selecting port versions

[Jim Pazarena]

What is the correct/preferred way to determine which version to use of 
any given port ?

I went to upgrade my MySQL and it doesn't like my perl version
I look and there are so many php versions and perl versions, I get lost 
on selecting the correct or best one. I pick one version of a port, and 
then another port tells me that I have the wrong version of the previous 
port. It's a vicious circle of incompatibility.

What is the best method to make the correct selection of any given port?

Google shows old advice of seemingly out-dated topics.

-- 
Jim Pazarena         fquest at paz.bz