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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 |
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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 | |
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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>. |
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45 | |
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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 | |
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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 | |
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220 | Perlbug is now much more robust. It also sends the bug report to perl.org, |
221 | not perl.com. |
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222 | |
223 | =item * |
224 | |
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225 | The perlcc utility has been rewritten and its user interface (that is, |
226 | command line) is much more like that of the UNIX C compiler, cc. |
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227 | |
228 | =item * |
229 | |
ce72e97c |
230 | The xsubpp utility for extension writers now understands POD |
231 | documentation embedded in the *.xs files. |
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232 | |
ce72e97c |
233 | =back |
53080bb1 |
234 | |
ce72e97c |
235 | =head1 New Documentation |
53080bb1 |
236 | |
ce72e97c |
237 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
238 | |
239 | =item * |
240 | |
ce72e97c |
241 | perl56delta details the changes between the 5.005 release and the |
242 | 5.6.0 release. |
53080bb1 |
243 | |
244 | =item * |
245 | |
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246 | perldebtut is a Perl debugging tutorial. |
53080bb1 |
247 | |
248 | =item * |
249 | |
ce72e97c |
250 | perlebcdic contains considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms. |
251 | Note that unfortunately EBCDIC platforms that used to supported back in |
252 | Perl 5.005 are still unsupported by Perl 5.7.0; the plan, however, is to |
253 | bring them back to the fold. |
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254 | |
255 | =item * |
256 | |
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257 | perlnewmod tells about writing and submitting a new module. |
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258 | |
259 | =item * |
260 | |
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261 | perlposix-bc explains using Perl on the POSIX-BC platform |
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262 | (an EBCDIC mainframe platform). |
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263 | |
264 | =item * |
265 | |
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266 | perlretut is a regular expression tutorial. |
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267 | |
268 | =item * |
269 | |
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270 | perlrequick is a regular expressions quick-start guide. |
271 | Yes, much quicker than perlretut. |
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272 | |
273 | =item * |
274 | |
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275 | perlutil explains the command line utilities packaged with the Perl |
276 | distribution. |
53080bb1 |
277 | |
278 | =back |
279 | |
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280 | =head1 Performance Enhancements |
53080bb1 |
281 | |
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282 | =over 4 |
283 | |
284 | =item * |
285 | |
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286 | map() that changes the size of the list should now work faster. |
53080bb1 |
287 | |
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288 | =back |
289 | |
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290 | =head1 Installation and Configuration Improvements |
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291 | |
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292 | =head2 Generic Improvements |
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293 | |
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294 | =over 4 |
295 | |
296 | =item * |
297 | |
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298 | INSTALL now explains how you can configure perl to use 64-bit |
299 | integers even on non-64-bit platforms. |
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300 | |
301 | =item * |
302 | |
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303 | Policy.sh policy change: if you are reusing a Policy.sh file (see |
304 | INSTALL) and you use Configure -Dprefix=/foo/bar and in the old |
305 | Policy $prefix eq $siteprefix and $prefix eq $vendorprefix, all of |
306 | them will now be changed to the new prefix, /foo/bar. (Previously |
307 | only $prefix changed.) If you do not like this new behaviour, |
308 | specify prefix, siteprefix, and vendorprefix explicitly. |
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309 | |
310 | =item * |
311 | |
ce72e97c |
312 | A new optional location for Perl libraries, otherlibdirs, is available. |
313 | It can be used for example for vendor add-ons without disturbing Perl's |
314 | own library directories. |
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315 | |
316 | =item * |
317 | |
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318 | In many platforms the vendor-supplied 'cc' is too stripped-down to |
319 | build Perl (basically, 'cc' doesn't do ANSI C). If this seems |
320 | to be the case and 'cc' does not seem to be the GNU C compiler |
321 | 'gcc', an automatic attempt is made to find and use 'gcc' instead. |
53080bb1 |
322 | |
323 | =item * |
324 | |
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325 | gcc needs to closely track the operating system release to avoid |
326 | build problems. If Configure finds that gcc was built for a different |
327 | operating system release than is running, it now gives a clearly visible |
328 | warning that there may be trouble ahead. |
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329 | |
330 | =item * |
331 | |
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332 | If binary compatibility with the 5.005 release is not wanted, Configure |
333 | no longer suggests including the 5.005 modules in @INC. |
53080bb1 |
334 | |
335 | =item * |
336 | |
ce72e97c |
337 | Configure C<-S> can now run non-interactively. |
53080bb1 |
338 | |
339 | =item * |
340 | |
ce72e97c |
341 | configure.gnu now works with options with whitespace in them. |
53080bb1 |
342 | |
343 | =item * |
344 | |
ce72e97c |
345 | installperl now outputs everything to STDERR. |
53080bb1 |
346 | |
347 | =item * |
348 | |
ce72e97c |
349 | $Config{byteorder} is now computed dynamically (this is more robust |
350 | with "fat binaries" where an executable image contains binaries for |
351 | more than one binary platform.) |
53080bb1 |
352 | |
ce72e97c |
353 | =back |
53080bb1 |
354 | |
ce72e97c |
355 | =head1 Selected Bug Fixes |
53080bb1 |
356 | |
ce72e97c |
357 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
358 | |
359 | =item * |
360 | |
ce72e97c |
361 | Several debugger fixes: exit code now reflects the script exit code, |
362 | condition C<"0"> now treated correctly, the C<d> command now checks |
363 | line number, the C<$.> no longer gets corrupted, all debugger output now |
364 | goes correctly to the socket if RemotePort is set. |
53080bb1 |
365 | |
366 | =item * |
367 | |
ce72e97c |
368 | C<*foo{FORMAT}> now works. |
53080bb1 |
369 | |
370 | =item * |
371 | |
ce72e97c |
372 | Lexical warnings now propagating correctly between scopes. |
53080bb1 |
373 | |
374 | =item * |
375 | |
ce72e97c |
376 | Line renumbering with eval and C<#line> now works. |
53080bb1 |
377 | |
378 | =item * |
379 | |
ce72e97c |
380 | Fixed numerous memory leaks, especially in eval "". |
53080bb1 |
381 | |
382 | =item * |
383 | |
ce72e97c |
384 | Modulus of unsigned numbers now works (4063328477 % 65535 used to |
385 | return 27406, instead of 27047). |
53080bb1 |
386 | |
387 | =item * |
388 | |
ce72e97c |
389 | Some "not a number" warnings introduced in 5.6.0 eliminated to be |
390 | more compatible with 5.005. Infinity is now recognised as a number. |
53080bb1 |
391 | |
392 | =item * |
393 | |
ce72e97c |
394 | our() variables will not cause "will not stay shared" warnings. |
53080bb1 |
395 | |
396 | =item * |
397 | |
ce72e97c |
398 | pack "Z" now correctly terminates the string with "\0". |
53080bb1 |
399 | |
400 | =item * |
401 | |
ce72e97c |
402 | Fix password routines which in some shadow password platforms |
403 | (e.g. HP-UX) caused getpwent() to return every other entry. |
53080bb1 |
404 | |
405 | =item * |
406 | |
ce72e97c |
407 | printf() no longer resets the numeric locale to "C". |
53080bb1 |
408 | |
409 | =item * |
410 | |
ce72e97c |
411 | C<q(a\\b)> now parses correctly as C<'a\\b'>. |
53080bb1 |
412 | |
413 | =item * |
414 | |
ce72e97c |
415 | Printing quads (64-bit integers) with printf/sprintf now works |
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416 | without the q L ll prefixes (assuming you are on a quad-capable platform). |
53080bb1 |
417 | |
418 | =item * |
419 | |
ce72e97c |
420 | Regular expressions on references and overloaded scalars now work. |
53080bb1 |
421 | |
422 | =item * |
423 | |
ce72e97c |
424 | scalar() now forces scalar context even when used in void context. |
53080bb1 |
425 | |
426 | =item * |
ce72e97c |
427 | |
428 | sort() arguments are now compiled in the right wantarray context |
429 | (they were accidentally using the context of the sort() itself). |
53080bb1 |
430 | |
431 | =item * |
432 | |
ce72e97c |
433 | Changed the POSIX character class C<[[:space:]]> to include the (very |
434 | rare) vertical tab character. Added a new POSIX-ish character class |
435 | C<[[:blank:]]> which stands for horizontal whitespace (currently, |
436 | the space and the tab). |
53080bb1 |
437 | |
438 | =item * |
439 | |
ce72e97c |
440 | $AUTOLOAD, sort(), lock(), and spawning subprocesses |
441 | in multiple threads simultaneously are now thread-safe. |
53080bb1 |
442 | |
443 | =item * |
444 | |
ce72e97c |
445 | Allow read-only string on left hand side of non-modifying tr///. |
53080bb1 |
446 | |
447 | =item * |
448 | |
ce72e97c |
449 | Several Unicode fixes (but still not perfect). |
53080bb1 |
450 | |
ce72e97c |
451 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
452 | |
453 | =item * |
454 | |
ce72e97c |
455 | BOMs (byte order marks) in the beginning of Perl files |
456 | (scripts, modules) should now be transparently skipped. |
457 | UTF16 encoded Perl files should now be read correctly. |
53080bb1 |
458 | |
459 | =item * |
460 | |
ce72e97c |
461 | The character tables have been updated to new Unicode 3.0 features. |
53080bb1 |
462 | |
ce72e97c |
463 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
464 | |
ce72e97c |
465 | chr() for values greater than 127 now create utf8 when under use |
466 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
467 | |
ce72e97c |
468 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
469 | |
ce72e97c |
470 | Comparing with utf8 data does not magically upgrade non-utf8 data into |
471 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
472 | |
473 | =item * |
474 | |
ce72e97c |
475 | C<IsAlnum>, C<IsAlpha>, and C<IsWord> now match titlecase. |
53080bb1 |
476 | |
477 | =item * |
478 | |
ce72e97c |
479 | Concatenation with the C<.> operator or via variable interpolation, |
480 | C<eq>, C<substr>, C<reverse>, C<quotemeta>, the C<x> operator, |
481 | substitution with C<s///>, single-quoted UTF8, should now work--in |
482 | theory. |
53080bb1 |
483 | |
484 | =item * |
485 | |
ce72e97c |
486 | The C<tr///> operator now works I<slightly> better but is still rather |
487 | broken. Note that the C<tr///CU> functionality has been removed (but |
488 | see pack('U0', ...)). |
53080bb1 |
489 | |
490 | =item * |
491 | |
ce72e97c |
492 | Zero entries were missing from the Unicode classes like C<IsDigit>. |
53080bb1 |
493 | |
494 | =back |
495 | |
ce72e97c |
496 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
497 | |
ce72e97c |
498 | UNIVERSAL::isa no longer caches methods incorrectly. (This broke |
499 | the Tk extension with 5.6.0.) |
53080bb1 |
500 | |
ce72e97c |
501 | =back |
53080bb1 |
502 | |
ce72e97c |
503 | =head2 Platform Specific Changes and Fixes |
53080bb1 |
504 | |
505 | =over 4 |
506 | |
507 | =item * |
508 | |
ce72e97c |
509 | BSDI 4.* |
53080bb1 |
510 | |
ce72e97c |
511 | Perl now works on post-4.0 BSD/OSes. |
53080bb1 |
512 | |
ce72e97c |
513 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
514 | |
ce72e97c |
515 | All BSDs |
53080bb1 |
516 | |
ce72e97c |
517 | Setting C<$0> now works (as much as possible; see perlvar for details). |
53080bb1 |
518 | |
ce72e97c |
519 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
520 | |
ce72e97c |
521 | Cygwin |
53080bb1 |
522 | |
ce72e97c |
523 | Numerous updates; currently synchronised with Cygwin 1.1.4. |
53080bb1 |
524 | |
525 | =item * |
526 | |
ce72e97c |
527 | EPOC |
53080bb1 |
528 | |
ce72e97c |
529 | EPOC update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.epoc. |
53080bb1 |
530 | |
ce72e97c |
531 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
532 | |
ce72e97c |
533 | FreeBSD 3.* |
53080bb1 |
534 | |
ce72e97c |
535 | Perl now works on post-3.0 FreeBSDs. |
53080bb1 |
536 | |
537 | =item * |
538 | |
ce72e97c |
539 | HP-UX |
53080bb1 |
540 | |
ce72e97c |
541 | README.hpux updated; C<Configure -Duse64bitall> now almost works. |
53080bb1 |
542 | |
ce72e97c |
543 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
544 | |
ce72e97c |
545 | IRIX |
53080bb1 |
546 | |
ce72e97c |
547 | Numerous compilation flag and hint enhancements; accidental mixing |
548 | of 32-bit and 64-bit libraries (a doomed attempt) made much harder. |
53080bb1 |
549 | |
550 | =item * |
551 | |
ce72e97c |
552 | Linux |
53080bb1 |
553 | |
ce72e97c |
554 | Long doubles should now work (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
555 | |
556 | =item * |
557 | |
ce72e97c |
558 | MacOS Classic |
559 | |
53080bb1 |
560 | Compilation of the standard Perl distribution in MacOS Classic should |
ce72e97c |
561 | now work if you have the Metrowerks development environment and |
562 | the missing Mac-specific toolkit bits. Contact the macperl mailing |
53080bb1 |
563 | list for details. |
564 | |
ce72e97c |
565 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
566 | |
ce72e97c |
567 | MPE/iX |
53080bb1 |
568 | |
ce72e97c |
569 | MPE/iX update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.mpeix. |
53080bb1 |
570 | |
ce72e97c |
571 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
572 | |
ce72e97c |
573 | NetBSD/sparc |
53080bb1 |
574 | |
ce72e97c |
575 | Perl now works on NetBSD/sparc. |
53080bb1 |
576 | |
577 | =item * |
578 | |
ce72e97c |
579 | OS/2 |
53080bb1 |
580 | |
ce72e97c |
581 | Now works with usethreads (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
582 | |
583 | =item * |
584 | |
ce72e97c |
585 | Solaris |
53080bb1 |
586 | |
ce72e97c |
587 | 64-bitness using the Sun Workshop compiler now works. |
53080bb1 |
588 | |
589 | =item * |
590 | |
ce72e97c |
591 | Tru64 (aka Digital UNIX, aka DEC OSF/1) |
592 | |
593 | The operating system version letter now recorded in $Config{osvers}. |
53080bb1 |
594 | Allow compiling with gcc (previously explicitly forbidden). Compiling |
595 | with gcc still not recommended because buggy code results, even with |
596 | gcc 2.95.2. |
597 | |
598 | =item * |
599 | |
ce72e97c |
600 | Unicos |
53080bb1 |
601 | |
602 | Fixed various alignment problems that lead into core dumps either |
ce72e97c |
603 | during build or later; no longer dies on math errors at runtime; |
604 | now using full quad integers (64 bits), previously was using |
b84d4f81 |
605 | only 46 bit integers for speed. |
53080bb1 |
606 | |
53080bb1 |
607 | =item * |
608 | |
ce72e97c |
609 | VMS |
53080bb1 |
610 | |
ce72e97c |
611 | chdir() now works better despite a CRT bug; now works with MULTIPLICITY |
612 | (see INSTALL); now works with Perl's malloc. |
53080bb1 |
613 | |
614 | =item * |
615 | |
ce72e97c |
616 | Windows |
53080bb1 |
617 | |
ce72e97c |
618 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
619 | |
620 | =item * |
621 | |
d4ad863d |
622 | accept() no longer leaks memory. |
53080bb1 |
623 | |
624 | =item * |
625 | |
626 | Better chdir() return value for a non-existent directory. |
627 | |
628 | =item * |
629 | |
630 | New %ENV entries now propagate to subprocesses. |
631 | |
632 | =item * |
633 | |
634 | $ENV{LIB} now used to search for libs under Visual C. |
635 | |
636 | =item * |
637 | |
638 | A failed (pseudo)fork now returns undef and sets errno to EAGAIN. |
639 | |
640 | =item * |
641 | |
642 | Allow REG_EXPAND_SZ keys in the registry. |
643 | |
644 | =item * |
645 | |
646 | Can now send() from all threads, not just the first one. |
647 | |
648 | =item * |
649 | |
650 | Fake signal handling reenabled, bugs and all. |
651 | |
652 | =item * |
653 | |
654 | Less stack reserved per thread so that more threads can run |
655 | concurrently. (still 16M perl thread) |
656 | |
657 | =item * |
658 | |
659 | C<File::Spec->tmpdir()> now prefers C:/temp over /tmp |
660 | (works better when perl running as service). |
661 | |
662 | =item * |
663 | |
664 | Better UNC path handling under ithreads. |
665 | |
666 | =item * |
667 | |
668 | wait() and waitpid() now work much better. |
669 | |
670 | =item * |
671 | |
672 | winsock handle leak fixed. |
673 | |
674 | =back |
675 | |
cc0fca54 |
676 | =head1 New or Changed Diagnostics |
677 | |
53080bb1 |
678 | All regular expression compilation error messages are now hopefully |
679 | easier to understand both because the error message now comes before |
680 | the failed regex and because the point of failure is now clearly |
681 | marked. |
682 | |
683 | The various "opened only for", "on closed", "never opened" warnings |
684 | drop the C<main::> prefix for filehandles in the C<main> package, |
562628a3 |
685 | for example C<STDIN> instead of <main::STDIN>. |
53080bb1 |
686 | |
d4ad863d |
687 | The "Unrecognized escape" warning has been extended to include C<\8>, |
688 | C<\9>, and C<\_>. There is no need to escape any of the C<\w> characters. |
53080bb1 |
689 | |
53080bb1 |
690 | =head1 Changed Internals |
691 | |
ce72e97c |
692 | =over 4 |
693 | |
694 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
695 | |
d4ad863d |
696 | perlapi.pod (a companion to perlguts) now attempts to document the |
697 | internal API. |
53080bb1 |
698 | |
ce72e97c |
699 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
700 | |
ce72e97c |
701 | You can now build a really minimal perl called microperl. |
d4ad863d |
702 | Building microperl does not require even running Configure; |
703 | C<make -f Makefile.micro> should be enough. Beware: microperl makes |
704 | many assumptions, some of which may be too bold; the resulting |
705 | executable may crash or otherwise misbehave in wondrous ways. For |
706 | careful hackers only. |
53080bb1 |
707 | |
ce72e97c |
708 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
709 | |
43b92eec |
710 | Added rsignal(), whichsig(), do_join() to the publicised API. |
53080bb1 |
711 | |
ce72e97c |
712 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
713 | |
43b92eec |
714 | Made possible to propagate customised exceptions via croak()ing. |
53080bb1 |
715 | |
ce72e97c |
716 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
717 | |
718 | Added is_utf8_char(), is_utf8_string(), bytes_to_utf8(), and utf8_to_bytes(). |
719 | |
ce72e97c |
720 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
721 | |
722 | Now xsubs can have attributes just like subs. |
723 | |
ce72e97c |
724 | =back |
725 | |
cc0fca54 |
726 | =head1 Known Problems |
727 | |
53080bb1 |
728 | =head2 Unicode Support Still Far From Perfect |
729 | |
730 | We're working on it. Stay tuned. |
731 | |
732 | =head2 EBCDIC Still A Lost Platform |
733 | |
734 | The plan is to bring them back. |
735 | |
736 | =head2 Building Extensions Can Fail Because Of Largefiles |
737 | |
738 | Certain extensions like mod_perl and BSD::Resource are known to have |
ce72e97c |
739 | issues with `largefiles', a change brought by Perl 5.6.0 in which file |
740 | offsets default to 64 bits wide where supported. Modules may fail to |
741 | compile at all or compile and work incorrectly. Currently there is no |
742 | good solution for the problem, but Configure now stores the relevant |
743 | flags and libraries in the %Config hash so the extensions that are having |
53080bb1 |
744 | problems can try configuring themselves without the largefileness. |
745 | This is admittedly not a clean solution. |
746 | |
10d9c778 |
747 | =over 4 |
748 | |
749 | =item In string, @%s now must be written as \@%s |
750 | |
751 | (F) It used to be that Perl would try to guess whether you wanted an |
752 | array interpolated or a literal @. It did this when the string was |
753 | first used at runtime. Now strings are parsed at compile time, and |
754 | ambiguous instances of @ must be disambiguated, either by prepending a |
755 | backslash to indicate a literal, or by declaring (or using) the array |
756 | within the program before the string (lexically). (I<Someday it will |
757 | simply assume that an unbackslashed @ interpolates an array.>) |
758 | |
759 | =back |
760 | |
761 | That day has arrived. |
762 | |
cc0fca54 |
763 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
764 | |
d4ad863d |
765 | If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles |
766 | recently posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl |
767 | bug database at http://bugs.perl.org. There may also be |
768 | information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl Home Page. |
cc0fca54 |
769 | |
770 | If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the B<perlbug> |
771 | program included with your release. Be sure to trim your bug down |
772 | to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the |
d4ad863d |
773 | output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be |
cc0fca54 |
774 | analysed by the Perl porting team. |
775 | |
776 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
777 | |
778 | The F<Changes> file for exhaustive details on what changed. |
779 | |
780 | The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl. |
781 | |
782 | The F<README> file for general stuff. |
783 | |
784 | The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information. |
785 | |
786 | =head1 HISTORY |
787 | |
53080bb1 |
788 | Written by Jarkko Hietaniemi <F<jhi@iki.fi>>, with many contributions |
789 | from The Perl Porters and Perl Users submitting feedback and patches. |
cc0fca54 |
790 | |
d4ad863d |
791 | Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.org>>. |
cc0fca54 |
792 | |
793 | =cut |