Perl::Critic is an extensible framework for creating and applying coding
standards to Perl source code. Essentially, it is a static source code
analysis engine. Perl::Critic is distributed with a number of
Perl::Critic::Policy modules that attempt to enforce various coding
guidelines. Most Policy modules are based on Damian Conway's book *Perl
Best Practices*. However, Perl::Critic is *not* limited to PBP and will
even support Policies that contradict Conway. You can enable, disable, and
customize those Polices through the Perl::Critic interface. You can also
create new Policy modules that suit your own tastes.

For a command-line interface to Perl::Critic, see the documentation for
perlcritic. If you want to integrate Perl::Critic with your build process,
Test::Perl::Critic provides an interface that is suitable for test
programs. Also, Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive is useful for gradually
applying coding standards to legacy code. For the ultimate convenience (at
the expense of some flexibility) see the criticism pragma.

Win32 and ActivePerl users can find PPM distributions of Perl::Critic at
the http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/ppms/ manpage and Alexandr Ciornii's
downloadable executable at the http://chorny.net/perl/perlcritic.html
manpage.

If you'd like to try Perl::Critic without installing anything, there is a
web-service available at the http://perlcritic.com manpage. The web-service
does not yet support all the configuration features that are available in
the native Perl::Critic API, but it should give you a good idea of what it
does. You can also invoke the perlcritic web-service from the command-line
by doing an HTTP-post, such as one of these:

$> POST http://perlcritic.com/perl/critic.pl < MyModule.pm
$> lwp-request -m POST http://perlcritic.com/perl/critic.pl < MyModule.pm
$> wget -q -O - --post-file=MyModule.pm http://perlcritic.com/perl/critic.pl

Please note that the perlcritic web-service is still alpha code. The URL
and interface to the service are subject to change.

Also, the Perl Development Kit (PDK 8.0) from ActiveState includes a very
slick graphical interface to Perl-Critic. For details, go to the
http://www.activestate.com/perl_dev_kit manpage