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When do I update a module

by ShermW0829 (Sexton)
on Mar 18, 2013 at 20:08 UTC ( [id://1024138]=perlquestion: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??

ShermW0829 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

How do I know when to update a module? Do I just keep looking at cpan.org recent and comparing to what I have?

Thank you;

Sherman

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: When do I update a module
by marto (Cardinal) on Mar 18, 2013 at 20:21 UTC

    If using cpan you can use r command to report modules which are installed that have newer versions:

    cpan> r Package namespace installed latest in CPAN file App::Cpan 1.5701 1.61 BDFOY/App-Cpan-1.61.tar +.gz Archive::Extract 0.52 0.68 BINGOS/Archive-Extract- +0.68.tar.gz .....

    You can then check out the associated changes and make a decision about upgrading each one (via upgrade Module::Name).

      Thank you everyone. The cpan -r works well

      sherman

        Then you can upgrade and both it and its listed prerequisites and corequisites will be brought up to date.   I used to be very religious about doing this, but I’m not so religious anymore.

        Thank you everyone. The cpan -r works well

         cpanp -o works better, less false positives

Re: When do I update a module
by blue_cowdawg (Monsignor) on Mar 18, 2013 at 20:20 UTC

    I used to be on a mailing list that was put out by the Pumpkings of CPAN that showed what modules at what version were released onto CPAN. I also used to have have script that I ran once a week that queried the most recent version of the module list to determine if the version I had was up to date or not. I did all this when I in charge of maintaining Perl modules for a major financial firm which wanted all the CPAN modules to be no more than one week out of date. Huge PITA if you ask me.

    Nowadays I don't bother worry about updating modules unless there's an issue that requires I update a particular module.


    Peter L. Berghold -- Unix Professional
    Peter -at- Berghold -dot- Net; AOL IM redcowdawg Yahoo IM: blue_cowdawg
Re: When do I update a module
by choroba (Cardinal) on Mar 18, 2013 at 20:20 UTC
    I usually wait for new Perl. With a new Perl version, I have to reinstall all the modules anyway. The only exception might be when I suffer a bug in a module: then I might upgrade the module once the bug is fixed.
    لսႽ† ᥲᥒ⚪⟊Ⴙᘓᖇ Ꮅᘓᖇ⎱ Ⴙᥲ𝇋ƙᘓᖇ
Re: When do I update a module
by Tux (Canon) on Mar 18, 2013 at 21:20 UTC

    As with many questions: IT DEPENDS!

    On my laptop I update CPAN modules on an almost daily basis. Because I need/want the most recent stuff? No, because I want to test production code to what is released, and to test my own code (incliuding CPAN modules) against the most recent code.

    On production machines, I upgrade perl to the version I tested well on my testing machines, and by the time I do, I should be quite safe in what modules are safe to get the most recent version for. When I hit problems with modules when not upgrading perl, I can check if it is fixed (on my laptop) and then upgrade the module. If it is not fixed, and there is no open bug in RT for that module, I will try to create a minimal test case that reproduces the problem and submit a bug report for the module, hoping the author will act.

    On IRC (irc.perl.org) there is a channel (#news) where cpan automatically drops a line on every module uploaded. You could check the ChangeLog (or whatever it is called for the module in question) to see what the release fixed. Based on that info you can say "Never had that problem, I'll skip it", or "Wow, it just took me 15 hours to find that problem, and it is now fixed".


    Enjoy, Have FUN! H.Merijn
Re: When do I update a module
by space_monk (Chaplain) on Mar 18, 2013 at 21:09 UTC

    When do you update a module? Whenever you have a problem with the current version you have installed, which may be solved by updating it. :-)

    More seriously, apart from the above, there are other reasons such as security which may prompt you to update modules

    A Monk aims to give answers to those who have none, and to learn from those who know more.
Re: When do I update a module
by Anonymous Monk on Mar 19, 2013 at 07:10 UTC

    Depends on the module

    Running  cpanp -o once a week month regular-time-period, and checking the Changelog for each module listed as outdated ought to suffice

    Or as others have said when you encounter a bug

    OTOH, it helps to check some modules frequenly, like Mozilla::CA -- but its kind of a special case for less loved operating systems :)

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