-=head2 Pragmata Changes
+=over 4
-=head2 Updated Modules
+=item *
-=head2 Removed Modules and Pragmata
+XXX
-=head1 Utility Changes
+=back
-XXX Changes to installed programs such as F<perlbug> and F<xsubpp> go
-here. Most of these are built within the directories F<utils> and F<x2p>.
+=head2 Updated Modules and Pragmata
=over 4
-=item F<XXX>
+=item *
+
+XXX
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Removed Modules and Pragmata
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
XXX
=back
-=head1 New Documentation
+=head1 Documentation
+
+XXX Changes to files in F<pod/> go here. Consider grouping entries by
+file and be sure to link to the appropriate page, e.g. L<perlfunc>.
+
+[ Within each section, list entries as a =item entry ]
+
+=head2 New Documentation
XXX Changes which create B<new> files in F<pod/> go here.
=back
-=head1 Changes to Existing Documentation
+=head2 Changes to Existing Documentation
XXX Changes which significantly change existing files in F<pod/> go here.
-Any changes to F<pod/perldiag.pod> should go in L</New or Changed Diagnostics>.
+However, any changes to F<pod/perldiag.pod> should go in the L</Diagnostics>
+section.
+=over 4
-=head1 Performance Enhancements
+=item L<XXX>
-XXX Changes which enhance performance without changing behaviour go here. There
-may well be none in a stable release.
+XXX
+
+=back
+
+=head1 Diagnostics
+
+The following additions or changes have been made to diagnostic output,
+including warnings and fatal error messages. For the complete list of
+diagnostic messages, see L<perldiag>.
+
+XXX New or changed warnings emitted by the core's C<C> code go here. Also
+include any changes in L<perldiag> that reconcile it to the C<C> code.
+
+[ Within each section, list entries as a =item entry ]
+
+=head2 New Diagnostics
+
+XXX Newly added diagnostic messages go here
=over 4
=back
-=head1 Installation and Configuration Improvements
+=head2 Changes to Existing Diagnostics
-XXX Changes to F<Configure>, F<installperl>, F<installman>, and analogous tools
-go here.
+XXX Changes (i.e. rewording) of diagnostic messages go here
-=head2 Configuration improvements
+=over 4
+
+=item *
XXX
-=head2 Compilation improvements
+=back
+
+=head1 Utility Changes
+
+XXX Changes to installed programs such as F<perlbug> and F<xsubpp> go
+here. Most of these are built within the directories F<utils> and F<x2p>.
+
+[ List utility changes as a =item entry. Use L<XXX> with program names to get
+proper documentation linking. ]
+
+=over 4
+
+=item L<XXX>
XXX
-=head2 Platform Specific Changes
+=back
+
+=head1 Configuration and Compilation
+
+XXX Changes to F<Configure>, F<installperl>, F<installman>, and analogous tools
+go here. Any other changes to the Perl build process should be listed here.
+However, any platform-specific changes should be listed in the
+L</Platform Support> section, instead.
+
+[ List changes as a =item entry ].
=over 4
-=item XXX-some-platform
+=item *
XXX
=back
-=head1 Selected Bug Fixes
+=head1 Testing
-XXX Important bug fixes in the core language are summarised here.
-Bug fixes in files in F<ext/> and F<lib/> are best summarised in
-L</Modules and Pragmata>.
+XXX Any significant changes to the testing of a freshly built perl should be
+listed here. Changes which create B<new> files in F<t/> go here as do any
+large changes to the testing harness (e.g. when parallel testing was added).
+Changes to existing files in F<t/> aren't worth summarising, although the bugs
+that they represent may be covered elsewhere.
+
+[ List each test improvement as a =item entry ]
=over 4
=back
-=head1 New or Changed Diagnostics
+=head1 Platform Support
+
+XXX Any changes to platform support should be listed in the sections below.
+
+[ Within the sections, list each platform as a =item entry with specific
+changes as paragraphs below it. ]
+
+=head2 New Platforms
-XXX New or changed warnings emitted by the core's C<C> code go here.
+XXX List any platforms that this version of perl compiles on, that previous
+versions did not. These will either be enabled by new files in the F<hints/>
+directories, or new subdirectories and F<README> files at the top level of the
+source tree.
=over 4
-=item C<XXX>
+=item XXX-some-platform
XXX
=back
-=head1 Changed Internals
+=head2 Discontinued Platforms
-XXX Changes which affect the interface available to C<XS> code go here.
+XXX List any platforms that this version of perl no longer compiles on.
=over 4
-=item *
+=item XXX-some-platform
XXX
=back
-=head1 New Tests
+=head2 Platform-Specific Notes
-XXX Changes which create B<new> files in F<t/> go here. Changes to
-existing files in F<t/> aren't worth summarising, although the bugs that
-they represent may be.
+XXX List any changes for specific platforms. This could include configuration
+and compilation changes or changes in portability/compatibility. However,
+changes within modules for platforms should generally be listed in the
+L</Modules and Pragmata> section.
=over 4
-=item F<XXX>
+=item XXX-some-platform
XXX
=back
-=head1 Known Problems
+=head1 Internal Changes
-XXX Descriptions of platform agnostic bugs we know we can't fix go here. Any
-tests that had to be C<TODO>ed for the release would be noted here, unless
-they were specific to a particular platform (see below).
+XXX Changes which affect the interface available to C<XS> code go here.
+Other significant internal changes for future core maintainers should
+be noted as well.
-This is a list of some significant unfixed bugs, which are regressions
-from either 5.XXX.XXX or 5.XXX.XXX.
+[ List each test improvement as a =item entry ]
=over 4
=back
-=head1 Deprecations
+=head1 Selected Bug Fixes
-XXX Add any new known deprecations here.
+XXX Important bug fixes in the core language are summarised here.
+Bug fixes in files in F<ext/> and F<lib/> are best summarised in
+L</Modules and Pragmata>.
-The following items are now deprecated.
+[ List each fix as a =item entry ]
=over 4
=back
-=head1 Platform Specific Notes
+=head1 Known Problems
-XXX Any changes specific to a particular platform. VMS and Win32 are the usual
-stars here. It's probably best to group changes under the same section layout
-as the main perldelta
+XXX Descriptions of platform agnostic bugs we know we can't fix go here. Any
+tests that had to be C<TODO>ed for the release would be noted here, unless
+they were specific to a particular platform (see below).
+
+This is a list of some significant unfixed bugs, which are regressions
+from either 5.XXX.XXX or 5.XXX.XXX.
+
+[ List each fix as a =item entry ]
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+XXX
+
+=back
=head1 Obituary
XXX The list of people to thank goes here.
-
=head1 Reporting Bugs
If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles
projects / platform / upstream / perl.git / commitdiff