My job consists of writing web applications that are perl programs running under Apache::Registry, and calling other perl modules that I've written. Over the past years my development process has improved to include some elements of a "professional", such as testing, a testing server, source control, documentation, coding style guides, etc.
Over this time I've noticed a dearth of documentation on how people do their work in perl/on the web. Most established procedures follow the old C model:
Personal machine:
- check out code
- hack on check out
- test hacks
- check in code
Dev server:
- install newest version
- test
- mark for production
Production server:
Which doesn't meld at all with the way I've been doing web development:
- How do you compensate for templates, template plugins (I use Template Toolkit (Template)), application modules, instance scripts (I use CGI::Application) and non-application modules being inter-dependant?
- How do you write tests that depend on your webserver config (and its environment) and package them with your module?
- How to you get your personal machine to emulate the environment of multiple machines?
- How do you move material to your test server, and from there to production server?
- How do you do some of these things in a multi-user environment? (Is the test server a "check out"? Who checks it out?)
I know these questions have been answered by others wiser than I...but I'm not finding the answers. The material on perl testing I've seen is all based on testing stand-alone modules, not web-apps. When I asked the question of the gurus at YAPC, I got some blank looks and statements that the "normal" process works fine for their apps, so maybe I just have a contorted version of what is "normal".
I have lots of theoretical scenarios, but I'm curious to see what people are REALLY doing in their environments, because I don't have ample time to retool to and debug a theoretical environment.
Help appreciated.
Edit: g0n - moved from SoPW to Meditations
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