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1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | |
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3 | perldelta - what's new for perl5.006 (as of 5.005_54) |
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4 | |
5 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
6 | |
7 | This document describes differences between the 5.005 release and this one. |
8 | |
9 | =head1 Incompatible Changes |
10 | |
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11 | =head2 Perl Source Incompatibilities |
12 | |
13 | None known at this time. |
14 | |
15 | =head2 C Source Incompatibilities |
16 | |
17 | =over 4 |
18 | |
19 | =item C<PERL_POLLUTE> |
20 | |
21 | Release 5.005 grandfathered old global symbol names by providing preprocessor |
22 | macros for extension source compatibility. As of release 5.006, these |
23 | preprocessor definitions are not available by default. You need to explicitly |
24 | compile perl with C<-DPERL_POLLUTE> in order to get these definitions. |
25 | |
26 | =item C<PL_na> and C<dTHR> Issues |
27 | |
28 | The C<PL_na> global is now thread local, so a C<dTHR> declaration is needed |
29 | in the scope in which it appears. XSUBs should handle this automatically, |
30 | but if you have used C<PL_na> in support functions, you either need to |
31 | change the C<PL_na> to a local variable (which is recommended), or put in |
32 | a C<dTHR>. |
33 | |
34 | =back |
35 | |
36 | =head2 Binary Incompatibilities |
37 | |
38 | This release is not binary compatible with the 5.005 release and its |
39 | maintenance versions. |
40 | |
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41 | =head1 Core Changes |
42 | |
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43 | =head2 Binary numbers supported |
44 | |
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45 | Binary numbers are now supported as literals, in s?printf formats, and |
46 | C<oct()>: |
47 | |
48 | $answer = 0b101010; |
49 | printf "The answer is: %b\n", oct("0b101010"); |
50 | |
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51 | =head2 syswrite() ease-of-use |
52 | |
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53 | The length argument of C<syswrite()> is now optional. |
54 | |
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55 | =head2 64-bit support |
56 | |
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57 | Better 64-bit support -- but full support still a distant goal. One |
58 | must Configure with -Duse64bits to get Configure to probe for the |
59 | extent of 64-bit support. Depending on the platform (hints file) more |
60 | or less 64-awareness becomes available. As of 5.005_54 at least |
61 | somewhat 64-bit aware platforms are HP-UX 11 or better, Solaris 2.6 or |
62 | better, IRIX 6.2 or better. Naturally 64-bit platforms like Digital |
63 | UNIX and UNICOS also have 64-bit support. |
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64 | |
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65 | =head2 Better syntax checks on parenthesized unary operators |
66 | |
67 | Expressions such as: |
68 | |
69 | print defined(&foo,&bar,&baz); |
70 | print uc("foo","bar","baz"); |
71 | undef($foo,&bar); |
72 | |
73 | used to be accidentally allowed in earlier versions, and produced |
74 | unpredictable behavior. Some of them produced ancillary warnings |
75 | when used in this way, while others silently did the wrong thing. |
76 | |
77 | The parenthesized forms of most unary operators that expect a single |
78 | argument will now ensure that they are not called with more than one |
79 | argument, making the above cases syntax errors. Note that the usual |
80 | behavior of: |
81 | |
82 | print defined &foo, &bar, &baz; |
83 | print uc "foo", "bar", "baz"; |
84 | undef $foo, &bar; |
85 | |
86 | remains unchanged. See L<perlop>. |
87 | |
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88 | =head1 Supported Platforms |
89 | |
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90 | =over 4 |
91 | |
92 | =item * |
93 | |
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94 | VM/ESA is now supported. |
95 | |
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96 | =item * |
97 | |
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98 | Siemens BS200 is now supported. |
99 | |
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100 | =item * |
101 | |
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102 | The Mach CThreads (NeXTstep) are now supported by the Thread extension. |
103 | |
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104 | =back |
105 | |
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106 | =head1 New tests |
107 | |
108 | =over 4 |
109 | |
110 | =item op/io_const |
111 | |
112 | IO constants (SEEK_*, _IO*). |
113 | |
114 | =item op/io_dir |
115 | |
116 | Directory-related IO methods (new, read, close, rewind, tied delete). |
117 | |
118 | =item op/io_multihomed |
119 | |
120 | INET sockets with multi-homed hosts. |
121 | |
122 | =item op/io_poll |
123 | |
124 | IO poll(). |
125 | |
126 | =item op/io_unix |
127 | |
128 | UNIX sockets. |
129 | |
130 | =item op/filetest |
131 | |
132 | File test operators. |
133 | |
134 | =item op/lex_assign |
135 | |
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136 | Verify operations that access pad objects (lexicals and temporaries). |
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137 | |
138 | =back |
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139 | |
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140 | =head1 Modules and Pragmata |
141 | |
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142 | =head2 Modules |
143 | |
144 | Dumpvalue module provides screen dumps of Perl data. |
145 | |
146 | =head2 Pragmata |
147 | |
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148 | Lexical warnings pragma, "use warning;", to control optional warnings. |
149 | |
150 | Filetest pragma, to control the behaviour of filetests (C<-r> C<-w> ...). |
151 | Currently only one subpragma implemented, "use filetest 'access';", |
152 | that enables the use of access(2) or equivalent to check the |
153 | permissions instead of using stat(2) as usual. This matters |
154 | in filesystems where there are ACLs (access control lists), the |
155 | stat(2) might lie, while access(2) knows better. |
156 | |
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157 | =head1 Utility Changes |
158 | |
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159 | Todo. |
160 | |
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161 | =head1 Documentation Changes |
162 | |
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163 | =over 4 |
164 | |
165 | =item perlopentut.pod |
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166 | |
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167 | A tutorial on using open() effectively. |
168 | |
169 | =item perlreftut.pod |
170 | |
171 | A tutorial that introduces the essentials of references. |
172 | |
173 | =back |
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174 | |
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175 | =head1 New Diagnostics |
176 | |
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177 | =item /%s/: Unrecognized escape \\%c passed through |
178 | |
179 | (W) You used a backslash-character combination which is not recognized |
180 | by Perl. This combination appears in an interpolated variable or a |
181 | C<'>-delimited regular expression. |
182 | |
183 | =item Unrecognized escape \\%c passed through |
184 | |
185 | (W) You used a backslash-character combination which is not recognized |
186 | by Perl. |
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187 | |
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188 | =item Missing command in piped open |
189 | |
190 | (W) You used the C<open(FH, "| command")> or C<open(FH, "command |")> |
191 | construction, but the command was missing or blank. |
192 | |
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193 | =head1 Obsolete Diagnostics |
194 | |
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195 | Todo. |
196 | |
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197 | =head1 Configuration Changes |
198 | |
199 | You can use "Configure -Uinstallusrbinperl" which causes installperl |
200 | to skip installing perl also as /usr/bin/perl. This is useful if you |
201 | prefer not to modify /usr/bin for some reason or another but harmful |
202 | because many scripts assume to find Perl in /usr/bin/perl. |
203 | |
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204 | =head1 BUGS |
205 | |
206 | If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the headers of |
207 | recently posted articles in the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup. |
208 | There may also be information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl |
209 | Home Page. |
210 | |
211 | If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the B<perlbug> |
212 | program included with your release. Make sure you trim your bug down |
213 | to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the |
214 | output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to <F<perlbug@perl.com>> to be |
215 | analysed by the Perl porting team. |
216 | |
217 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
218 | |
219 | The F<Changes> file for exhaustive details on what changed. |
220 | |
221 | The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl. |
222 | |
223 | The F<README> file for general stuff. |
224 | |
225 | The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information. |
226 | |
227 | =head1 HISTORY |
228 | |
229 | Written by Gurusamy Sarathy <F<gsar@umich.edu>>, with many contributions |
230 | from The Perl Porters. |
231 | |
232 | Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.com>>. |
233 | |
234 | =cut |