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Perl 5.8.0 Released
twoshortplanks writes "The latest version of Perl has been released, with new features such as better Unicode support, a new threads implementation, new IO layer support, and a whole plethora of bundled modules - plus a wonderful collection of regression tests and new documentation. The release notes and links to mirrors for download are on dev.perl.org." This is not a release candidate, it's the real thing, representing over two years of work by patch pumpkin holder Jarkko Hietaniemi and his merry band. Hugo van der Sanden is the new pumpking for perl 5.10.
good coders can write readable code in any language. bad coders cannot. So just what are you saying?
Imagine if you weren't allowed to use roads because a bus company complained about your driving 3 times. --skunkpussy
patch pumpkin n. [Perl hackers] A notional token passed around among the members of a project. Possession of the patch pumpkin means one has the exclusive authority to make changes on the project's master source tree. The implicit assumption is that `pumpkin holder' status is temporary and rotates periodically among senior project members.
This term comes from the Perl development community, but has been sighted elsewhere. It derives from a stuffed-toy pumpkin that was passed around at a development shop years ago as the access control for a shared backup-tape drive.
I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants
I learned perl using 5.0.0.5, or somesuch. I learned using version 2 of the Perl Book.
:) It seems it would be a useful community project if someone were to take these changes and compile them into a sorted by type document-- I.E., all grammar changes, then all regexp changes, then library functions, etc., with sample code where germane.
:)
:)
It seems to be the case that the perl language has actually evolved a bit since 5. I am continually finding out about "new" features in Perl that i were not aware were there (invariably, the only ones that make a difference to me are the extentions to the Regexp system: there seems to be a whole class of (?X) operators that are not in my copy of the perl book).
Is there anywhere that summarizes the various changes to perl since version 5? there are the perldoc perldelta documents (here is the perldelta document for 5.8.0). However, these are complete, technical changelogs, and cover everything from language changes to small inconsistency smoothings to changes to obscure library functions to bugfixes in internal perl functions. Moreover, they do an even poorer job of explaining the consequences to the coder of things like (?>) than the perldocs
Really, now that i think about it, i guess what i would like is a summary of what they've done to the regexps since version 5.0
If no such document exists, maybe someone can write one and post it on PerlMonks
- super ugly ultraman
Hello,
This is David Corbane the fink developer over at Apple.
I just wanted to give this warning, since the post above seem to be a well constructed trolling.
Fink is an apt-get (Debian) application for packagemanagement on Apple OS X platform. It works just like apt-get.
The three lines given above would not solve any of the issues, rather this would launch your workpod into a highly unstable state, since perl is used extensively within OS X.
Fink manages aplications outside the base installation of OS X and no third party package mangement should in any way bother with base OS X applications.
If you try the above, you will not be able to run any sort of cron applications (which are run by default and most of which involve perl scripts).
Also doing this removes some glue security bindings that are controlled by perl.
Please be aware that fink is only used outside the base system of OS X and the first two lines of the code above are deceptive and highly dangerious.
Please write me if you need any more info.
dmcorbane@corp.NOSPAM.apple.com
That should probably be:
perl -MCPAN -e 'install perl-5.8.0.tar.gz'
Which is in this thread also.
( perl -MCPAN -e 'install perl-5.8.0.tar.gz' )
First off, let me state that choice of programming language isn't a reflection of the abilities of a developer.
I've seen dedicated, talented developers produce great apps with Perl, Python and even (gasp!) pre-.NET Visual Basic. On the other hand, I've seen careless, uninterested developers produce mounds of pure, unadulterated crap with C++.
The language used has little to do with the quality of thefinal result, and has a lot more to do with the person coding with it.
The language used for a product often isn't even up to the developer. Employers and clients mandate a language as often as not, sometimes for valid reasons, sometimes for moronic reasons ("The CEO plays golf with this dude who told him that using Java is gonna save big bucks").
Let's look at three factors we can use when comparing languages: Performance, Development Effort Required, and Maintainability.
C++ is a great language in experienced and knowing hands. When well-done its performance is good but it tends to be very effort-intensive.
Perl and other very high-level languages are less effort-intensive, but they have a corresponding performance trade-off.
Java and .NET languages are somewhere between the two, though they both seem closer to C++ on the scale than they are to VHL languages.
The maintainability of a language seems weakly related to individual languages. Most of the maintainabilty qualities of a product will spring from the all-too-often overlooked Planning, Design, and Discipline of the developers that worked on it!
I'll allow that Perl can really let you shoot yourself in the foot as far as maintainablity goes, but what languages aren't like this? Especially beloved C++?
The only thing that we learn from history is that nobody learns anything from history.