Perlx::assert is a framework for embedding assertions in perl code. under normal circumstances, assertions are not checked; they are optimized away at compile time.

however if, at compile time, any of the following environment variables is true, assertions are checked, and if they fail, throw an exception.

- perl_strict
- author_testing
- extended_testing
- release_testing
that is, assertions will only typically be checked when the test suite is being run on the authors' machine, or otherwise opted into.