Contributing

Contribution Standard

PAX changes should improve a reusable class of Perl projects. Avoid application-specific patches when a structural compiler, packaging, loader, or runtime fix is locally possible.

What to Include

Useful contributions normally include at least one of:

• a focused reproducer
• a regression test
• a benchmark fixture
• documentation updates for changed behavior

When a change affects operator-visible behavior, update:

• README.md
• lib/PAX.pm
• Changes

Performance Reports

Performance reports are easiest to investigate when they include:

• the stock Perl command or script
• the pax build command
• the standalone runtime command
• timings for each step
• whether the workload is startup-heavy, IO-heavy, or numeric/hot-loop-heavy

That makes it possible to separate packaging cost, startup cost, helper dispatch cost, and native-lowering coverage gaps.