Re: CPAN Module Evaluation Red-Flags

[grantm]

A number of examples have mentioned poor documentation, but the complete absence of documentation is far worse (four examples from today. If you can't even be bothered writing a README, why bother uploading? You only get one chance to make a first impression after all.

[hardburn]

IMHO, the first impression people get of your module will be from the POD doc on one of the CPAN search sites (search. or kobesearch., take your pick). I usually don't bother to even look at the README, as in my experiance, most module authors only cut-and-paste what they put in their NAME and DESCRIPTION sections of their POD, plus a little installation note (which usually ends up being identical to every other module on CPAN).

----
I wanted to explore how Perl's closures can be manipulated, and ended up creating an object system by accident.
-- Schemer

Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated

[grantm]

I couldn't agree more. So when a module includes no POD and doesn't event include a README (like the ones cited), then you'd need to be fairly dedicated to carry on and work out what it's for.