http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=147623


in reply to (podmaster speaks) Re: Thoughts on pod.
in thread Thoughts on pod.

Thank you for your input, I think you have a couple valid points nestled in there.

What you do with pod, and how you choose to manipulate pod, should never affect pod itself, as perl views it.

Good point. I agree that whatever changes occur, they should only suppliment the present system, not alter it. Also, any new additions should not break systems that correctly use present standards.

As for pod maintenance, well, you will run into the same issue even if you have some magical software do programmatic changes to the pod, you still gotta write it ... basic documentation trap

Well.. I agree. You do still have to write it. But writing pod and maintenance of pod are not the same thing. It is easy to remember to write pod as you are creating something new. Remembering all the places you need to update your pod when you make a change 9 months later is harder. While self-updating pod doesn't remove the responsibility of checking the pod from the programmer, it does make it more difficult for something to be missed.

Perhaps you ought to do just that, write a module that when fed a source file would do just what you want it to do

Good point. I suppose the best way to go about making changes is to provide a proof of concept and let people kick the tires around before proposing it as a standard.