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diff --git a/pod/perlbot.pod b/pod/perlbot.pod new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..3df273be7d --- /dev/null +++ b/pod/perlbot.pod @@ -0,0 +1,367 @@ +=head1 NAME + +perlbot - Bag'o Object Tricks For Perl5 (the BOT) + +=head1 INTRODUCTION + +The following collection of tricks and hints is intended to whet curious +appetites about such things as the use of instance variables and the +mechanics of object and class relationships. The reader is encouraged to +consult relevant textbooks for discussion of Object Oriented definitions and +methodology. This is not intended as a comprehensive guide to Perl5's +object oriented features, nor should it be construed as a style guide. + +The Perl motto still holds: There's more than one way to do it. + +=head1 INSTANCE VARIABLES + +An anonymous array or anonymous hash can be used to hold instance +variables. Named parameters are also demonstrated. + + package Foo; + + sub new { + my $type = shift; + my %params = @_; + my $self = {}; + $self->{'High'} = $params{'High'}; + $self->{'Low'} = $params{'Low'}; + bless $self; + } + + + package Bar; + + sub new { + my $type = shift; + my %params = @_; + my $self = []; + $self->[0] = $params{'Left'}; + $self->[1] = $params{'Right'}; + bless $self; + } + + package main; + + $a = new Foo ( 'High' => 42, 'Low' => 11 ); + print "High=$a->{'High'}\n"; + print "Low=$a->{'Low'}\n"; + + $b = new Bar ( 'Left' => 78, 'Right' => 40 ); + print "Left=$b->[0]\n"; + print "Right=$b->[1]\n"; + + +=head1 SCALAR INSTANCE VARIABLES + +An anonymous scalar can be used when only one instance variable is needed. + + package Foo; + + sub new { + my $type = shift; + my $self; + $self = shift; + bless \$self; + } + + package main; + + $a = new Foo 42; + print "a=$$a\n"; + + +=head1 INSTANCE VARIABLE INHERITANCE + +This example demonstrates how one might inherit instance variables from a +superclass for inclusion in the new class. This requires calling the +superclass's constructor and adding one's own instance variables to the new +object. + + package Bar; + + sub new { + my $self = {}; + $self->{'buz'} = 42; + bless $self; + } + + package Foo; + @ISA = qw( Bar ); + + sub new { + my $self = new Bar; + $self->{'biz'} = 11; + bless $self; + } + + package main; + + $a = new Foo; + print "buz = ", $a->{'buz'}, "\n"; + print "biz = ", $a->{'biz'}, "\n"; + + + +=head1 OBJECT RELATIONSHIPS + +The following demonstrates how one might implement "containing" and "using" +relationships between objects. + + package Bar; + + sub new { + my $self = {}; + $self->{'buz'} = 42; + bless $self; + } + + package Foo; + + sub new { + my $self = {}; + $self->{'Bar'} = new Bar (); + $self->{'biz'} = 11; + bless $self; + } + + package main; + + $a = new Foo; + print "buz = ", $a->{'Bar'}->{'buz'}, "\n"; + print "biz = ", $a->{'biz'}, "\n"; + + + +=head1 OVERRIDING SUPERCLASS METHODS + +The following example demonstrates how one might override a superclass +method and then call the method after it has been overridden. The +Foo::Inherit class allows the programmer to call an overridden superclass +method without actually knowing where that method is defined. + + + package Buz; + sub goo { print "here's the goo\n" } + + package Bar; @ISA = qw( Buz ); + sub google { print "google here\n" } + + package Baz; + sub mumble { print "mumbling\n" } + + package Foo; + @ISA = qw( Bar Baz ); + @Foo::Inherit::ISA = @ISA; # Access to overridden methods. + + sub new { bless [] } + sub grr { print "grumble\n" } + sub goo { + my $self = shift; + $self->Foo::Inherit::goo(); + } + sub mumble { + my $self = shift; + $self->Foo::Inherit::mumble(); + } + sub google { + my $self = shift; + $self->Foo::Inherit::google(); + } + + package main; + + $foo = new Foo; + $foo->mumble; + $foo->grr; + $foo->goo; + $foo->google; + + +=head1 USING RELATIONSHIP WITH SDBM + +This example demonstrates an interface for the SDBM class. This creates a +"using" relationship between the SDBM class and the new class Mydbm. + + use SDBM_File; + use POSIX; + + package Mydbm; + + sub TIEHASH { + my $self = shift; + my $ref = SDBM_File->new(@_); + bless {'dbm' => $ref}; + } + sub FETCH { + my $self = shift; + my $ref = $self->{'dbm'}; + $ref->FETCH(@_); + } + sub STORE { + my $self = shift; + if (defined $_[0]){ + my $ref = $self->{'dbm'}; + $ref->STORE(@_); + } else { + die "Cannot STORE an undefined key in Mydbm\n"; + } + } + + package main; + + tie %foo, Mydbm, "Sdbm", O_RDWR|O_CREAT, 0640; + $foo{'bar'} = 123; + print "foo-bar = $foo{'bar'}\n"; + + tie %bar, Mydbm, "Sdbm2", O_RDWR|O_CREAT, 0640; + $bar{'Cathy'} = 456; + print "bar-Cathy = $bar{'Cathy'}\n"; + +=head1 THINKING OF CODE REUSE + +One strength of Object-Oriented languages is the ease with which old code +can use new code. The following examples will demonstrate first how one can +hinder code reuse and then how one can promote code reuse. + +This first example illustrates a class which uses a fully-qualified method +call to access the "private" method BAZ(). The second example will show +that it is impossible to override the BAZ() method. + + package FOO; + + sub new { bless {} } + sub bar { + my $self = shift; + $self->FOO::private::BAZ; + } + + package FOO::private; + + sub BAZ { + print "in BAZ\n"; + } + + package main; + + $a = FOO->new; + $a->bar; + +Now we try to override the BAZ() method. We would like FOO::bar() to call +GOOP::BAZ(), but this cannot happen since FOO::bar() explicitly calls +FOO::private::BAZ(). + + package FOO; + + sub new { bless {} } + sub bar { + my $self = shift; + $self->FOO::private::BAZ; + } + + package FOO::private; + + sub BAZ { + print "in BAZ\n"; + } + + package GOOP; + @ISA = qw( FOO ); + sub new { bless {} } + + sub BAZ { + print "in GOOP::BAZ\n"; + } + + package main; + + $a = GOOP->new; + $a->bar; + +To create reusable code we must modify class FOO, flattening class +FOO::private. The next example shows a reusable class FOO which allows the +method GOOP::BAZ() to be used in place of FOO::BAZ(). + + package FOO; + + sub new { bless {} } + sub bar { + my $self = shift; + $self->BAZ; + } + + sub BAZ { + print "in BAZ\n"; + } + + package GOOP; + @ISA = qw( FOO ); + + sub new { bless {} } + sub BAZ { + print "in GOOP::BAZ\n"; + } + + package main; + + $a = GOOP->new; + $a->bar; + +=head1 CLASS CONTEXT AND THE OBJECT + +Use the object to solve package and class context problems. Everything a +method needs should be available via the object or should be passed as a +parameter to the method. + +A class will sometimes have static or global data to be used by the +methods. A subclass may want to override that data and replace it with new +data. When this happens the superclass may not know how to find the new +copy of the data. + +This problem can be solved by using the object to define the context of the +method. Let the method look in the object for a reference to the data. The +alternative is to force the method to go hunting for the data ("Is it in my +class, or in a subclass? Which subclass?"), and this can be inconvenient +and will lead to hackery. It is better to just let the object tell the +method where that data is located. + + package Bar; + + %fizzle = ( 'Password' => 'XYZZY' ); + + sub new { + my $self = {}; + $self->{'fizzle'} = \%fizzle; + bless $self; + } + + sub enter { + my $self = shift; + + # Don't try to guess if we should use %Bar::fizzle + # or %Foo::fizzle. The object already knows which + # we should use, so just ask it. + # + my $fizzle = $self->{'fizzle'}; + + print "The word is ", $fizzle->{'Password'}, "\n"; + } + + package Foo; + @ISA = qw( Bar ); + + %fizzle = ( 'Password' => 'Rumple' ); + + sub new { + my $self = Bar->new; + $self->{'fizzle'} = \%fizzle; + bless $self; + } + + package main; + + $a = Bar->new; + $b = Foo->new; + $a->enter; + $b->enter; + |