note doom <BLOCKQUOTE> Test::Output is very useful to testing code that generates STDOUT or STDERR as this code does. </BLOCKQUOTE> I've been getting into [cpan://Test::Trap] of late, myself, which I think I've seen mentioned here. It has a pretty simple interface, and you can use it to trap errors as well. <P> <BLOCKQUOTE> I highly recommend Ian Langworth and chromatic's Perl Testing, A Developer's Notebook if you're not comfortable with writing and maintaining tests. </BLOCKQUOTE> <P> I like that book quite a bit, but what I would say is that if you're not into writing tests yet, you should look at the documentation for [cpan://Test::More]. There's no end of little tricks to writing tests (as in any kind of programming) but there's plenty of material to get started with right there in "Test::More" <c>[1]</c>. <P> I have this fear that at some point the standard practice for testing perl is going to involve frameworks so elaborate that writing tests is going to turn into a sub-specialty that people are going to be afraid to get involved with... <P> <c>[1]</c> I have one complaint about the "Test::More" docs though: it's long since time they should stop directing newbies to "Test::Simple" first... "Test::More" is clearly the new standard. <P> 622705 622705