The Phalanx FAQ

How did you come up with the Phalanx 100 list?

The specifics of how we derived the list isn't really important. We don't want the focus of the project to become which modules are getting attention. We'll be working on a wide variety of CPAN modules, as well as Perl itself, to improve their tests and documentation.

No, but really, did you look at logs or something?

It really doesn't matter. The list is made and that's what we're going with. We think you'll agree that the 100 modules are a good cross-section of what's popular on the CPAN. Maybe some got missed, maybe some shouldn't be on the list. Still, it's a good start.

Why 100?

It's a nice round number that used to be about 2.5% of CPAN. We figured that the 80/20 rule applies, but in this case, 97.5/2.5 will have to do. (Note: there are now over 25,000 CPAN modules, so it's less than that.)

So, I bet you got logs from somewhere, right? Did you look at CPANTS?

OK, ok, we'll tell you! It's a combination of:

• Log analysis of search.cpan.org for the last 45 days of 2004
• Some manual editorial adjustments

Well, you know, you could have...

Yes, yes, we know. The list has been made and will probably not change.

But Foo::Bar is a LOT more important than DBI!

That's fine. We can include Foo::Bar in the Phalanx project as well. The list of 100 is just a starting point.