This is a very alpha version of a new module set I've been working on,
Module::Build.  It is meant to be a replacement for ExtUtils::MakeMaker.

====================== REASONS ===============================

There are several reasons I wanted to start over, and not just fix
what I didn't like about MakeMaker:

 * I don't like the core idea of MakeMaker, namely that 'make' should
   be involved in the build process, for these reasons:

   * When a person is installing a Perl module, what can you assume
     about their environment?  Can you assume they have 'make'?  No,
     but you can assume they have some version of Perl.

   * When a person is writing a Perl module for intended distribution,
     can you assume that they know how to build a Makefile, so they
     can customize their build process?  No, but you can assume they
     know Perl, and could customize that way.

   For years, these things have been a barrier to people getting the
   build/install process to do what they want.

 * There are several architectural decisions in MakeMaker that make it
   very difficult to customize its behavior.  For instance, when
   using MakeMaker you do 'use MakeMaker', but the object created in
   WriteMakefile is actually blessed into a package name that's
   created on the fly.  There is a workaround 'MY' package that lets
   you override certain MakeMaker methods, but only certain explicitly
   predefined (by MakeMaker) methods can be overridden.  Also, the
   method of customization is very crude: you have to modify a string
   containing the Makefile text for the particular target.

 * It is risky to make major changes to MakeMaker, since it does so
   many things, is so important, and generally works.  Module::Build
   is an entirely seperate package so that I can work on it all I
   want, without worrying about backward compatibility.

 * Finally, Perl is said to be a language for system administration.
   Could it really be the case that Perl isn't up to the task of
   building and installing software?  Absolutely not - see the 'Cons'
   package for one example, at http://www.dsmit.com/cons/ .

==================== INSTALLATION ===========================

To install Module::Build, and any other module that uses Module::Build
for its installation process, do the following:

   perl Build.PL
   ./Build
   ./Build test
   ./Build install     (but 'install' is NOT implemented yet!)

Other actions so far are:

   ./Build clean
   ./Build realclean

It's very much like the MakeMaker metaphor, except that 'Build' is a
Perl script, not a Makefile.  State is stored in a directory called
'_build'.

Any customization can be done simply by subclassing Module::Build and
adding a method called (for example) 'ACTION_test', overriding the
default action.  You could also add a method called 'ACTION_whatever',
and then you could perform the action './Build whatever'.

More actions will certainly be added to the core - it should be easy
to do everything that the MakeMaker process can do.

==================== DOCUMENTATION ===========================

So far, this README file is pretty much ALL THE DOCUMENTATION.  I
actually do like writing documentation, so this stuff will be
well-documented.  But a couple people had asked to see the module now,
so I figured I'd bundle it up and at least write a README.

Please contact me if you have any questions or ideas.

 -Ken Williams
  ken@forum.swarthmore.edu

