NAME

mixin::with - declaring a mix-in class

SYNOPSIS

package Dog::Retriever;
use mixin::with 'Dog';

DESCRIPTION

mixin::with is used to declare mix-in classes.

Creating a mixin class.

There are three critical differences between a normal subclass and one intended to be mixin.

1. It can have no superclasses.

2. It can have no private methods. Instead, use private functions.

_private($self, @args) instead of $self-_private(@args);>

3. The mixin class is useless on it's own.

You can't just "use Dog::Retriever" alone and expect it to do anything useful. It must be mixed.

Mixin classes useful for those that add new functionality to an existing class. If you find yourself doing:

package Foo::ExtraStuff;
use base 'Foo';

package Bar;
use base qw(Foo Foo::ExtraStuff);

it's a good indication that Foo::ExtraStuff might do better as a mixin.

How?

Basic usage is simple:

package Foo::Extra;
use mixin::with 'Foo';

sub new_thing {
    my($self) = shift;
    ...normal method...
}

use mixin::with 'Foo' is similar to subclassing from 'Foo'.

All public methods of Foo::Extra will be mixed in. mixin::with considers all methods that don't start with an '_' as public.

AUTHOR

Michael G Schwern <schwern@pobox.com>

SEE ALSO

mixin, ruby from which I stole this idea.