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Docstrings in Perl

Docstrings for Entire Scripts

Docstrings (documentation strings) for entire scripts can be put in a block at the end of the script.

This can be used with a --help case when parsing arguments.

This method requires using the Pod::Usage module.

Simply add a __END__ block and then format your help text with headers.

#!/usr/bin/env perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Pod::Usage;

print "This is the perl program\n"

__END__
=pod

=head1 NAME

foo.pl - Does the things

=head1 SYNOPSIS

  foo.pl [options]

 Options:

    --help      Print this help text
    --verbose   More verbose output
    --env       Set environment variable

  • __END__: Specifies the end of the script and the start of the help text.
  • =head1 NAME: Specify a header 1 with the text NAME.
    • foo.pl - Does the things: The text to show under the header in the terminal.
  • =head1 SYNOPSIS: Specify another header 1 with the text SYNOPSIS.
    • The text underneath will be displayed in the terminal.

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