---
name: "Perl::Critic::Policy::Modules::RequireVersionVar"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "perl-perl-critic"
version: "1.156-3"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Perl::Critic::Policy::Modules::RequireVersionVar"
---

# Perl::Critic::Policy::Modules::RequireVersionVar(3pm)

Give every module a "$VERSION" number.

## NAME

Perl::Critic::Policy::Modules::RequireVersionVar - Give every module a "$VERSION" number.

## AFFILIATION

This Policy is part of the core Perl::Critic distribution.

## DESCRIPTION

Every Perl file (modules, libraries, and programs) should have a package-scoped `$VERSION` variable.  The `$VERSION` allows clients to insist on a particular revision of your file like this:

```
    use SomeModule 2.4;  #Only loads version 2.4
```

This Policy scans your file for any package variable named `$VERSION`.  I'm assuming that you are using `"strict"`, so you'll have to declare it like one of these:

```
    our $VERSION = 1.0611;
    $MyPackage::VERSION = 1.061;
    use vars qw($VERSION);
    use version; our $VERSION = qv(1.0611);
```

Perl's version system does not recognize lexical variables such as

```
    my $VERSION = 1.0611;
```

so they are not accepted by this policy.

A common practice is to use the `"$Revision$"` keyword to automatically define the `$VERSION` variable like this:

```
    our ($VERSION) = '$Revision$' =~ m{ \$Revision: \s+ (\S+) }x;
```

## CONFIGURATION

This Policy is not configurable except for the standard options.

## NOTES

Conway recommends using the `"version"` pragma instead of raw numbers or 'v-strings.'  However, this Policy only insists that the `$VERSION` be defined somehow.  I may try to extend this in the future.

## TO DO

Add check that `$VERSION` is independently evaluatable.  In particular, prohibit this:

```
    our $VERSION = $Other::Module::VERSION;
```

This doesn't work because PAUSE and other tools literally copy your version declaration out of your module and evaluates it in isolation, at which point there's nothing in `"Other::Module"`, and so the `$VERSION` is undefined.

## AUTHOR

Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer \<jeff@imaginative-software.com\>

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2005-2021 Imaginative Software Systems.  All rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.  The full text of this license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.