Object Oriented Perl

by Conway, Damian

• ISBN13: 9781884777790
• ISBN10: 1884777791
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: Manning Pubns Co

Summary

This book is designed to assist programmers with basic to intermediate skills in procedural Perl and a familiarity with the fundamental concepts of object-orientation (specifically: classes, members, methods, encapsulation single inheritance, and the concept of polymorphism) to acquire a solid understanding of the object-oriented Perl. The value of the book is that it gives more people an understanding of, and confidence in, the use of Perl OO. In other words, rather than replacing their current knowledge, the book will augment it, and hopefully help them to understand when, where, and why they might most appropriately use OO Perl. This book will attract the people who are moving from scripting with Perl to programming with Perl.

Author Biography

Based at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, Dr Damian Conway is an effective teacher, an accomplished writer, and the author of several popular Perl modules. In 1998 he won the inaugural Larry Wall Award for Practical Utility.

Table of Contents

foreword	xi
preface	xii
acknowledgments	xviii
author online	xx
What you need to know first (an object-orientation primer)	1	(20)
The essentials of object orientation	2	(11)
Other object-oriented concepts	13	(5)
Terminology: a few (too many) words	18	(1)
Where to find out more	18	(2)
Summary	20	(1)
What you need to know second (a Perl refresher)	21	(52)
Essential Perl	21	(30)
Non-essential (but very useful) Perl	51	(14)
The CPAN	65	(3)
Where to find out more	68	(4)
Summary	72	(1)
Getting started	73	(45)
Three little rules	73	(7)
A simple Perl class	80	(9)
Making life easier	89	(7)
The creation and destruction of objects	96	(18)
The CD::Music class, compleat	114	(3)
Summary	117	(1)
Blessing arrays and scalars	118	(25)
What's wrong with a hash?	118	(1)
Blessing an array	119	(7)
Blessing a pseudo-hash	126	(9)
Blessing a scalar	135	(7)
Summary	142	(1)
Blessing other things	143	(25)
Blessing a regular expression	143	(8)
Blessing a subroutine	151	(7)
Blessing a typeglob	158	(8)
Summary	166	(2)
Inheritance	168	(35)
How Perl handles inheritance	168	(10)
Tricks and traps	178	(15)
Example: Inheriting the CD class	193	(8)
Where to find out more	201	(1)
Summary	202	(1)
Polymorphism	203	(10)
Polymorphism in Perl	203	(2)
Example: Polymorphic methods for the Lexer class	205	(3)
The simple pretty-printer objectified	208	(2)
Using interface polymorphism instead	210	(2)
Where to find out more	212	(1)
Summary	212	(1)
Automating class creation	213	(23)
The Class::Struct module	213	(9)
The Class::MethodMaker module	222	(12)
Where to find out more	234	(1)
Summary	235	(1)
Ties	236	(40)
A jacketing tie required	236	(2)
Tie-ing a scalar	238	(5)
Tie-ing a hash	243	(6)
Tie-ing an array	249	(7)
Tie-ing a filehandle	256	(6)
Inheriting from a tie'able package	262	(3)
Tied variables as objects	265	(9)
Where to find out more	274	(1)
Summary	275	(1)
Operator overloading	276	(20)
The problem	276	(2)
Perl's operator overloading mechanism	278	(6)
Example: A Roman numerals class	284	(7)
Circumventing undesired reference semantics	291	(1)
The use and abuse of operators	292	(3)
Where to find out more	295	(1)
Summary	295	(1)
Encapsulation	296	(31)
The perils of trust	296	(1)
Encapsulation via closures	297	(5)
Encapsulation via scalars	302	(7)
Encapsulation via ties	309	(17)
Where to find out more	326	(1)
Summary	326	(1)
Genericity	327	(24)
Why Perl doesn't need special generic mechanisms	327	(2)
Using specific mechanisms anyway	329	(7)
Implicit generics via polymorphism	336	(14)
Where to find out more	350	(1)
Summary	350	(1)
Multiple dispatch	351	(36)
What is multiple dispatch?	351	(2)
Multiple dispatch via single dispatch and cases	353	(3)
Multiple dispatch via a table	356	(5)
Comparing the two approaches	361	(2)
Dynamic dispatch tables	363	(4)
Some lingering difficulties	367	(1)
The Class::Multimethods module	367	(18)
Comparing the three approaches	385	(1)
Where to find out more	385	(1)
Summary	385	(2)
Persistent objects	387	(42)
The ingredients	387	(11)
Object-oriented persistence	398	(2)
Coarse-grained persistence	400	(12)
Fine-grained persistence	412	(15)
Where to find out more	427	(1)
Summary	428	(1)
A Quick reference guide	429	(9)
B What you might know instead	438	(21)
Perl and Smalltalk	438	(5)
Perl and C++	443	(6)
Perl and Java	449	(5)
Perl and Eiffel	454	(5)
glossary	459	(7)
bibliography	466	(2)
index	468