NAME
Object::Lexical - Syntactic Sugar for Easy Object Instance Data & More
SYNOPSIS
package MyPackage;
use Object::Lexical; # 'nononlex', 'noexport', 'nowrap';
sub new {
my $counter;
our $this;
*inc = sub { $counter++ };
*dec = sub { $counter-- };
*inc3x = sub {
$this->inc() for(1..3);
};
instance();
}
ABSTRACT
Object::Lexical provides syntactic sugar to create objects.
Normal my
variables are used for instance data. $this
is automatically read off of the argument stack. This follows "real" OO languages, where user code need not concern itself with helping the language implement objects.
Normal OO Perl code is ugly, hard to read, tedious to type, and error prone. The $self-
{field}> syntax is cumbersome, and using an object field with a built in, like push()
, requires syntax beyond novice Perl programmers: push @{$self-
{field}}, $value>. Spelling field names wrong results in hard to find bugs: the hash autovivicates, and no "variables must be declared" warning is issued.
DESCRIPTION
instance()
returns a new object that subclasses the current object, and contains all of the just-defined methods. The object returned is a blessed symbol table (stash) reference, which functions like a blessed hash reference for most purposes. In other words, it is a normal object.
instance()
takes an optional argument: the name of the package the object being created is to belong to. If the new()
method reads the class name off of the argument stack, this class name should be passed to instance()
, to support the creation of subclasses of your class. This is similar to the operation of bless()
, except instance()
will read the class name off of the stack for you if you don't.
The use Method::Lexical
line takes optional arguments: "nononlex" specifies that non-lexically defined methods shouldn't be moved. Methods defined using *name = sub { }
and sub name { }
won't be moved. If subroutines are created out side of the sub new { }
block, then this option should be specified, or else the subroutines will mysteriously disappear. "noexport" specifies that method()
and instance()
should not be exported into your namespace. To get at these functions, you will need to qualify their names: Object::Lexical::method()
and Object::Lexical::instance()
, respectively. "nowrap" specifies that methods should be wrapped in logic that reads $this
automatically, as they are moved into their new symbol table. If you want to refer to $this
as $_[0]
, or you want to process it yourself, or you want keep memory usage on par with normal objects, use this.
instance()
is the heart of this module: lexically scoped methods (coderefs held in my
variables) and methods placed into the symbol table are moved into a new namespace created just for that object instance. A thin wrapper is placed around each symbol table entry in this namespace that reads the reference to the current object into an our
variable named $this
.
Any number of independent objects can be returned by new()
. By defining methods in side the block of the new()
method, each returned object has its own private copies of each my
variable. This uses the "lambda closure" feature of Perl. A closure is code that holds references to variables - in this example, $counter
will go out of scope, but inc
, dec
, inc3x
all keep a reference to it. The next time new()
is run, a new $counter
lexical will be created, and new methods will be created that reference that.
This serves to avoid the messy $this-
{counter}++> syntax, making it easier to refactor code, move code into methods from subroutines, and turn plain old modules into objects.
ALTERNATE IDIOMS
A method()
function is provided:
use Object::Lexical;
no strict 'subs';
sub new {
my $counter;
our $this;
method { $counter++ } inc;
method { $counter-- } dec;
method {
$this->inc() for(1..3);
} inc3x;
instance();
}
This removes the need to use Sub::Lexical
. Sub::Lexical uses souce filtering, which may clash with other source filters or introduce bugs into code.
Sub::Lexical seems like the perfect idiom:
use Object::Lexical;
use Sub::Lexical;
sub new {
my $counter;
our $this;
my sub inc {
$counter++;
}
my sub dec {
$counter--;
}
my sub inc3x {
$this->inc() for(1..3);
}
instance();
}
But it doesn't seem to work with this module: "substr outside of string at /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.8.0/Text/Balanced.pm line 79." Perhaps this will be resolved in the future.
BUGS
Making a function call instead of a method call, treating the blessed stash (symbol table) as a hash and looking up the method in it, and invoking it directly after making a normal method call to that method causes a coredump in Perl 5.8.0, 5.6.1, and perhaps earlier. Voodoo. This was meant to be supported as a feature, to allow hash style access to objects that are only namespaces full of closures.
$ob->{method}->();
Subs declared outside of the new()
block are annihilated in this version. Specifically, they are moved into the first object created, never replunished, as they aren't created run-time from inside the new()
block.
Perl prototypes support magic that allows allows user defined functions follow the form of builtings grep { } @list
and map { } @list
to be created, but not of the form used by the builtin sub name { }
. This gives method { }
a strange syntax.
Magic may not play nice with out modules that mangle the nametable or other trickery. Best to confine use to small container objects and the like for now.
EXPORT
instance()
is always exported, and so is method()
- unless the 'noexport' option is given.
SEE ALSO
- http://perldesignpatterns.com/?AnonymousSubroutineObjects
-
This module is really just part of this book.
- Class::Classless
-
Can easily provide the same facility as this module if closures are passed to the
sub()
method. Requires more syntax - Object::Lexical is specialized. - Class::Object
-
Ditto. Barrowed code from.
- ImplicitThis
-
ImplicitThis, an earlier attempt, wrapped methods to automatically read
$this
, but it was error prone, and ignored the problem of accessing instance data.
AUTHOR
Scott Walters, <scott@slowass.net>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright 2003 by Scott Walters
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.