# phpman > man > PERLSOURCE(1) [PERLSOURCE(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/PERLSOURCE/1/markdown) Perl Programmers Reference Guide [PERLSOURCE(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/PERLSOURCE/1/markdown) ## NAME perlsource - A guide to the Perl source tree ## DESCRIPTION This document describes the layout of the Perl source tree. If you're hacking on the Perl core, this will help you find what you're looking for. ## FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND The Perl source tree is big. Here's some of the thing you'll find in it: ### C code The C source code and header files mostly live in the root of the source tree. There are a few platform-specific directories which contain C code. In addition, some of the modules shipped with Perl include C or XS code. See perlinterp for more details on the files that make up the Perl interpreter, as well as details on how it works. ### Core modules Modules shipped as part of the Perl core live in four subdirectories. Two of these directories contain modules that live in the core, and two contain modules that can also be released separately on CPAN. Modules which can be released on cpan are known as "dual-life" modules. • _lib/_ This directory contains pure-Perl modules which are only released as part of the core. This directory contains _all_ of the modules and their tests, unlike other core modules. • _ext/_ Like _lib/_, this directory contains modules which are only released as part of the core. Unlike _lib/_, however, a module under _ext/_ generally has a CPAN-style directory- and file- layout and its own _Makefile.PL_. There is no expectation that a module under _ext/_ will work with earlier versions of Perl 5. Hence, such a module may take full advantage of syntactical and other improvements in Perl 5 blead. • _dist/_ This directory is for dual-life modules where the blead source is canonical. Note that some modules in this directory may not yet have been released separately on CPAN. Modules under _dist/_ should make an effort to work with earlier versions of Perl 5. • _cpan/_ This directory contains dual-life modules where the CPAN module is canonical. Do not patch these modules directly! Changes to these modules should be submitted to the maintainer of the CPAN module. Once those changes are applied and released, the new version of the module will be incorporated into the core. For some dual-life modules, it has not yet been determined if the CPAN version or the blead source is canonical. Until that is done, those modules should be in _cpan/_. ### Tests The Perl core has an extensive test suite. If you add new tests (or new modules with tests), you may need to update the _t/TEST_ file so that the tests are run. • Module tests Tests for core modules in the _lib/_ directory are right next to the module itself. For example, we have _lib/strict.pm_ and _lib/strict.t_. Tests for modules in _ext/_ and the dual-life modules are in _t/_ subdirectories for each module, like a standard CPAN distribution. • _t/base/_ Tests for the absolute basic functionality of Perl. This includes "if", basic file reads and writes, simple regexes, etc. These are run first in the test suite and if any of them fail, something is _really_ broken. • _t/cmd/_ Tests for basic control structures, "if"/"else", "while", subroutines, etc. • _t/comp/_ Tests for basic issues of how Perl parses and compiles itself. • _t/io/_ Tests for built-in IO functions, including command line arguments. • _t/mro/_ Tests for perl's method resolution order implementations (see mro). • _t/op/_ Tests for perl's built in functions that don't fit into any of the other directories. • _t/opbasic/_ Tests for perl's built in functions which, like those in _t/op/_, do not fit into any of the other directories, but which, in addition, cannot use _t/test.pl_,as that program depends on functionality which the test file itself is testing. • _t/re/_ Tests for regex related functions or behaviour. (These used to live in t/op). • _t/run/_ Tests for features of how perl actually runs, including exit codes and handling of PERL* environment variables. • _t/uni/_ Tests for the core support of Unicode. • _t/win32/_ Windows-specific tests. • _t/porting/_ Tests the state of the source tree for various common errors. For example, it tests that everyone who is listed in the git log has a corresponding entry in the _AUTHORS_ file. • _t/lib/_ The old home for the module tests, you shouldn't put anything new in here. There are still some bits and pieces hanging around in here that need to be moved. Perhaps you could move them? Thanks! ### Documentation All of the core documentation intended for end users lives in _pod/_. Individual modules in _lib/_, _ext/_, _dist/_, and _cpan/_ usually have their own documentation, either in the _Module.pm_ file or an accompanying _Module.pod_ file. Finally, documentation intended for core Perl developers lives in the _Porting/_ directory. ### Hacking tools and documentation The _Porting_ directory contains a grab bag of code and documentation intended to help porters work on Perl. Some of the highlights include: • _check*_ These are scripts which will check the source things like ANSI C violations, POD encoding issues, etc. • _Maintainers_, _Maintainers.pl_, and _Maintainers.pm_ These files contain information on who maintains which modules. Run "perl Porting/Maintainers -M [Module::Name](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Module%3A%3AName/markdown)" to find out more information about a dual-life module. • _podtidy_ Tidies a pod file. It's a good idea to run this on a pod file you've patched. ### Build system The Perl build system on *nix-like systems starts with the _Configure_ script in the root directory. Platform-specific pieces of the build system also live in platform-specific directories like _win32/_, _vms/_, etc. Windows and VMS have their own Configure-like scripts, in their respective directories. The _Configure_ script (or a platform-specific similar script) is ultimately responsible for generating a _Makefile_ from _Makefile.SH_. The build system that Perl uses is called metaconfig. This system is maintained separately from the Perl core, and knows about the platform-specific Configure-like scripts, as well as _Configure_ itself. The metaconfig system has its own git repository. Please see its README file in <> for more details. The _Cross_ directory contains various files related to cross-compiling Perl. See _Cross/README_ for more details. _AUTHORS_ This file lists everyone who's contributed to Perl. If you submit a patch, you should add your name to this file as part of the patch. _MANIFEST_ The _MANIFEST_ file in the root of the source tree contains a list of every file in the Perl core, as well as a brief description of each file. You can get an overview of all the files with this command: % perl -lne 'print if /^[^\/]+\.[ch]\s+/' MANIFEST perl v5.34.0 2025-07-25 [PERLSOURCE(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/PERLSOURCE/1/markdown)