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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 |
d4ad863d |
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 | |
ce72e97c |
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 | |
53080bb1 |
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 | |
c835e335 |
124 | =item * |
125 | |
126 | There is now an UNTIE method. |
127 | |
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128 | =back |
129 | |
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130 | =head1 Modules and Pragmata |
131 | |
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132 | =head2 New Modules |
133 | |
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134 | =over 4 |
135 | |
136 | =item * |
137 | |
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138 | File::Temp allows one to create temporary files and directories in an |
139 | easy, portable, and secure way. |
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140 | |
141 | =item * |
142 | |
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143 | Storable gives persistence to Perl data structures by allowing the |
144 | storage and retrieval of Perl data to and from files in a fast and |
145 | compact binary format. |
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146 | |
147 | =back |
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148 | |
149 | =head2 Updated And Improved Modules and Pragmata |
150 | |
151 | =over 4 |
152 | |
153 | =item * |
154 | |
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155 | The following independently supported modules have been updated to |
156 | newer versions from CPAN: CGI, CPAN, DB_File, File::Spec, Getopt::Long, |
157 | the podlators bundle, Pod::LaTeX, Pod::Parser, Term::ANSIColor, Test. |
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158 | |
159 | =item * |
160 | |
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161 | Bug fixes and minor enhancements have been applied to B::Deparse, |
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162 | Data::Dumper, IO::Poll, IO::Socket::INET, Math::BigFloat, |
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163 | Math::Complex, Math::Trig, Net::protoent, the re pragma, SelfLoader, |
164 | Sys::SysLog, Test::Harness, Text::Wrap, UNIVERSAL, and the warnings |
165 | pragma. |
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166 | |
167 | =item * |
168 | |
ce72e97c |
169 | The attributes::reftype() now works on tied arguments. |
53080bb1 |
170 | |
171 | =item * |
172 | |
ce72e97c |
173 | AutoLoader can now be disabled with C<no AutoLoader;>, |
53080bb1 |
174 | |
175 | =item * |
176 | |
177 | The English module can now be used without the infamous performance |
178 | hit by saying |
179 | |
180 | use English '-no_performance_hit'; |
181 | |
182 | (Assuming, of course, that one doesn't need the troublesome variables |
183 | C<$`>, C<$&>, or C<$'>.) Also, introduce C<@LAST_MATCH_START> and |
184 | C<@LAST_MATCH_END> English aliases for C<@-> and C<@+>. |
185 | |
186 | =item * |
187 | |
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188 | File::Find now has pre- and post-processing callbacks. It also |
189 | correctly changes directories when chasing symbolic links. Callbacks |
190 | (naughtily) exiting with "next;" instead of "return;" now work. |
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191 | |
192 | =item * |
193 | |
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194 | File::Glob::glob() renamed to File::Glob::bsd_glob() to avoid |
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195 | prototype mismatch with CORE::glob(). |
196 | |
197 | =item * |
198 | |
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199 | IPC::Open3 now allows the use of numeric file descriptors. |
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200 | |
201 | =item * |
202 | |
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203 | use lib now works identically to @INC. Removing directories |
204 | with 'no lib' now works. |
53080bb1 |
205 | |
206 | =item * |
207 | |
ce72e97c |
208 | C<%INC> now localised in a Safe compartment so that use/require work. |
53080bb1 |
209 | |
210 | =item * |
211 | |
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212 | The Shell module now has an OO interface. |
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213 | |
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214 | =item * |
215 | |
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216 | =back |
53080bb1 |
217 | |
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218 | =head1 Utility Changes |
53080bb1 |
219 | |
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220 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
221 | |
222 | =item * |
223 | |
ce72e97c |
224 | The Emacs perl mode (emacs/cperl-mode.el) has been updated to version 4.31. |
53080bb1 |
225 | |
226 | =item * |
227 | |
ce72e97c |
228 | Perlbug is now much more robust. It also sends the bug report to perl.org, |
229 | not perl.com. |
53080bb1 |
230 | |
231 | =item * |
232 | |
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233 | The perlcc utility has been rewritten and its user interface (that is, |
234 | command line) is much more like that of the UNIX C compiler, cc. |
53080bb1 |
235 | |
236 | =item * |
237 | |
ce72e97c |
238 | The xsubpp utility for extension writers now understands POD |
239 | documentation embedded in the *.xs files. |
53080bb1 |
240 | |
ce72e97c |
241 | =back |
53080bb1 |
242 | |
ce72e97c |
243 | =head1 New Documentation |
53080bb1 |
244 | |
ce72e97c |
245 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
246 | |
247 | =item * |
248 | |
ce72e97c |
249 | perl56delta details the changes between the 5.005 release and the |
250 | 5.6.0 release. |
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251 | |
252 | =item * |
253 | |
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254 | perldebtut is a Perl debugging tutorial. |
53080bb1 |
255 | |
256 | =item * |
257 | |
ce72e97c |
258 | perlebcdic contains considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms. |
259 | Note that unfortunately EBCDIC platforms that used to supported back in |
260 | Perl 5.005 are still unsupported by Perl 5.7.0; the plan, however, is to |
261 | bring them back to the fold. |
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262 | |
263 | =item * |
264 | |
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265 | perlnewmod tells about writing and submitting a new module. |
53080bb1 |
266 | |
267 | =item * |
268 | |
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269 | perlposix-bc explains using Perl on the POSIX-BC platform |
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270 | (an EBCDIC mainframe platform). |
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271 | |
272 | =item * |
273 | |
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274 | perlretut is a regular expression tutorial. |
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275 | |
276 | =item * |
277 | |
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278 | perlrequick is a regular expressions quick-start guide. |
279 | Yes, much quicker than perlretut. |
53080bb1 |
280 | |
281 | =item * |
282 | |
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283 | perlutil explains the command line utilities packaged with the Perl |
284 | distribution. |
53080bb1 |
285 | |
286 | =back |
287 | |
ce72e97c |
288 | =head1 Performance Enhancements |
53080bb1 |
289 | |
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290 | =over 4 |
291 | |
292 | =item * |
293 | |
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294 | map() that changes the size of the list should now work faster. |
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295 | |
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296 | =item * |
297 | |
298 | sort() has been changed to use mergesort internally as opposed to the |
299 | earlier quicksort. For very small lists this may result in slightly |
300 | slower sorting times, but in general the speedup should be at least 20%. |
301 | Additional bonuses are that the worst case behaviour of sort() is now |
302 | better (in computer science terms it now runs in time O(N log N), as |
303 | opposed to quicksorts Theta(N**2) worst-case run time behaviour), and |
304 | that sort() is now stable (meaning that elements with identical keys |
305 | will stay ordered as they were before the sort). |
306 | |
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307 | =back |
308 | |
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309 | =head1 Installation and Configuration Improvements |
53080bb1 |
310 | |
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311 | =head2 Generic Improvements |
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312 | |
53080bb1 |
313 | =over 4 |
314 | |
315 | =item * |
316 | |
ce72e97c |
317 | INSTALL now explains how you can configure perl to use 64-bit |
318 | integers even on non-64-bit platforms. |
53080bb1 |
319 | |
320 | =item * |
321 | |
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322 | Policy.sh policy change: if you are reusing a Policy.sh file (see |
323 | INSTALL) and you use Configure -Dprefix=/foo/bar and in the old |
324 | Policy $prefix eq $siteprefix and $prefix eq $vendorprefix, all of |
325 | them will now be changed to the new prefix, /foo/bar. (Previously |
326 | only $prefix changed.) If you do not like this new behaviour, |
327 | specify prefix, siteprefix, and vendorprefix explicitly. |
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328 | |
329 | =item * |
330 | |
ce72e97c |
331 | A new optional location for Perl libraries, otherlibdirs, is available. |
332 | It can be used for example for vendor add-ons without disturbing Perl's |
333 | own library directories. |
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334 | |
335 | =item * |
336 | |
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337 | In many platforms the vendor-supplied 'cc' is too stripped-down to |
338 | build Perl (basically, 'cc' doesn't do ANSI C). If this seems |
339 | to be the case and 'cc' does not seem to be the GNU C compiler |
340 | 'gcc', an automatic attempt is made to find and use 'gcc' instead. |
53080bb1 |
341 | |
342 | =item * |
343 | |
ce72e97c |
344 | gcc needs to closely track the operating system release to avoid |
345 | build problems. If Configure finds that gcc was built for a different |
346 | operating system release than is running, it now gives a clearly visible |
347 | warning that there may be trouble ahead. |
53080bb1 |
348 | |
349 | =item * |
350 | |
ce72e97c |
351 | If binary compatibility with the 5.005 release is not wanted, Configure |
352 | no longer suggests including the 5.005 modules in @INC. |
53080bb1 |
353 | |
354 | =item * |
355 | |
ce72e97c |
356 | Configure C<-S> can now run non-interactively. |
53080bb1 |
357 | |
358 | =item * |
359 | |
ce72e97c |
360 | configure.gnu now works with options with whitespace in them. |
53080bb1 |
361 | |
362 | =item * |
363 | |
ce72e97c |
364 | installperl now outputs everything to STDERR. |
53080bb1 |
365 | |
366 | =item * |
367 | |
ce72e97c |
368 | $Config{byteorder} is now computed dynamically (this is more robust |
369 | with "fat binaries" where an executable image contains binaries for |
370 | more than one binary platform.) |
53080bb1 |
371 | |
ce72e97c |
372 | =back |
53080bb1 |
373 | |
ce72e97c |
374 | =head1 Selected Bug Fixes |
53080bb1 |
375 | |
ce72e97c |
376 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
377 | |
378 | =item * |
379 | |
ce72e97c |
380 | Several debugger fixes: exit code now reflects the script exit code, |
381 | condition C<"0"> now treated correctly, the C<d> command now checks |
382 | line number, the C<$.> no longer gets corrupted, all debugger output now |
383 | goes correctly to the socket if RemotePort is set. |
53080bb1 |
384 | |
385 | =item * |
386 | |
ce72e97c |
387 | C<*foo{FORMAT}> now works. |
53080bb1 |
388 | |
389 | =item * |
390 | |
ce72e97c |
391 | Lexical warnings now propagating correctly between scopes. |
53080bb1 |
392 | |
393 | =item * |
394 | |
ce72e97c |
395 | Line renumbering with eval and C<#line> now works. |
53080bb1 |
396 | |
397 | =item * |
398 | |
ce72e97c |
399 | Fixed numerous memory leaks, especially in eval "". |
53080bb1 |
400 | |
401 | =item * |
402 | |
ce72e97c |
403 | Modulus of unsigned numbers now works (4063328477 % 65535 used to |
404 | return 27406, instead of 27047). |
53080bb1 |
405 | |
406 | =item * |
407 | |
ce72e97c |
408 | Some "not a number" warnings introduced in 5.6.0 eliminated to be |
409 | more compatible with 5.005. Infinity is now recognised as a number. |
53080bb1 |
410 | |
411 | =item * |
412 | |
ce72e97c |
413 | our() variables will not cause "will not stay shared" warnings. |
53080bb1 |
414 | |
415 | =item * |
416 | |
ce72e97c |
417 | pack "Z" now correctly terminates the string with "\0". |
53080bb1 |
418 | |
419 | =item * |
420 | |
ce72e97c |
421 | Fix password routines which in some shadow password platforms |
422 | (e.g. HP-UX) caused getpwent() to return every other entry. |
53080bb1 |
423 | |
424 | =item * |
425 | |
ce72e97c |
426 | printf() no longer resets the numeric locale to "C". |
53080bb1 |
427 | |
428 | =item * |
429 | |
ce72e97c |
430 | C<q(a\\b)> now parses correctly as C<'a\\b'>. |
53080bb1 |
431 | |
432 | =item * |
433 | |
ce72e97c |
434 | Printing quads (64-bit integers) with printf/sprintf now works |
562628a3 |
435 | without the q L ll prefixes (assuming you are on a quad-capable platform). |
53080bb1 |
436 | |
437 | =item * |
438 | |
ce72e97c |
439 | Regular expressions on references and overloaded scalars now work. |
53080bb1 |
440 | |
441 | =item * |
442 | |
ce72e97c |
443 | scalar() now forces scalar context even when used in void context. |
53080bb1 |
444 | |
445 | =item * |
ce72e97c |
446 | |
447 | sort() arguments are now compiled in the right wantarray context |
448 | (they were accidentally using the context of the sort() itself). |
53080bb1 |
449 | |
450 | =item * |
451 | |
ce72e97c |
452 | Changed the POSIX character class C<[[:space:]]> to include the (very |
453 | rare) vertical tab character. Added a new POSIX-ish character class |
454 | C<[[:blank:]]> which stands for horizontal whitespace (currently, |
455 | the space and the tab). |
53080bb1 |
456 | |
457 | =item * |
458 | |
ce72e97c |
459 | $AUTOLOAD, sort(), lock(), and spawning subprocesses |
460 | in multiple threads simultaneously are now thread-safe. |
53080bb1 |
461 | |
462 | =item * |
463 | |
ce72e97c |
464 | Allow read-only string on left hand side of non-modifying tr///. |
53080bb1 |
465 | |
466 | =item * |
467 | |
ce72e97c |
468 | Several Unicode fixes (but still not perfect). |
53080bb1 |
469 | |
ce72e97c |
470 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
471 | |
472 | =item * |
473 | |
ce72e97c |
474 | BOMs (byte order marks) in the beginning of Perl files |
475 | (scripts, modules) should now be transparently skipped. |
476 | UTF16 encoded Perl files should now be read correctly. |
53080bb1 |
477 | |
478 | =item * |
479 | |
ce72e97c |
480 | The character tables have been updated to new Unicode 3.0 features. |
53080bb1 |
481 | |
ce72e97c |
482 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
483 | |
ce72e97c |
484 | chr() for values greater than 127 now create utf8 when under use |
485 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
486 | |
ce72e97c |
487 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
488 | |
ce72e97c |
489 | Comparing with utf8 data does not magically upgrade non-utf8 data into |
490 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
491 | |
492 | =item * |
493 | |
ce72e97c |
494 | C<IsAlnum>, C<IsAlpha>, and C<IsWord> now match titlecase. |
53080bb1 |
495 | |
496 | =item * |
497 | |
ce72e97c |
498 | Concatenation with the C<.> operator or via variable interpolation, |
499 | C<eq>, C<substr>, C<reverse>, C<quotemeta>, the C<x> operator, |
500 | substitution with C<s///>, single-quoted UTF8, should now work--in |
501 | theory. |
53080bb1 |
502 | |
503 | =item * |
504 | |
ce72e97c |
505 | The C<tr///> operator now works I<slightly> better but is still rather |
506 | broken. Note that the C<tr///CU> functionality has been removed (but |
507 | see pack('U0', ...)). |
53080bb1 |
508 | |
509 | =item * |
510 | |
ce72e97c |
511 | Zero entries were missing from the Unicode classes like C<IsDigit>. |
53080bb1 |
512 | |
513 | =back |
514 | |
ce72e97c |
515 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
516 | |
ce72e97c |
517 | UNIVERSAL::isa no longer caches methods incorrectly. (This broke |
518 | the Tk extension with 5.6.0.) |
53080bb1 |
519 | |
ce72e97c |
520 | =back |
53080bb1 |
521 | |
ce72e97c |
522 | =head2 Platform Specific Changes and Fixes |
53080bb1 |
523 | |
524 | =over 4 |
525 | |
526 | =item * |
527 | |
ce72e97c |
528 | BSDI 4.* |
53080bb1 |
529 | |
ce72e97c |
530 | Perl now works on post-4.0 BSD/OSes. |
53080bb1 |
531 | |
ce72e97c |
532 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
533 | |
ce72e97c |
534 | All BSDs |
53080bb1 |
535 | |
ce72e97c |
536 | Setting C<$0> now works (as much as possible; see perlvar for details). |
53080bb1 |
537 | |
ce72e97c |
538 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
539 | |
ce72e97c |
540 | Cygwin |
53080bb1 |
541 | |
ce72e97c |
542 | Numerous updates; currently synchronised with Cygwin 1.1.4. |
53080bb1 |
543 | |
544 | =item * |
545 | |
ce72e97c |
546 | EPOC |
53080bb1 |
547 | |
ce72e97c |
548 | EPOC update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.epoc. |
53080bb1 |
549 | |
ce72e97c |
550 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
551 | |
ce72e97c |
552 | FreeBSD 3.* |
53080bb1 |
553 | |
ce72e97c |
554 | Perl now works on post-3.0 FreeBSDs. |
53080bb1 |
555 | |
556 | =item * |
557 | |
ce72e97c |
558 | HP-UX |
53080bb1 |
559 | |
ce72e97c |
560 | README.hpux updated; C<Configure -Duse64bitall> now almost works. |
53080bb1 |
561 | |
ce72e97c |
562 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
563 | |
ce72e97c |
564 | IRIX |
53080bb1 |
565 | |
ce72e97c |
566 | Numerous compilation flag and hint enhancements; accidental mixing |
567 | of 32-bit and 64-bit libraries (a doomed attempt) made much harder. |
53080bb1 |
568 | |
569 | =item * |
570 | |
ce72e97c |
571 | Linux |
53080bb1 |
572 | |
ce72e97c |
573 | Long doubles should now work (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
574 | |
575 | =item * |
576 | |
ce72e97c |
577 | MacOS Classic |
578 | |
53080bb1 |
579 | Compilation of the standard Perl distribution in MacOS Classic should |
ce72e97c |
580 | now work if you have the Metrowerks development environment and |
581 | the missing Mac-specific toolkit bits. Contact the macperl mailing |
53080bb1 |
582 | list for details. |
583 | |
ce72e97c |
584 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
585 | |
ce72e97c |
586 | MPE/iX |
53080bb1 |
587 | |
ce72e97c |
588 | MPE/iX update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.mpeix. |
53080bb1 |
589 | |
ce72e97c |
590 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
591 | |
ce72e97c |
592 | NetBSD/sparc |
53080bb1 |
593 | |
ce72e97c |
594 | Perl now works on NetBSD/sparc. |
53080bb1 |
595 | |
596 | =item * |
597 | |
ce72e97c |
598 | OS/2 |
53080bb1 |
599 | |
ce72e97c |
600 | Now works with usethreads (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
601 | |
602 | =item * |
603 | |
ce72e97c |
604 | Solaris |
53080bb1 |
605 | |
ce72e97c |
606 | 64-bitness using the Sun Workshop compiler now works. |
53080bb1 |
607 | |
608 | =item * |
609 | |
ce72e97c |
610 | Tru64 (aka Digital UNIX, aka DEC OSF/1) |
611 | |
612 | The operating system version letter now recorded in $Config{osvers}. |
53080bb1 |
613 | Allow compiling with gcc (previously explicitly forbidden). Compiling |
614 | with gcc still not recommended because buggy code results, even with |
615 | gcc 2.95.2. |
616 | |
617 | =item * |
618 | |
ce72e97c |
619 | Unicos |
53080bb1 |
620 | |
621 | Fixed various alignment problems that lead into core dumps either |
ce72e97c |
622 | during build or later; no longer dies on math errors at runtime; |
623 | now using full quad integers (64 bits), previously was using |
b84d4f81 |
624 | only 46 bit integers for speed. |
53080bb1 |
625 | |
53080bb1 |
626 | =item * |
627 | |
ce72e97c |
628 | VMS |
53080bb1 |
629 | |
ce72e97c |
630 | chdir() now works better despite a CRT bug; now works with MULTIPLICITY |
631 | (see INSTALL); now works with Perl's malloc. |
53080bb1 |
632 | |
633 | =item * |
634 | |
ce72e97c |
635 | Windows |
53080bb1 |
636 | |
ce72e97c |
637 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
638 | |
639 | =item * |
640 | |
d4ad863d |
641 | accept() no longer leaks memory. |
53080bb1 |
642 | |
643 | =item * |
644 | |
645 | Better chdir() return value for a non-existent directory. |
646 | |
647 | =item * |
648 | |
649 | New %ENV entries now propagate to subprocesses. |
650 | |
651 | =item * |
652 | |
653 | $ENV{LIB} now used to search for libs under Visual C. |
654 | |
655 | =item * |
656 | |
657 | A failed (pseudo)fork now returns undef and sets errno to EAGAIN. |
658 | |
659 | =item * |
660 | |
661 | Allow REG_EXPAND_SZ keys in the registry. |
662 | |
663 | =item * |
664 | |
665 | Can now send() from all threads, not just the first one. |
666 | |
667 | =item * |
668 | |
669 | Fake signal handling reenabled, bugs and all. |
670 | |
671 | =item * |
672 | |
673 | Less stack reserved per thread so that more threads can run |
674 | concurrently. (still 16M perl thread) |
675 | |
676 | =item * |
677 | |
678 | C<File::Spec->tmpdir()> now prefers C:/temp over /tmp |
679 | (works better when perl running as service). |
680 | |
681 | =item * |
682 | |
683 | Better UNC path handling under ithreads. |
684 | |
685 | =item * |
686 | |
687 | wait() and waitpid() now work much better. |
688 | |
689 | =item * |
690 | |
691 | winsock handle leak fixed. |
692 | |
693 | =back |
694 | |
cc0fca54 |
695 | =head1 New or Changed Diagnostics |
696 | |
53080bb1 |
697 | All regular expression compilation error messages are now hopefully |
698 | easier to understand both because the error message now comes before |
699 | the failed regex and because the point of failure is now clearly |
700 | marked. |
701 | |
702 | The various "opened only for", "on closed", "never opened" warnings |
703 | drop the C<main::> prefix for filehandles in the C<main> package, |
562628a3 |
704 | for example C<STDIN> instead of <main::STDIN>. |
53080bb1 |
705 | |
d4ad863d |
706 | The "Unrecognized escape" warning has been extended to include C<\8>, |
707 | C<\9>, and C<\_>. There is no need to escape any of the C<\w> characters. |
53080bb1 |
708 | |
53080bb1 |
709 | =head1 Changed Internals |
710 | |
ce72e97c |
711 | =over 4 |
712 | |
713 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
714 | |
d4ad863d |
715 | perlapi.pod (a companion to perlguts) now attempts to document the |
716 | internal API. |
53080bb1 |
717 | |
ce72e97c |
718 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
719 | |
ce72e97c |
720 | You can now build a really minimal perl called microperl. |
d4ad863d |
721 | Building microperl does not require even running Configure; |
722 | C<make -f Makefile.micro> should be enough. Beware: microperl makes |
723 | many assumptions, some of which may be too bold; the resulting |
724 | executable may crash or otherwise misbehave in wondrous ways. For |
725 | careful hackers only. |
53080bb1 |
726 | |
ce72e97c |
727 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
728 | |
43b92eec |
729 | Added rsignal(), whichsig(), do_join() to the publicised API. |
53080bb1 |
730 | |
ce72e97c |
731 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
732 | |
43b92eec |
733 | Made possible to propagate customised exceptions via croak()ing. |
53080bb1 |
734 | |
ce72e97c |
735 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
736 | |
737 | Added is_utf8_char(), is_utf8_string(), bytes_to_utf8(), and utf8_to_bytes(). |
738 | |
ce72e97c |
739 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
740 | |
741 | Now xsubs can have attributes just like subs. |
742 | |
ce72e97c |
743 | =back |
744 | |
cc0fca54 |
745 | =head1 Known Problems |
746 | |
53080bb1 |
747 | =head2 Unicode Support Still Far From Perfect |
748 | |
749 | We're working on it. Stay tuned. |
750 | |
751 | =head2 EBCDIC Still A Lost Platform |
752 | |
753 | The plan is to bring them back. |
754 | |
755 | =head2 Building Extensions Can Fail Because Of Largefiles |
756 | |
757 | Certain extensions like mod_perl and BSD::Resource are known to have |
ce72e97c |
758 | issues with `largefiles', a change brought by Perl 5.6.0 in which file |
4b2ec495 |
759 | offsets default to 64 bits wide, where supported. Modules may fail to |
ce72e97c |
760 | compile at all or compile and work incorrectly. Currently there is no |
4b2ec495 |
761 | good solution for the problem, but Configure now provides appropriate |
762 | non-largefile ccflags, ldflags, libswanted, and libs in the %Config |
763 | hash (e.g., $Config{ccflags_nolargefiles}) so the extensions that are |
764 | having problems can try configuring themselves without the |
765 | largefileness. This is admittedly not a clean solution, and the |
766 | solution may not even work at all. One potential failure is whether |
767 | one can (or, if one can, whether it's a good idea) link together at |
768 | all binaries with different ideas about file offsets, all this is |
769 | platform-dependent. |
53080bb1 |
770 | |
9dc46381 |
771 | =head2 ftmp-security tests warn 'system possibly insecure' |
772 | |
773 | Don't panic. Read INSTALL 'make test' section instead. |
774 | |
775 | =head2 Long Doubles Still Don't Work In Solaris |
776 | |
777 | The experimental long double support is still very much so in Solaris. |
2ff7ee21 |
778 | (Other platforms like Linux and Tru64 are beginning to solidify in |
779 | this area.) |
d184b07b |
780 | |
1047c2b3 |
781 | =head2 Linux With Sfio Fails op/misc Test 48 |
782 | |
783 | No known fix. |
784 | |
d184b07b |
785 | =head2 Storable tests fail in some platforms |
786 | |
2ff7ee21 |
787 | If any Storable tests fail the use of Storable is not advisable. |
788 | |
d184b07b |
789 | =over 4 |
790 | |
791 | =item * |
792 | |
793 | Many Storable tests fail on AIX configured with 64 bit integers. |
794 | |
795 | So far unidentified problems break Storable in AIX if Perl is |
796 | configured to use 64 bit integers. AIX in 32-bit mode works and |
797 | other 64-bit platforms work with Storable. |
798 | |
799 | =item * |
800 | |
801 | DOS DJGPP may hang when testing Storable. |
802 | |
803 | =item * |
804 | |
805 | st-06compat fails in UNICOS and UNICOS/mk. |
24e657a8 |
806 | |
807 | This means that you cannot read old (pre-Storable-0.7) Storable images |
808 | made in other platforms. |
809 | |
2ff7ee21 |
810 | =item * |
811 | |
812 | st-store.t and st-retrieve may fail with Compaq C 6.2 on OpenVMS Alpha 7.2. |
813 | |
33a87e58 |
814 | =head2 Threads Are Still Experimental |
815 | |
816 | Multithreading is still an experimental feature. Some platforms |
817 | emit the following message for lib/thr5005 |
818 | |
819 | # |
820 | # This is a KNOWN FAILURE, and one of the reasons why threading |
821 | # is still an experimental feature. It is here to stop people |
822 | # from deploying threads in production. ;-) |
823 | # |
824 | |
825 | and another known warning is |
826 | |
827 | pragma/overload......Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores |
828 | panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction. |
829 | ok |
830 | lib/selfloader.......Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores |
831 | panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction. |
832 | ok |
833 | lib/st-dclone........Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores |
834 | panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction. |
835 | ok |
836 | |
837 | =head2 The Compiler Suite Is Still Experimental |
838 | |
839 | The compiler suite is slowly getting better but is nowhere near yet. |
840 | The backend part that has seen perhaps the most progress is the |
841 | bytecode compiler. |
842 | |
d184b07b |
843 | =back |
844 | |
cc0fca54 |
845 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
846 | |
d4ad863d |
847 | If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles |
848 | recently posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl |
849 | bug database at http://bugs.perl.org. There may also be |
850 | information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl Home Page. |
cc0fca54 |
851 | |
852 | If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the B<perlbug> |
853 | program included with your release. Be sure to trim your bug down |
854 | to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the |
d4ad863d |
855 | output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be |
cc0fca54 |
856 | analysed by the Perl porting team. |
857 | |
858 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
859 | |
860 | The F<Changes> file for exhaustive details on what changed. |
861 | |
862 | The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl. |
863 | |
864 | The F<README> file for general stuff. |
865 | |
866 | The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information. |
867 | |
868 | =head1 HISTORY |
869 | |
53080bb1 |
870 | Written by Jarkko Hietaniemi <F<jhi@iki.fi>>, with many contributions |
871 | from The Perl Porters and Perl Users submitting feedback and patches. |
cc0fca54 |
872 | |
d4ad863d |
873 | Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.org>>. |
cc0fca54 |
874 | |
875 | =cut |