Free classes of supply software for linux

classes::Test are functions to help with classes pragma testing.

SYNOPSIS

can_new
can_set_get
has_decl
has_class_const
has_mixins
has_mixins_hash

is_classes MyClass;
is_classes main;

is_throwable X::Mine;
is_classes_exc X::Mine;

Generic tests based on Test::Builder designed to help write unit tests for code that uses the classes pragma.

Class::Std is a Perl module to support for creating standard "inside-out" classes.

SYNOPSIS

package MyClass;
use Class::Std;

# Create storage for object attributes...
my %name : ATTR;
my %rank : ATTR;
my %snum : ATTR;

my %public_data : ATTR;

# Handle initialization of objects of this class...
sub BUILD {
my ($self, $obj_ID, $arg_ref) = @_;

$name{$obj_ID} = check_name( $arg_ref->{name} );
$rank{$obj_ID} = check_rank( $arg_ref->{rank} );
$snum{$obj_ID} = _gen_uniq_serial_num();
}

# Handle cleanup of objects of this class...
sub DEMOLISH {
my ($self, $obj_ID) = @_;

_recycle_serial_num( $snum{$obj_ID} );
}

# Handle unknown method calls...
sub AUTOMETHOD {
my ($self, $obj_ID, @other_args) = @_;

# Return any public data...
if ( m/A get_(.*)/ ) { # Method name passed in $_
my $get_what = $1;
return sub {
return $public_data{$obj_ID}{$get_what};
}
}

warn "Cant call $method_name on ", ref $self, " object";

return; # The call is declined by not returning a sub ref
}

This module provides tools that help to implement the "inside out object" class structure in a convenient and standard way.

Class::Inner is a perlish implementation of Java like inner classes.

SYNOPSIS

use Class::Inner;

my $object = Class::Inner->new(
parent => ParentClass,
methods => { method => sub { ... } }, },
constructor => new,
args => [@constructor_args],
);

Yet another implementation of an anonymous class with per object overrideable methods, but with the added attraction of sort of working dispatch to the parent classs method.

METHODS

new HASH

Takes a hash like argument list with the following keys.

parent

The name of the parent class. Note that you can only get single inheritance with this or SUPER wont work.

methods

A hash, keys are method names, values are CODEREFs.

constructor

The name of the constructor method. Defaults to new.

args

An anonymous array of arguments to pass to the constructor. Defaults to an empty list.

Returns an object in an anonymous class which inherits from the parent class. This anonymous class has a couple of extra methods:

SUPER

If you were to pass something like

$obj = Class::Inner->new(
parent => Parent,
methods => { method => sub { ...; $self->SUPER::method(@_) } },
);

then $self-gtSUPER::method almost certainly wouldnt do what you expect, so we provide the SUPER method which dispatches to the parent implementation of the current method. There seems to be no good way of getting the full SUPER:: functionality, but Im working on it.

DESTROY

Because Class::Inner works by creating a whole new class name for your object, it could potentially leak memory if you create a lot of them. So we add a DESTROY method that removes the class from the symbol table once its finished with.

If you need to override a parents DESTROY method, adding a call to Class::Inner::clean_symbol_table(ref $self) to it. Do it at the end of the method or your other method calls wont work.

clean_symbol_table

The helper subroutine that DESTROY uses to remove the class from the symbol table.

new_classname

Returns a name for the next anonymous class.

Class::Classless is a Perl framework for classless OOP.

SYNOPSIS

use strict;
use Class::Classless;
my $ob1 = $Class::Classless::ROOT->clone;
$ob1->{NAME} = Ob1;
$ob1->{stuff} = 123;
$ob1->{Thing} = 789;

my $ob2 = $ob1->clone;
$ob2->{NAME} = Ob2;

printf "ob1 stuff: n", $ob1->{stuff};
printf "ob2 stuff: n", $ob2->{stuff};
printf "ob1 Thing: n", $ob1->{Thing};
printf "ob2 Thing: n", $ob2->{Thing};

$ob1->{METHODS}{zaz} = sub {
print "Zaz! on ", $_[0]{NAME}, "n";
};

$ob1->zaz;
$ob2->zaz;
$ob1->EXAMINE;
$ob2->EXAMINE;
This prints the following:
ob1 stuff: < 123 >
ob2 stuff: < 123 >
ob1 Thing: < 789 >
ob2 Thing: < >
Zaz! on Ob1
Zaz! on Ob2
< Class::Classless::X=HASH(0x200236f4) >
stuff, 123,
NAME, Ob1,
Thing, 789,
METHODS, { zaz, CODE(0x20068360) },
PARENTS, [ ROOT ],
< Class::Classless::X=HASH(0x2002cb48) >
stuff, 123,
NAME, Ob2,
METHODS, { },
PARENTS, [ Ob1 ],

In class-based OOP frameworks, methods are applicable to objects by virtue of objects belonging to classes that either provide those methods, or inherit them from classes that do.

In classless OOP frameworks (AKA delegation-and-prototypes frameworks), what methods an object is capable of is basically an attribute of that object. That is, in Perl terms: instead of methods being entries in the symbol table of the package/class the object belongs to, they are entries in a hash table inside the object. Inheritance is implemented not by having classes inheriting from other classes (via ISA lists), but by having objects inherit from other objects (via PARENTS lists).

In class-based OOP frameworks, you get new objects by calling constructors. In a classless framework, you get new objects by copying ("cloning") an existing object -- and the new clone becomes a child (inheritor) of the original object. (Where do you get the one original object? The language provides one, which has no parents, and which contains some general purpose methods like "clone".)

Class::Interfaces is a Per module for defining interface classes inline.

SYNOPSIS

# define some simple interfaces
use Class::Interfaces (
Serializable => [ pack, unpack ],
Printable => [ toString ],
Iterable => [ iterator ],
Iterator => [ hasNext, next ]
);

# or some more complex ones ...

# interface can also inherit from
# other interfaces using this form
use Class::Interfaces (
BiDirectionalIterator => {
isa => Iterator,
methods => [ hasPrev, prev ]
},
ResetableIterator => {
isa => Iterator,
methods => [ reset ]
},
# we even support multiple inheritance
ResetableBiDirectionalIterator => {
isa => [ ResetableIterator, BiDirectionalIterator ]
}
);

# it is also possible to create an
# empty interface, sometimes called
# a marker interface
use Class::Interfaces (
JustAMarker => undef
);

This module provides a simple means to define abstract class interfaces, which can be used to program using the concepts of interface polymorphism.

Class::Declare is a Perl module created to declare classes with public, private and protected attributes and methods.

SYNOPSIS

package My::Class;

use strict;
use warnings;
use base qw( Class::Declare );

__PACKAGE__->declare(

public => { public_attr => 42 } ,
private => { private_attr => Foo } ,
protected => { protected_attr => Bar } ,
class => { class_attr => [ 3.141 ] }
static => { static_attr => { a => 1 } } ,
restricted => { restricted_attr => string } ,
abstract => abstract_attr ,
friends => main::trustedsub ,
new => [ public_attr , private_attr ] ,
init => sub { # object initialisation
...
1;
} ,
strict => 0

);

sub publicmethod {
my $self = __PACKAGE__->public( shift );
...
}

sub privatemethod {
my $self = __PACKAGE__->private( shift );
...
}

sub protectedmethod {
my $self = __PACKAGE__->protected( shift );
...
}

sub classmethod {
my $self = __PACKAGE__->class( shift );
...
}

sub staticmethod {
my $self = __PACKAGE__->static( shift );
...
}

sub restrictedmethod {
my $self = __PACKAGE__->restricted( shift );
...
}

sub abstractmethod { __PACKAGE__->abstract }

1;

...

my $obj = My::Class->new( public_attr => fish );

MOTIVATION

One of Perls greatest strengths is its flexible object model. You can turn anything (so long as its a reference, or you can get a reference to it) into an object. This allows coders to choose the most appropriate implementation for each specific need, and still maintain a consistent object oriented approach.
A common paradigm for implementing objects in Perl is to use a blessed hash reference, where the keys of the hash represent attributes of the class. This approach is simple, relatively quick, and trivial to extend, but its not very secure. Since we return a reference to the hash directly to the user they can alter hash values without using the classs accessor methods. This allows for coding "short-cuts" which at best reduce the maintainability of the code, and at worst may introduce bugs and inconsistencies not anticipated by the original module author.

On some systems, this may not be too much of a problem. If the developer base is small, then we can trust the users of our modules to Do The Right Thing. However, as a modules user base increases, or the complexity of the systems our modules are embedded in grows, it may become desirable to control what users can and cant access in our module to guarantee our codes behaviour. A traditional method of indicating that an objects data and methods are for internal use only is to prefix attribute and method names with underscores. However, this still relies on the end user Doing The Right Thing.

Class::Declare provides mechanisms for module developers to explicitly state where and how their class attributes and methods may be accessed, as well as hiding the underlying data store of the objects to prevent unwanted tampering with the data of the objects and classes. This provides a robust framework for developing Perl modules consistent with more strongly-typed object oriented languages, such as Java and C++, where classes provide public, private, and protected interfaces to object and class data and methods.

Class::DispatchToAll Perl module can dispatch a method call to all inherited methods.

SYNOPSIS

package My::Class;
our @ISA=qw(SomeClass SomeOtherClass More::Classes);
use Class::DispatchToAll qw(dispatch_to_all);

my $self=bless {},My::Class # not a proper constructor, I know..

# this calls some_method in all Classes My::Class inherits from
# and all classes those classes inherit from, and all ... you get
# the point.
$self->dispatch_to_all(some_method);

# saves all return values from all calls in an array
my @returns=$self->dispatch_to_all(some_method);

See the Docs of Damian Conways Module Class::Delegation for a good introduction about Dispatching vs. Inheritance.

Class::DispatchToAll enables you to call all instantances of a method in your inheritance tree (or labyrinth..).

The standard Perl behaviour is to call only the lefternmost instance it can fing doing a depth first traversial.

Imagine the following class structure:
C
/
A B C::C
/ /
A::A D
/
My::Class

Perl will try to find a method in this mess in this order:

My::Class -> A::A -> A -> B -> D -> B -> C::C -> C
(Note that it will look twice in B because B is a parent of both A::A and D))

As soon as Perl finds the method somewhere, it will short-circuit out of its search and invoke the method.

And that is exactly the behaviour Class::DispatchToAll changes.

If you use dispatch_to_all (provided by Class::DispatchToAll) to call your method, Perl will look in all of the aforementioned packages and run all the methods it can find. It will even collect all the return values and return them to you as an array, if you want it too.