$Id: README,v 1.95 2002/01/20 17:55:33 rcaputo Exp $

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Detailed Information
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POE is bigger than this README.  Please see http://poe.perl.org/ for
much more information.

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What POE Is
-----------

POE is a mature framework for creating multitasking programs in Perl.
It has been actively developed for over three years.  It has been used
in mission-critical systems such as internetworked financial markets,
file systems, and commerce servers.

POE is compatible with perl 5.005_03 through 5.6.1 and beyond.

POE includes functions for creating and using components.  Components
are modular, reusable pieces of programs.  Several components have
been published on the CPAN.

POE includes components and libraries for making quick work of network
clients, servers, and peers.  A well "hello, world" web application
takes fewer than 50 lines of code.

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Documentation Roadmap
---------------------

POE includes so much documentation that the main man page includes an
index to the others.  See the "SEE ALSO" section in "man POE", or your
system's equivalent.

The CHANGES file lists all the changes in the past year.  Changes back
to August 1998 are available on POE's web site.

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Distribution Details
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This distribution includes several sample and tutorial programs.  They
are in the "samples" directory.  These programs take up a considerable
chunk of POE's download size, but they are NOT installed.  Better
examples can be found on POE's web site.

The test programs, in directory "t", may also be interesting examples,
but they're aimed more at exercising POE than illustrating good coding
practices.  The tests also aren't installed, in case you were
wondering.

All in all, the actual installed bits of POE are probably around a
third of the total distribution, and about a quarter of B<that> is
documentation.  Most of the installed code is optional, so the parts
of POE people usually use tend to be relatively small.

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Installing POE
--------------

See http://poe.perl.org/?Where_to_Get_POE for complete instructions.

POE may be installed through the CPAN shell in the usual CPAN shell
manner.

  perl -MCPAN -e 'install POE'

It involves a little more work if you have an older CPAN shell:

  perl -MCPAN -e shell
  install POE

To install on a Win32 machine using ActiveState's PPM:

  ppm install http://poe.sourceforge.net/packages/POE.ppd

POE can also be installed manually, and the latest versions of things
are available in CVS.  Instructions are on POE's web site.

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Test Results
------------

http://poe.perl.org/?POE%27s_test_results
http://testers.cpan.org/search?request=dist&dist=POE

POE's test results are large and constantly changing.  They have been
moved to the web site for easier maintenance.  POE is tested severely
before even the limited-distribution development releases.

In the unlikely event that POE's tests fail, please consider reporting
the failure.  Open source has always relied on the kindness of
strangers.

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Test Coverage
-------------

http://poe.perl.org/?POE%27s_test_coverage_report

POE's test coverage report has also moved onto the 'web.  It gives a
very rough idea of the amount of POE that's been at least cursorily
tested, but it should not be used as an accurate gauge of quality.

----
Bye!
----

Thanks for reading!

-- Rocco Caputo / rcaputo@cpan.org / poe.perl.org / poe.sourceforge.net
