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1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | |
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3 | perldelta - what's new for perl v5.7.0 |
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4 | |
5 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
6 | |
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7 | This document describes differences between the 5.6.0 release and |
8 | the 5.7.0 release. |
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9 | |
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10 | =head1 Security Vulnerability Closed |
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11 | |
12 | A potential security vulnerability in the optional suidperl component |
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13 | of Perl has been identified. suidperl is neither built nor installed |
14 | by default. As of August the 20th, 2000, the only known vulnerable |
15 | platform is Linux, most likely all Linux distributions. CERT and |
16 | various vendors have been alerted about the vulnerability. |
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17 | |
18 | The problem was caused by Perl trying to report a suspected security |
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19 | exploit attempt using an external program, /bin/mail. On Linux |
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20 | platforms the /bin/mail program had an undocumented feature which gave |
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21 | access to a root shell, resulting in a serious compromise instead of |
22 | reporting the exploit attempt. If you don't have /bin/mail, or if you |
23 | have 'safe setuid scripts', or if suidperl is not installed, you |
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24 | are safe. |
25 | |
26 | The exploit attempt reporting feature has been completely removed from |
27 | the Perl 5.7.0 release, so that particular vulnerability isn't there |
562628a3 |
28 | anymore. However, further security vulnerabilities are, |
29 | unfortunately, always possible. The suidperl code is being reviewed |
30 | and if deemed too risky to continue to be supported, it may be |
31 | completely removed from future releases. In any case, suidperl should |
32 | only be used by security experts who know exactly what they are doing |
33 | and why they are using suidperl instead of some other solution such as |
34 | sudo (see http://www.courtesan.com/sudo/). |
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35 | |
36 | =head1 Incompatible Changes |
37 | |
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38 | =over 4 |
39 | |
40 | =item * |
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41 | |
ce72e97c |
42 | Arrays now always interpolate into double-quoted strings: |
43 | constructs like "foo@bar" now always assume C<@bar> is an array, |
44 | whether or not the compiler has seen use of C<@bar>. |
d4ad863d |
45 | |
ce72e97c |
46 | =item * |
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47 | |
48 | The semantics of bless(REF, REF) were unclear and until someone proves |
49 | it to make some sense, it is forbidden. |
50 | |
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51 | =item * |
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52 | |
53 | The very dusty examples in the eg/ directory have been removed. |
54 | Suggestions for new shiny examples welcome but the main issue is that |
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55 | the examples need to be documented, tested and (most importantly) |
56 | maintained. |
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57 | |
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58 | =item * |
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59 | |
60 | The obsolete chat2 library that should never have been allowed |
61 | to escape the laboratory has been decommissioned. |
62 | |
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63 | =item * |
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64 | |
65 | The unimplemented POSIX regex features [[.cc.]] and [[=c=]] are still |
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66 | recognised but now cause fatal errors. The previous behaviour of |
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67 | ignoring them by default and warning if requested was unacceptable |
68 | since it, in a way, falsely promised that the features could be used. |
69 | |
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70 | =item * |
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71 | |
72 | lstat(FILEHANDLE) now gives a warning because the operation makes no sense. |
73 | In future releases this may become a fatal error. |
74 | |
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75 | =item * |
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76 | |
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77 | The long deprecated uppercase aliases for the string comparison |
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78 | operators (EQ, NE, LT, LE, GE, GT) have now been removed. |
79 | |
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80 | =item * |
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81 | |
82 | The regular expression captured submatches ($1, $2, ...) are now |
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83 | more consistently unset if the match fails, instead of leaving false |
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84 | data lying around in them. |
85 | |
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86 | =item * |
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87 | |
88 | The tr///C and tr///U features have been removed and will not return; |
89 | the interface was a mistake. Sorry about that. For similar |
90 | functionality, see pack('U0', ...) and pack('C0', ...). |
91 | |
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92 | =back |
93 | |
cc0fca54 |
94 | =head1 Core Enhancements |
95 | |
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96 | =over 4 |
97 | |
98 | =item * |
99 | |
100 | C<perl -d:Module=arg,arg,arg> now works (previously one couldn't pass |
101 | in multiple arguments.) |
102 | |
103 | =item * |
104 | |
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105 | my __PACKAGE__ now works. |
106 | |
107 | =item * |
108 | |
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109 | C<no Module;> now works even if there is no "sub unimport" in the Module. |
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110 | |
111 | =item * |
112 | |
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113 | The numerical comparison operators return C<undef> if either operand |
114 | is a NaN. Previously the behaviour was unspecified. |
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115 | |
116 | =item * |
117 | |
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118 | C<pack('U0a*', ...)> can now be used to force a string to UTF8. |
53080bb1 |
119 | |
120 | =item * |
121 | |
122 | prototype(\&) is now available. |
123 | |
53080bb1 |
124 | =back |
125 | |
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126 | =head1 Modules and Pragmata |
127 | |
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128 | =head2 New Modules |
129 | |
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130 | =over 4 |
131 | |
132 | =item * |
133 | |
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134 | File::Temp allows one to create temporary files and directories in an |
135 | easy, portable, and secure way. |
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136 | |
137 | =item * |
138 | |
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139 | Storable gives persistence to Perl data structures by allowing the |
140 | storage and retrieval of Perl data to and from files in a fast and |
141 | compact binary format. |
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142 | |
143 | =back |
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144 | |
145 | =head2 Updated And Improved Modules and Pragmata |
146 | |
147 | =over 4 |
148 | |
149 | =item * |
150 | |
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151 | The following independently supported modules have been updated to |
152 | newer versions from CPAN: CGI, CPAN, DB_File, File::Spec, Getopt::Long, |
153 | the podlators bundle, Pod::LaTeX, Pod::Parser, Term::ANSIColor, Test. |
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154 | |
155 | =item * |
156 | |
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157 | Bug fixes and minor enhancements have been applied to B::Deparse, |
158 | Data::Dumper, IO::Poll, IO::Socket::INET, Math::BigFloat, Math::Complex, |
159 | re, SelfLoader, Sys::SysLog, Test::Harness, Text::Wrap, UNIVERSAL. |
53080bb1 |
160 | |
161 | =item * |
162 | |
ce72e97c |
163 | The attributes::reftype() now works on tied arguments. |
53080bb1 |
164 | |
165 | =item * |
166 | |
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167 | AutoLoader can now be disabled with C<no AutoLoader;>, |
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168 | |
169 | =item * |
170 | |
171 | The English module can now be used without the infamous performance |
172 | hit by saying |
173 | |
174 | use English '-no_performance_hit'; |
175 | |
176 | (Assuming, of course, that one doesn't need the troublesome variables |
177 | C<$`>, C<$&>, or C<$'>.) Also, introduce C<@LAST_MATCH_START> and |
178 | C<@LAST_MATCH_END> English aliases for C<@-> and C<@+>. |
179 | |
180 | =item * |
181 | |
ce72e97c |
182 | File::Find now has pre- and post-processing callbacks. It also |
183 | correctly changes directories when chasing symbolic links. Callbacks |
184 | (naughtily) exiting with "next;" instead of "return;" now work. |
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185 | |
186 | =item * |
187 | |
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188 | File::Glob::glob() renamed to File::Glob::bsd_glob() to avoid |
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189 | prototype mismatch with CORE::glob(). |
190 | |
191 | =item * |
192 | |
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193 | IPC::Open3 now allows the use of numeric file descriptors. |
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194 | |
195 | =item * |
196 | |
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197 | use lib now works identically to @INC. Removing directories |
198 | with 'no lib' now works. |
53080bb1 |
199 | |
200 | =item * |
201 | |
ce72e97c |
202 | C<%INC> now localised in a Safe compartment so that use/require work. |
53080bb1 |
203 | |
204 | =item * |
205 | |
ce72e97c |
206 | The Shell module now has an OO interface. |
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207 | |
ce72e97c |
208 | =back |
53080bb1 |
209 | |
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210 | =head1 Utility Changes |
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211 | |
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212 | =over 4 |
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213 | |
214 | =item * |
215 | |
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216 | The Emacs perl mode (emacs/cperl-mode.el) has been updated to version 4.31. |
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217 | |
218 | =item * |
219 | |
ce72e97c |
220 | The long-dormant perl bytecompiler has been added to the list of |
221 | installed utilities since the bytecompiler backend has been improved. |
222 | The bytecompiler is still very much experimental, though. |
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223 | |
224 | =item * |
225 | |
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226 | Perlbug is now much more robust. It also sends the bug report to perl.org, |
227 | not perl.com. |
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228 | |
229 | =item * |
230 | |
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231 | The perlcc utility has been rewritten and its user interface (that is, |
232 | command line) is much more like that of the UNIX C compiler, cc. |
53080bb1 |
233 | |
234 | =item * |
235 | |
ce72e97c |
236 | The xsubpp utility for extension writers now understands POD |
237 | documentation embedded in the *.xs files. |
53080bb1 |
238 | |
ce72e97c |
239 | =back |
53080bb1 |
240 | |
ce72e97c |
241 | =head1 New Documentation |
53080bb1 |
242 | |
ce72e97c |
243 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
244 | |
245 | =item * |
246 | |
ce72e97c |
247 | perl56delta details the changes between the 5.005 release and the |
248 | 5.6.0 release. |
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249 | |
250 | =item * |
251 | |
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252 | perldebtut is a Perl debugging tutorial. |
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253 | |
254 | =item * |
255 | |
ce72e97c |
256 | perlebcdic contains considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms. |
257 | Note that unfortunately EBCDIC platforms that used to supported back in |
258 | Perl 5.005 are still unsupported by Perl 5.7.0; the plan, however, is to |
259 | bring them back to the fold. |
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260 | |
261 | =item * |
262 | |
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263 | perlnewmod tells about writing and submitting a new module. |
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264 | |
265 | =item * |
266 | |
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267 | perlposix-bc explains using Perl on the POSIX-BC platform |
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268 | (an EBCDIC mainframe platform). |
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269 | |
270 | =item * |
271 | |
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272 | perlretut is a regular expression tutorial. |
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273 | |
274 | =item * |
275 | |
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276 | perlrequick is a regular expressions quick-start guide. |
277 | Yes, much quicker than perlretut. |
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278 | |
279 | =item * |
280 | |
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281 | perlutil explains the command line utilities packaged with the Perl |
282 | distribution. |
53080bb1 |
283 | |
284 | =back |
285 | |
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286 | =head1 Performance Enhancements |
53080bb1 |
287 | |
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288 | =over 4 |
289 | |
290 | =item * |
291 | |
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292 | map() that changes the size of the list should now work faster. |
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293 | |
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294 | =back |
295 | |
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296 | =head1 Installation and Configuration Improvements |
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297 | |
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298 | =head2 Generic Improvements |
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299 | |
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300 | =over 4 |
301 | |
302 | =item * |
303 | |
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304 | INSTALL now explains how you can configure perl to use 64-bit |
305 | integers even on non-64-bit platforms. |
53080bb1 |
306 | |
307 | =item * |
308 | |
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309 | Policy.sh policy change: if you are reusing a Policy.sh file (see |
310 | INSTALL) and you use Configure -Dprefix=/foo/bar and in the old |
311 | Policy $prefix eq $siteprefix and $prefix eq $vendorprefix, all of |
312 | them will now be changed to the new prefix, /foo/bar. (Previously |
313 | only $prefix changed.) If you do not like this new behaviour, |
314 | specify prefix, siteprefix, and vendorprefix explicitly. |
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315 | |
316 | =item * |
317 | |
ce72e97c |
318 | A new optional location for Perl libraries, otherlibdirs, is available. |
319 | It can be used for example for vendor add-ons without disturbing Perl's |
320 | own library directories. |
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321 | |
322 | =item * |
323 | |
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324 | In many platforms the vendor-supplied 'cc' is too stripped-down to |
325 | build Perl (basically, 'cc' doesn't do ANSI C). If this seems |
326 | to be the case and 'cc' does not seem to be the GNU C compiler |
327 | 'gcc', an automatic attempt is made to find and use 'gcc' instead. |
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328 | |
329 | =item * |
330 | |
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331 | gcc needs to closely track the operating system release to avoid |
332 | build problems. If Configure finds that gcc was built for a different |
333 | operating system release than is running, it now gives a clearly visible |
334 | warning that there may be trouble ahead. |
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335 | |
336 | =item * |
337 | |
ce72e97c |
338 | If binary compatibility with the 5.005 release is not wanted, Configure |
339 | no longer suggests including the 5.005 modules in @INC. |
53080bb1 |
340 | |
341 | =item * |
342 | |
ce72e97c |
343 | Configure C<-S> can now run non-interactively. |
53080bb1 |
344 | |
345 | =item * |
346 | |
ce72e97c |
347 | configure.gnu now works with options with whitespace in them. |
53080bb1 |
348 | |
349 | =item * |
350 | |
ce72e97c |
351 | installperl now outputs everything to STDERR. |
53080bb1 |
352 | |
353 | =item * |
354 | |
ce72e97c |
355 | $Config{byteorder} is now computed dynamically (this is more robust |
356 | with "fat binaries" where an executable image contains binaries for |
357 | more than one binary platform.) |
53080bb1 |
358 | |
ce72e97c |
359 | =back |
53080bb1 |
360 | |
ce72e97c |
361 | =head1 Selected Bug Fixes |
53080bb1 |
362 | |
ce72e97c |
363 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
364 | |
365 | =item * |
366 | |
ce72e97c |
367 | Several debugger fixes: exit code now reflects the script exit code, |
368 | condition C<"0"> now treated correctly, the C<d> command now checks |
369 | line number, the C<$.> no longer gets corrupted, all debugger output now |
370 | goes correctly to the socket if RemotePort is set. |
53080bb1 |
371 | |
372 | =item * |
373 | |
ce72e97c |
374 | C<*foo{FORMAT}> now works. |
53080bb1 |
375 | |
376 | =item * |
377 | |
ce72e97c |
378 | Lexical warnings now propagating correctly between scopes. |
53080bb1 |
379 | |
380 | =item * |
381 | |
ce72e97c |
382 | Line renumbering with eval and C<#line> now works. |
53080bb1 |
383 | |
384 | =item * |
385 | |
ce72e97c |
386 | Fixed numerous memory leaks, especially in eval "". |
53080bb1 |
387 | |
388 | =item * |
389 | |
ce72e97c |
390 | Modulus of unsigned numbers now works (4063328477 % 65535 used to |
391 | return 27406, instead of 27047). |
53080bb1 |
392 | |
393 | =item * |
394 | |
ce72e97c |
395 | Some "not a number" warnings introduced in 5.6.0 eliminated to be |
396 | more compatible with 5.005. Infinity is now recognised as a number. |
53080bb1 |
397 | |
398 | =item * |
399 | |
ce72e97c |
400 | our() variables will not cause "will not stay shared" warnings. |
53080bb1 |
401 | |
402 | =item * |
403 | |
ce72e97c |
404 | pack "Z" now correctly terminates the string with "\0". |
53080bb1 |
405 | |
406 | =item * |
407 | |
ce72e97c |
408 | Fix password routines which in some shadow password platforms |
409 | (e.g. HP-UX) caused getpwent() to return every other entry. |
53080bb1 |
410 | |
411 | =item * |
412 | |
ce72e97c |
413 | printf() no longer resets the numeric locale to "C". |
53080bb1 |
414 | |
415 | =item * |
416 | |
ce72e97c |
417 | C<q(a\\b)> now parses correctly as C<'a\\b'>. |
53080bb1 |
418 | |
419 | =item * |
420 | |
ce72e97c |
421 | Printing quads (64-bit integers) with printf/sprintf now works |
562628a3 |
422 | without the q L ll prefixes (assuming you are on a quad-capable platform). |
53080bb1 |
423 | |
424 | =item * |
425 | |
ce72e97c |
426 | Regular expressions on references and overloaded scalars now work. |
53080bb1 |
427 | |
428 | =item * |
429 | |
ce72e97c |
430 | scalar() now forces scalar context even when used in void context. |
53080bb1 |
431 | |
432 | =item * |
ce72e97c |
433 | |
434 | sort() arguments are now compiled in the right wantarray context |
435 | (they were accidentally using the context of the sort() itself). |
53080bb1 |
436 | |
437 | =item * |
438 | |
ce72e97c |
439 | Changed the POSIX character class C<[[:space:]]> to include the (very |
440 | rare) vertical tab character. Added a new POSIX-ish character class |
441 | C<[[:blank:]]> which stands for horizontal whitespace (currently, |
442 | the space and the tab). |
53080bb1 |
443 | |
444 | =item * |
445 | |
ce72e97c |
446 | $AUTOLOAD, sort(), lock(), and spawning subprocesses |
447 | in multiple threads simultaneously are now thread-safe. |
53080bb1 |
448 | |
449 | =item * |
450 | |
ce72e97c |
451 | Allow read-only string on left hand side of non-modifying tr///. |
53080bb1 |
452 | |
453 | =item * |
454 | |
ce72e97c |
455 | Several Unicode fixes (but still not perfect). |
53080bb1 |
456 | |
ce72e97c |
457 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
458 | |
459 | =item * |
460 | |
ce72e97c |
461 | BOMs (byte order marks) in the beginning of Perl files |
462 | (scripts, modules) should now be transparently skipped. |
463 | UTF16 encoded Perl files should now be read correctly. |
53080bb1 |
464 | |
465 | =item * |
466 | |
ce72e97c |
467 | The character tables have been updated to new Unicode 3.0 features. |
53080bb1 |
468 | |
ce72e97c |
469 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
470 | |
ce72e97c |
471 | chr() for values greater than 127 now create utf8 when under use |
472 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
473 | |
ce72e97c |
474 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
475 | |
ce72e97c |
476 | Comparing with utf8 data does not magically upgrade non-utf8 data into |
477 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
478 | |
479 | =item * |
480 | |
ce72e97c |
481 | C<IsAlnum>, C<IsAlpha>, and C<IsWord> now match titlecase. |
53080bb1 |
482 | |
483 | =item * |
484 | |
ce72e97c |
485 | Concatenation with the C<.> operator or via variable interpolation, |
486 | C<eq>, C<substr>, C<reverse>, C<quotemeta>, the C<x> operator, |
487 | substitution with C<s///>, single-quoted UTF8, should now work--in |
488 | theory. |
53080bb1 |
489 | |
490 | =item * |
491 | |
ce72e97c |
492 | The C<tr///> operator now works I<slightly> better but is still rather |
493 | broken. Note that the C<tr///CU> functionality has been removed (but |
494 | see pack('U0', ...)). |
53080bb1 |
495 | |
496 | =item * |
497 | |
ce72e97c |
498 | Zero entries were missing from the Unicode classes like C<IsDigit>. |
53080bb1 |
499 | |
500 | =back |
501 | |
ce72e97c |
502 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
503 | |
ce72e97c |
504 | UNIVERSAL::isa no longer caches methods incorrectly. (This broke |
505 | the Tk extension with 5.6.0.) |
53080bb1 |
506 | |
ce72e97c |
507 | =back |
53080bb1 |
508 | |
ce72e97c |
509 | =head2 Platform Specific Changes and Fixes |
53080bb1 |
510 | |
511 | =over 4 |
512 | |
513 | =item * |
514 | |
ce72e97c |
515 | BSDI 4.* |
53080bb1 |
516 | |
ce72e97c |
517 | Perl now works on post-4.0 BSD/OSes. |
53080bb1 |
518 | |
ce72e97c |
519 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
520 | |
ce72e97c |
521 | All BSDs |
53080bb1 |
522 | |
ce72e97c |
523 | Setting C<$0> now works (as much as possible; see perlvar for details). |
53080bb1 |
524 | |
ce72e97c |
525 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
526 | |
ce72e97c |
527 | Cygwin |
53080bb1 |
528 | |
ce72e97c |
529 | Numerous updates; currently synchronised with Cygwin 1.1.4. |
53080bb1 |
530 | |
531 | =item * |
532 | |
ce72e97c |
533 | EPOC |
53080bb1 |
534 | |
ce72e97c |
535 | EPOC update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.epoc. |
53080bb1 |
536 | |
ce72e97c |
537 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
538 | |
ce72e97c |
539 | FreeBSD 3.* |
53080bb1 |
540 | |
ce72e97c |
541 | Perl now works on post-3.0 FreeBSDs. |
53080bb1 |
542 | |
543 | =item * |
544 | |
ce72e97c |
545 | HP-UX |
53080bb1 |
546 | |
ce72e97c |
547 | README.hpux updated; C<Configure -Duse64bitall> now almost works. |
53080bb1 |
548 | |
ce72e97c |
549 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
550 | |
ce72e97c |
551 | IRIX |
53080bb1 |
552 | |
ce72e97c |
553 | Numerous compilation flag and hint enhancements; accidental mixing |
554 | of 32-bit and 64-bit libraries (a doomed attempt) made much harder. |
53080bb1 |
555 | |
556 | =item * |
557 | |
ce72e97c |
558 | Linux |
53080bb1 |
559 | |
ce72e97c |
560 | Long doubles should now work (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
561 | |
562 | =item * |
563 | |
ce72e97c |
564 | MacOS Classic |
565 | |
53080bb1 |
566 | Compilation of the standard Perl distribution in MacOS Classic should |
ce72e97c |
567 | now work if you have the Metrowerks development environment and |
568 | the missing Mac-specific toolkit bits. Contact the macperl mailing |
53080bb1 |
569 | list for details. |
570 | |
ce72e97c |
571 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
572 | |
ce72e97c |
573 | MPE/iX |
53080bb1 |
574 | |
ce72e97c |
575 | MPE/iX update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.mpeix. |
53080bb1 |
576 | |
ce72e97c |
577 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
578 | |
ce72e97c |
579 | NetBSD/sparc |
53080bb1 |
580 | |
ce72e97c |
581 | Perl now works on NetBSD/sparc. |
53080bb1 |
582 | |
583 | =item * |
584 | |
ce72e97c |
585 | OS/2 |
53080bb1 |
586 | |
ce72e97c |
587 | Now works with usethreads (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
588 | |
589 | =item * |
590 | |
ce72e97c |
591 | Solaris |
53080bb1 |
592 | |
ce72e97c |
593 | 64-bitness using the Sun Workshop compiler now works. |
53080bb1 |
594 | |
595 | =item * |
596 | |
ce72e97c |
597 | Tru64 (aka Digital UNIX, aka DEC OSF/1) |
598 | |
599 | The operating system version letter now recorded in $Config{osvers}. |
53080bb1 |
600 | Allow compiling with gcc (previously explicitly forbidden). Compiling |
601 | with gcc still not recommended because buggy code results, even with |
602 | gcc 2.95.2. |
603 | |
604 | =item * |
605 | |
ce72e97c |
606 | Unicos |
53080bb1 |
607 | |
608 | Fixed various alignment problems that lead into core dumps either |
ce72e97c |
609 | during build or later; no longer dies on math errors at runtime; |
610 | now using full quad integers (64 bits), previously was using |
b84d4f81 |
611 | only 46 bit integers for speed. |
53080bb1 |
612 | |
53080bb1 |
613 | =item * |
614 | |
ce72e97c |
615 | VMS |
53080bb1 |
616 | |
ce72e97c |
617 | chdir() now works better despite a CRT bug; now works with MULTIPLICITY |
618 | (see INSTALL); now works with Perl's malloc. |
53080bb1 |
619 | |
620 | =item * |
621 | |
ce72e97c |
622 | Windows |
53080bb1 |
623 | |
ce72e97c |
624 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
625 | |
626 | =item * |
627 | |
d4ad863d |
628 | accept() no longer leaks memory. |
53080bb1 |
629 | |
630 | =item * |
631 | |
632 | Better chdir() return value for a non-existent directory. |
633 | |
634 | =item * |
635 | |
636 | New %ENV entries now propagate to subprocesses. |
637 | |
638 | =item * |
639 | |
640 | $ENV{LIB} now used to search for libs under Visual C. |
641 | |
642 | =item * |
643 | |
644 | A failed (pseudo)fork now returns undef and sets errno to EAGAIN. |
645 | |
646 | =item * |
647 | |
648 | Allow REG_EXPAND_SZ keys in the registry. |
649 | |
650 | =item * |
651 | |
652 | Can now send() from all threads, not just the first one. |
653 | |
654 | =item * |
655 | |
656 | Fake signal handling reenabled, bugs and all. |
657 | |
658 | =item * |
659 | |
660 | Less stack reserved per thread so that more threads can run |
661 | concurrently. (still 16M perl thread) |
662 | |
663 | =item * |
664 | |
665 | C<File::Spec->tmpdir()> now prefers C:/temp over /tmp |
666 | (works better when perl running as service). |
667 | |
668 | =item * |
669 | |
670 | Better UNC path handling under ithreads. |
671 | |
672 | =item * |
673 | |
674 | wait() and waitpid() now work much better. |
675 | |
676 | =item * |
677 | |
678 | winsock handle leak fixed. |
679 | |
680 | =back |
681 | |
cc0fca54 |
682 | =head1 New or Changed Diagnostics |
683 | |
53080bb1 |
684 | All regular expression compilation error messages are now hopefully |
685 | easier to understand both because the error message now comes before |
686 | the failed regex and because the point of failure is now clearly |
687 | marked. |
688 | |
689 | The various "opened only for", "on closed", "never opened" warnings |
690 | drop the C<main::> prefix for filehandles in the C<main> package, |
562628a3 |
691 | for example C<STDIN> instead of <main::STDIN>. |
53080bb1 |
692 | |
d4ad863d |
693 | The "Unrecognized escape" warning has been extended to include C<\8>, |
694 | C<\9>, and C<\_>. There is no need to escape any of the C<\w> characters. |
53080bb1 |
695 | |
53080bb1 |
696 | =head1 Changed Internals |
697 | |
ce72e97c |
698 | =over 4 |
699 | |
700 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
701 | |
d4ad863d |
702 | perlapi.pod (a companion to perlguts) now attempts to document the |
703 | internal API. |
53080bb1 |
704 | |
ce72e97c |
705 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
706 | |
ce72e97c |
707 | You can now build a really minimal perl called microperl. |
d4ad863d |
708 | Building microperl does not require even running Configure; |
709 | C<make -f Makefile.micro> should be enough. Beware: microperl makes |
710 | many assumptions, some of which may be too bold; the resulting |
711 | executable may crash or otherwise misbehave in wondrous ways. For |
712 | careful hackers only. |
53080bb1 |
713 | |
ce72e97c |
714 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
715 | |
43b92eec |
716 | Added rsignal(), whichsig(), do_join() to the publicised API. |
53080bb1 |
717 | |
ce72e97c |
718 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
719 | |
43b92eec |
720 | Made possible to propagate customised exceptions via croak()ing. |
53080bb1 |
721 | |
ce72e97c |
722 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
723 | |
724 | Added is_utf8_char(), is_utf8_string(), bytes_to_utf8(), and utf8_to_bytes(). |
725 | |
ce72e97c |
726 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
727 | |
728 | Now xsubs can have attributes just like subs. |
729 | |
ce72e97c |
730 | =back |
731 | |
cc0fca54 |
732 | =head1 Known Problems |
733 | |
53080bb1 |
734 | =head2 Unicode Support Still Far From Perfect |
735 | |
736 | We're working on it. Stay tuned. |
737 | |
738 | =head2 EBCDIC Still A Lost Platform |
739 | |
740 | The plan is to bring them back. |
741 | |
742 | =head2 Building Extensions Can Fail Because Of Largefiles |
743 | |
744 | Certain extensions like mod_perl and BSD::Resource are known to have |
ce72e97c |
745 | issues with `largefiles', a change brought by Perl 5.6.0 in which file |
746 | offsets default to 64 bits wide where supported. Modules may fail to |
747 | compile at all or compile and work incorrectly. Currently there is no |
748 | good solution for the problem, but Configure now stores the relevant |
749 | flags and libraries in the %Config hash so the extensions that are having |
53080bb1 |
750 | problems can try configuring themselves without the largefileness. |
751 | This is admittedly not a clean solution. |
752 | |
10d9c778 |
753 | =over 4 |
754 | |
755 | =item In string, @%s now must be written as \@%s |
756 | |
757 | (F) It used to be that Perl would try to guess whether you wanted an |
758 | array interpolated or a literal @. It did this when the string was |
759 | first used at runtime. Now strings are parsed at compile time, and |
760 | ambiguous instances of @ must be disambiguated, either by prepending a |
761 | backslash to indicate a literal, or by declaring (or using) the array |
762 | within the program before the string (lexically). (I<Someday it will |
763 | simply assume that an unbackslashed @ interpolates an array.>) |
764 | |
765 | =back |
766 | |
767 | That day has arrived. |
768 | |
cc0fca54 |
769 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
770 | |
d4ad863d |
771 | If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles |
772 | recently posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl |
773 | bug database at http://bugs.perl.org. There may also be |
774 | information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl Home Page. |
cc0fca54 |
775 | |
776 | If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the B<perlbug> |
777 | program included with your release. Be sure to trim your bug down |
778 | to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the |
d4ad863d |
779 | output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be |
cc0fca54 |
780 | analysed by the Perl porting team. |
781 | |
782 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
783 | |
784 | The F<Changes> file for exhaustive details on what changed. |
785 | |
786 | The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl. |
787 | |
788 | The F<README> file for general stuff. |
789 | |
790 | The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information. |
791 | |
792 | =head1 HISTORY |
793 | |
53080bb1 |
794 | Written by Jarkko Hietaniemi <F<jhi@iki.fi>>, with many contributions |
795 | from The Perl Porters and Perl Users submitting feedback and patches. |
cc0fca54 |
796 | |
d4ad863d |
797 | Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.org>>. |
cc0fca54 |
798 | |
799 | =cut |