[Israel.pm] Perl version migration

[Jason Elbaum]

Gabor Szabo wrote:

> I guess once in a while you do change operating system or parts of it,
> don't you ? How do you test that everything including shell scripts
> and perl scripts keep working after the upgrade ?

Except for patches and upgrades, we haven't really changed our main 
operating system. At least not the one our critical scripts run on.


> they gradually update their code to fit better programming practices
> and to use newer perl versions. In this work they usually throw out
> most of their code as they find modules on CPAN that do just what they
> wanted. On the other hand they add automatic tests and documentation so
> their bosses won't feel bad that the files got smaller.

A good chunk of our code is written by engineers, not programmers. 
Software testing is not their field. And no one's going to start playing 
with old script systems that worked perfectly well in the past.


> When I suggest this usually the response is
> 
>               "Don't fix what is not broken!".
> 
> Which is a very healthy approach. It can be translated to:
> 
>             "Let's wait till disaster occurs!"

No, not at all. Why should disaster occur if the environment hasn't 
changed since the scripts last ran? Deliberately changing the Perl 
version, on the other hand, is an invitation for disaster. Especially 
when certain scripts run only occasionally - if they fail, who's going 
to know if they fail due to the version of Perl or the phase of the moon?


> And here is a link (I found Goggling perl legacy code) that
> points to a chapter of the new Perl Medic: book:
> http://www.webreference.com/programming/awperl/

I'll take a look. Thanks.


> BTW When did this happen
> 
>>Freescale Semiconductor Israel (formerly Motorola Semiconductor)


Motorola announced its intention to spin off its semiconductor division 
last October. As of April, Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector has 
officially become a wholly-owned subsidary of Motorola. See 
http://www.freescale.com/ for more details.


Regards,

Jason Elbaum
Jason.Elbaum at freescale.com