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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 |
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14 | by default. As of September the 2nd, 2000, the only known vulnerable |
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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 |
21 | when combined with suidperl gave access to a root shell, resulting in |
22 | a serious compromise instead of reporting the exploit attempt. If you |
23 | don't have /bin/mail, or if you have 'safe setuid scripts', or if |
24 | suidperl is not installed, you are safe. |
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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 | |
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 * |
d4ad863d |
47 | |
48 | The semantics of bless(REF, REF) were unclear and until someone proves |
49 | it to make some sense, it is forbidden. |
50 | |
ce72e97c |
51 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
52 | |
c9e9bc25 |
53 | A reference to a reference now stringify as "REF(0x81485ec)" instead |
54 | of "SCALAR(0x81485ec)" in order to be more consistent with the return |
55 | value of ref(). |
56 | |
57 | =item * |
58 | |
d4ad863d |
59 | The very dusty examples in the eg/ directory have been removed. |
60 | Suggestions for new shiny examples welcome but the main issue is that |
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61 | the examples need to be documented, tested and (most importantly) |
62 | maintained. |
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63 | |
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64 | =item * |
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65 | |
66 | The obsolete chat2 library that should never have been allowed |
67 | to escape the laboratory has been decommissioned. |
68 | |
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69 | =item * |
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70 | |
71 | The unimplemented POSIX regex features [[.cc.]] and [[=c=]] are still |
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72 | recognised but now cause fatal errors. The previous behaviour of |
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73 | ignoring them by default and warning if requested was unacceptable |
74 | since it, in a way, falsely promised that the features could be used. |
75 | |
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76 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
77 | |
14638679 |
78 | The (bogus) escape sequences \8 and \9 now give an optional warning |
79 | ("Unrecognized escape passed through"). There is no need to \-escape |
80 | any C<\w> character. |
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81 | |
82 | =item * |
83 | |
d4ad863d |
84 | lstat(FILEHANDLE) now gives a warning because the operation makes no sense. |
85 | In future releases this may become a fatal error. |
86 | |
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87 | =item * |
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88 | |
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89 | The long deprecated uppercase aliases for the string comparison |
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90 | operators (EQ, NE, LT, LE, GE, GT) have now been removed. |
91 | |
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92 | =item * |
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93 | |
94 | The regular expression captured submatches ($1, $2, ...) are now |
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95 | more consistently unset if the match fails, instead of leaving false |
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96 | data lying around in them. |
97 | |
ce72e97c |
98 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
99 | |
100 | The tr///C and tr///U features have been removed and will not return; |
101 | the interface was a mistake. Sorry about that. For similar |
102 | functionality, see pack('U0', ...) and pack('C0', ...). |
103 | |
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104 | =item * |
105 | |
106 | Although "you shouldn't do that", it was possible to write code that |
107 | depends on Perl's hashed key order (Data::Dumper does this). The new |
108 | algorithm "One-at-a-Time" produces a different hashed key order. |
109 | More details are in L<perldelta/Performance Enhancements>. |
110 | |
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111 | =back |
112 | |
cc0fca54 |
113 | =head1 Core Enhancements |
114 | |
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115 | =over 4 |
116 | |
117 | =item * |
118 | |
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119 | Formats now support zero-padded decimal fields. |
120 | |
121 | =item * |
122 | |
53080bb1 |
123 | C<perl -d:Module=arg,arg,arg> now works (previously one couldn't pass |
124 | in multiple arguments.) |
125 | |
126 | =item * |
127 | |
53080bb1 |
128 | my __PACKAGE__ now works. |
129 | |
130 | =item * |
131 | |
ce72e97c |
132 | C<no Module;> now works even if there is no "sub unimport" in the Module. |
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133 | |
134 | =item * |
135 | |
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136 | The numerical comparison operators return C<undef> if either operand |
137 | is a NaN. Previously the behaviour was unspecified. |
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138 | |
139 | =item * |
140 | |
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141 | C<pack('U0a*', ...)> can now be used to force a string to UTF8. |
53080bb1 |
142 | |
143 | =item * |
144 | |
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145 | The printf and sprintf now support parameter reordering using the |
146 | C<%\d+\$> and C<*\d+\$> syntaxes. |
147 | |
148 | =item * |
149 | |
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150 | prototype(\&) is now available. |
151 | |
c835e335 |
152 | =item * |
153 | |
154 | There is now an UNTIE method. |
155 | |
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156 | =back |
157 | |
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158 | =head1 Modules and Pragmata |
159 | |
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160 | =head2 New Modules |
161 | |
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162 | =over 4 |
163 | |
164 | =item * |
165 | |
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166 | File::Temp allows one to create temporary files and directories in an |
167 | easy, portable, and secure way. |
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168 | |
169 | =item * |
170 | |
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171 | Storable gives persistence to Perl data structures by allowing the |
172 | storage and retrieval of Perl data to and from files in a fast and |
173 | compact binary format. |
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174 | |
175 | =back |
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176 | |
177 | =head2 Updated And Improved Modules and Pragmata |
178 | |
179 | =over 4 |
180 | |
181 | =item * |
182 | |
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183 | The following independently supported modules have been updated to |
184 | newer versions from CPAN: CGI, CPAN, DB_File, File::Spec, Getopt::Long, |
185 | the podlators bundle, Pod::LaTeX, Pod::Parser, Term::ANSIColor, Test. |
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186 | |
187 | =item * |
188 | |
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189 | Bug fixes and minor enhancements have been applied to B::Deparse, |
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190 | Data::Dumper, IO::Poll, IO::Socket::INET, Math::BigFloat, |
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191 | Math::Complex, Math::Trig, Net::protoent, the re pragma, SelfLoader, |
192 | Sys::SysLog, Test::Harness, Text::Wrap, UNIVERSAL, and the warnings |
193 | pragma. |
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194 | |
195 | =item * |
196 | |
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197 | The attributes::reftype() now works on tied arguments. |
53080bb1 |
198 | |
199 | =item * |
200 | |
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201 | AutoLoader can now be disabled with C<no AutoLoader;>, |
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202 | |
203 | =item * |
204 | |
205 | The English module can now be used without the infamous performance |
206 | hit by saying |
207 | |
208 | use English '-no_performance_hit'; |
209 | |
210 | (Assuming, of course, that one doesn't need the troublesome variables |
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211 | C<$`>, C<$&>, or C<$'>.) Also, introduced C<@LAST_MATCH_START> and |
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212 | C<@LAST_MATCH_END> English aliases for C<@-> and C<@+>. |
213 | |
214 | =item * |
215 | |
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216 | File::Find now has pre- and post-processing callbacks. It also |
217 | correctly changes directories when chasing symbolic links. Callbacks |
218 | (naughtily) exiting with "next;" instead of "return;" now work. |
53080bb1 |
219 | |
220 | =item * |
221 | |
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222 | File::Glob::glob() renamed to File::Glob::bsd_glob() to avoid |
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223 | prototype mismatch with CORE::glob(). |
224 | |
225 | =item * |
226 | |
ce72e97c |
227 | IPC::Open3 now allows the use of numeric file descriptors. |
53080bb1 |
228 | |
229 | =item * |
230 | |
ce72e97c |
231 | use lib now works identically to @INC. Removing directories |
232 | with 'no lib' now works. |
53080bb1 |
233 | |
234 | =item * |
235 | |
ce72e97c |
236 | C<%INC> now localised in a Safe compartment so that use/require work. |
53080bb1 |
237 | |
238 | =item * |
239 | |
ce72e97c |
240 | The Shell module now has an OO interface. |
53080bb1 |
241 | |
ce72e97c |
242 | =back |
53080bb1 |
243 | |
ce72e97c |
244 | =head1 Utility Changes |
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245 | |
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246 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
247 | |
248 | =item * |
249 | |
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250 | The Emacs perl mode (emacs/cperl-mode.el) has been updated to version |
251 | 4.31. |
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252 | |
253 | =item * |
254 | |
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255 | Perlbug is now much more robust. It also sends the bug report to |
256 | perl.org, not perl.com. |
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257 | |
258 | =item * |
259 | |
ce72e97c |
260 | The perlcc utility has been rewritten and its user interface (that is, |
261 | command line) is much more like that of the UNIX C compiler, cc. |
53080bb1 |
262 | |
263 | =item * |
264 | |
ce72e97c |
265 | The xsubpp utility for extension writers now understands POD |
266 | documentation embedded in the *.xs files. |
53080bb1 |
267 | |
ce72e97c |
268 | =back |
53080bb1 |
269 | |
ce72e97c |
270 | =head1 New Documentation |
53080bb1 |
271 | |
ce72e97c |
272 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
273 | |
274 | =item * |
275 | |
ce72e97c |
276 | perl56delta details the changes between the 5.005 release and the |
277 | 5.6.0 release. |
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278 | |
279 | =item * |
280 | |
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281 | perldebtut is a Perl debugging tutorial. |
53080bb1 |
282 | |
283 | =item * |
284 | |
ce72e97c |
285 | perlebcdic contains considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms. |
286 | Note that unfortunately EBCDIC platforms that used to supported back in |
287 | Perl 5.005 are still unsupported by Perl 5.7.0; the plan, however, is to |
288 | bring them back to the fold. |
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289 | |
290 | =item * |
291 | |
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292 | perlnewmod tells about writing and submitting a new module. |
53080bb1 |
293 | |
294 | =item * |
295 | |
ce72e97c |
296 | perlposix-bc explains using Perl on the POSIX-BC platform |
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297 | (an EBCDIC mainframe platform). |
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298 | |
299 | =item * |
300 | |
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301 | perlretut is a regular expression tutorial. |
53080bb1 |
302 | |
303 | =item * |
304 | |
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305 | perlrequick is a regular expressions quick-start guide. |
306 | Yes, much quicker than perlretut. |
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307 | |
308 | =item * |
309 | |
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310 | perlutil explains the command line utilities packaged with the Perl |
311 | distribution. |
53080bb1 |
312 | |
313 | =back |
314 | |
ce72e97c |
315 | =head1 Performance Enhancements |
53080bb1 |
316 | |
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317 | =over 4 |
318 | |
319 | =item * |
320 | |
ce72e97c |
321 | map() that changes the size of the list should now work faster. |
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322 | |
d46b76b3 |
323 | =item * |
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324 | |
d46b76b3 |
325 | sort() has been changed to use mergesort internally as opposed to the |
326 | earlier quicksort. For very small lists this may result in slightly |
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327 | slower sorting times, but in general the speedup should be at least |
328 | 20%. Additional bonuses are that the worst case behaviour of sort() |
329 | is now better (in computer science terms it now runs in time O(N log N), |
330 | as opposed to quicksort's Theta(N**2) worst-case run time behaviour), |
331 | and that sort() is now stable (meaning that elements with identical |
332 | keys will stay ordered as they were before the sort). |
d46b76b3 |
333 | |
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334 | =item * |
335 | |
336 | Hashes now use Bob Jenkins "One-at-a-Time" hashing key algorithm |
337 | (http://burtleburtle.net/bob/hash/doobs.html). |
338 | This algorithm is reasonably fast while producing a much better spread |
339 | of values. Hash values output from the algorithm on a hash of all |
340 | 3-char printable ASCII keys comes much closer to passing the DIEHARD |
341 | random number generation tests. According to perlbench, this change |
342 | has not affected the overall speed of Perl. |
343 | |
344 | |
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345 | =back |
346 | |
ce72e97c |
347 | =head1 Installation and Configuration Improvements |
53080bb1 |
348 | |
ce72e97c |
349 | =head2 Generic Improvements |
cc0fca54 |
350 | |
53080bb1 |
351 | =over 4 |
352 | |
353 | =item * |
354 | |
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355 | INSTALL now explains how you can configure Perl to use 64-bit |
ce72e97c |
356 | integers even on non-64-bit platforms. |
53080bb1 |
357 | |
358 | =item * |
359 | |
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360 | Policy.sh policy change: if you are reusing a Policy.sh file |
361 | (see INSTALL) and you use Configure -Dprefix=/foo/bar and in the old |
ce72e97c |
362 | Policy $prefix eq $siteprefix and $prefix eq $vendorprefix, all of |
363 | them will now be changed to the new prefix, /foo/bar. (Previously |
364 | only $prefix changed.) If you do not like this new behaviour, |
365 | specify prefix, siteprefix, and vendorprefix explicitly. |
53080bb1 |
366 | |
367 | =item * |
368 | |
ce72e97c |
369 | A new optional location for Perl libraries, otherlibdirs, is available. |
370 | It can be used for example for vendor add-ons without disturbing Perl's |
371 | own library directories. |
53080bb1 |
372 | |
373 | =item * |
374 | |
ce72e97c |
375 | In many platforms the vendor-supplied 'cc' is too stripped-down to |
376 | build Perl (basically, 'cc' doesn't do ANSI C). If this seems |
377 | to be the case and 'cc' does not seem to be the GNU C compiler |
378 | 'gcc', an automatic attempt is made to find and use 'gcc' instead. |
53080bb1 |
379 | |
380 | =item * |
381 | |
ce72e97c |
382 | gcc needs to closely track the operating system release to avoid |
383 | build problems. If Configure finds that gcc was built for a different |
384 | operating system release than is running, it now gives a clearly visible |
385 | warning that there may be trouble ahead. |
53080bb1 |
386 | |
387 | =item * |
388 | |
ce72e97c |
389 | If binary compatibility with the 5.005 release is not wanted, Configure |
390 | no longer suggests including the 5.005 modules in @INC. |
53080bb1 |
391 | |
392 | =item * |
393 | |
ce72e97c |
394 | Configure C<-S> can now run non-interactively. |
53080bb1 |
395 | |
396 | =item * |
397 | |
ce72e97c |
398 | configure.gnu now works with options with whitespace in them. |
53080bb1 |
399 | |
400 | =item * |
401 | |
ce72e97c |
402 | installperl now outputs everything to STDERR. |
53080bb1 |
403 | |
404 | =item * |
405 | |
ce72e97c |
406 | $Config{byteorder} is now computed dynamically (this is more robust |
407 | with "fat binaries" where an executable image contains binaries for |
408 | more than one binary platform.) |
53080bb1 |
409 | |
eedaba54 |
410 | =item * |
411 | |
412 | Configure no longer included the DBM libraries (dbm, gdbm, db, ndbm) |
413 | when building the Perl binary. The only exception to this is SunOS 4.x, |
414 | which needs them. |
415 | |
ce72e97c |
416 | =back |
53080bb1 |
417 | |
ce72e97c |
418 | =head1 Selected Bug Fixes |
53080bb1 |
419 | |
ce72e97c |
420 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
421 | |
422 | =item * |
423 | |
ce72e97c |
424 | Several debugger fixes: exit code now reflects the script exit code, |
425 | condition C<"0"> now treated correctly, the C<d> command now checks |
426 | line number, the C<$.> no longer gets corrupted, all debugger output now |
427 | goes correctly to the socket if RemotePort is set. |
53080bb1 |
428 | |
429 | =item * |
430 | |
ce72e97c |
431 | C<*foo{FORMAT}> now works. |
53080bb1 |
432 | |
433 | =item * |
434 | |
ce72e97c |
435 | Lexical warnings now propagating correctly between scopes. |
53080bb1 |
436 | |
437 | =item * |
438 | |
ce72e97c |
439 | Line renumbering with eval and C<#line> now works. |
53080bb1 |
440 | |
441 | =item * |
442 | |
ce72e97c |
443 | Fixed numerous memory leaks, especially in eval "". |
53080bb1 |
444 | |
445 | =item * |
446 | |
ce72e97c |
447 | Modulus of unsigned numbers now works (4063328477 % 65535 used to |
448 | return 27406, instead of 27047). |
53080bb1 |
449 | |
450 | =item * |
451 | |
ce72e97c |
452 | Some "not a number" warnings introduced in 5.6.0 eliminated to be |
453 | more compatible with 5.005. Infinity is now recognised as a number. |
53080bb1 |
454 | |
455 | =item * |
456 | |
ce72e97c |
457 | our() variables will not cause "will not stay shared" warnings. |
53080bb1 |
458 | |
459 | =item * |
460 | |
ce72e97c |
461 | pack "Z" now correctly terminates the string with "\0". |
53080bb1 |
462 | |
463 | =item * |
464 | |
ce72e97c |
465 | Fix password routines which in some shadow password platforms |
466 | (e.g. HP-UX) caused getpwent() to return every other entry. |
53080bb1 |
467 | |
468 | =item * |
469 | |
ce72e97c |
470 | printf() no longer resets the numeric locale to "C". |
53080bb1 |
471 | |
472 | =item * |
473 | |
ce72e97c |
474 | C<q(a\\b)> now parses correctly as C<'a\\b'>. |
53080bb1 |
475 | |
476 | =item * |
477 | |
ce72e97c |
478 | Printing quads (64-bit integers) with printf/sprintf now works |
562628a3 |
479 | without the q L ll prefixes (assuming you are on a quad-capable platform). |
53080bb1 |
480 | |
481 | =item * |
482 | |
ce72e97c |
483 | Regular expressions on references and overloaded scalars now work. |
53080bb1 |
484 | |
485 | =item * |
486 | |
ce72e97c |
487 | scalar() now forces scalar context even when used in void context. |
53080bb1 |
488 | |
489 | =item * |
551e1d92 |
490 | |
ce72e97c |
491 | sort() arguments are now compiled in the right wantarray context |
492 | (they were accidentally using the context of the sort() itself). |
53080bb1 |
493 | |
494 | =item * |
495 | |
ce72e97c |
496 | Changed the POSIX character class C<[[:space:]]> to include the (very |
497 | rare) vertical tab character. Added a new POSIX-ish character class |
498 | C<[[:blank:]]> which stands for horizontal whitespace (currently, |
499 | the space and the tab). |
53080bb1 |
500 | |
501 | =item * |
502 | |
ce72e97c |
503 | $AUTOLOAD, sort(), lock(), and spawning subprocesses |
504 | in multiple threads simultaneously are now thread-safe. |
53080bb1 |
505 | |
506 | =item * |
507 | |
ce72e97c |
508 | Allow read-only string on left hand side of non-modifying tr///. |
53080bb1 |
509 | |
510 | =item * |
511 | |
ce72e97c |
512 | Several Unicode fixes (but still not perfect). |
53080bb1 |
513 | |
ce72e97c |
514 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
515 | |
516 | =item * |
517 | |
ce72e97c |
518 | BOMs (byte order marks) in the beginning of Perl files |
519 | (scripts, modules) should now be transparently skipped. |
0aa7271f |
520 | UTF-16 (UCS-2)encoded Perl files should now be read correctly. |
53080bb1 |
521 | |
522 | =item * |
523 | |
bc723577 |
524 | The character tables have been updated to Unicode 3.0.1. |
53080bb1 |
525 | |
ce72e97c |
526 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
527 | |
ce72e97c |
528 | chr() for values greater than 127 now create utf8 when under use |
529 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
530 | |
ce72e97c |
531 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
532 | |
ce72e97c |
533 | Comparing with utf8 data does not magically upgrade non-utf8 data into |
534 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
535 | |
536 | =item * |
537 | |
ce72e97c |
538 | C<IsAlnum>, C<IsAlpha>, and C<IsWord> now match titlecase. |
53080bb1 |
539 | |
540 | =item * |
541 | |
ce72e97c |
542 | Concatenation with the C<.> operator or via variable interpolation, |
543 | C<eq>, C<substr>, C<reverse>, C<quotemeta>, the C<x> operator, |
544 | substitution with C<s///>, single-quoted UTF8, should now work--in |
545 | theory. |
53080bb1 |
546 | |
547 | =item * |
548 | |
ce72e97c |
549 | The C<tr///> operator now works I<slightly> better but is still rather |
550 | broken. Note that the C<tr///CU> functionality has been removed (but |
551 | see pack('U0', ...)). |
53080bb1 |
552 | |
553 | =item * |
554 | |
33b45480 |
555 | vec() now tries to work with characters <= 255 when possible, but it leaves |
556 | higher character values in place. In that case, if vec() was used to modify |
557 | the string, it is no longer considered to be utf8-encoded. |
bc723577 |
558 | |
559 | =item * |
560 | |
ce72e97c |
561 | Zero entries were missing from the Unicode classes like C<IsDigit>. |
53080bb1 |
562 | |
563 | =back |
564 | |
ce72e97c |
565 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
566 | |
ce72e97c |
567 | UNIVERSAL::isa no longer caches methods incorrectly. (This broke |
568 | the Tk extension with 5.6.0.) |
53080bb1 |
569 | |
ce72e97c |
570 | =back |
53080bb1 |
571 | |
ce72e97c |
572 | =head2 Platform Specific Changes and Fixes |
53080bb1 |
573 | |
574 | =over 4 |
575 | |
576 | =item * |
577 | |
ce72e97c |
578 | BSDI 4.* |
53080bb1 |
579 | |
ce72e97c |
580 | Perl now works on post-4.0 BSD/OSes. |
53080bb1 |
581 | |
ce72e97c |
582 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
583 | |
ce72e97c |
584 | All BSDs |
53080bb1 |
585 | |
ce72e97c |
586 | Setting C<$0> now works (as much as possible; see perlvar for details). |
53080bb1 |
587 | |
ce72e97c |
588 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
589 | |
ce72e97c |
590 | Cygwin |
53080bb1 |
591 | |
ce72e97c |
592 | Numerous updates; currently synchronised with Cygwin 1.1.4. |
53080bb1 |
593 | |
594 | =item * |
595 | |
ce72e97c |
596 | EPOC |
53080bb1 |
597 | |
ce72e97c |
598 | EPOC update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.epoc. |
53080bb1 |
599 | |
ce72e97c |
600 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
601 | |
ce72e97c |
602 | FreeBSD 3.* |
53080bb1 |
603 | |
ce72e97c |
604 | Perl now works on post-3.0 FreeBSDs. |
53080bb1 |
605 | |
606 | =item * |
607 | |
ce72e97c |
608 | HP-UX |
53080bb1 |
609 | |
ce72e97c |
610 | README.hpux updated; C<Configure -Duse64bitall> now almost works. |
53080bb1 |
611 | |
ce72e97c |
612 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
613 | |
ce72e97c |
614 | IRIX |
53080bb1 |
615 | |
ce72e97c |
616 | Numerous compilation flag and hint enhancements; accidental mixing |
617 | of 32-bit and 64-bit libraries (a doomed attempt) made much harder. |
53080bb1 |
618 | |
619 | =item * |
620 | |
ce72e97c |
621 | Linux |
53080bb1 |
622 | |
ce72e97c |
623 | Long doubles should now work (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
624 | |
625 | =item * |
626 | |
ce72e97c |
627 | MacOS Classic |
628 | |
53080bb1 |
629 | Compilation of the standard Perl distribution in MacOS Classic should |
ce72e97c |
630 | now work if you have the Metrowerks development environment and |
631 | the missing Mac-specific toolkit bits. Contact the macperl mailing |
53080bb1 |
632 | list for details. |
633 | |
ce72e97c |
634 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
635 | |
ce72e97c |
636 | MPE/iX |
53080bb1 |
637 | |
ce72e97c |
638 | MPE/iX update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.mpeix. |
53080bb1 |
639 | |
ce72e97c |
640 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
641 | |
ce72e97c |
642 | NetBSD/sparc |
53080bb1 |
643 | |
ce72e97c |
644 | Perl now works on NetBSD/sparc. |
53080bb1 |
645 | |
646 | =item * |
647 | |
ce72e97c |
648 | OS/2 |
53080bb1 |
649 | |
ce72e97c |
650 | Now works with usethreads (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
651 | |
652 | =item * |
653 | |
ce72e97c |
654 | Solaris |
53080bb1 |
655 | |
ce72e97c |
656 | 64-bitness using the Sun Workshop compiler now works. |
53080bb1 |
657 | |
658 | =item * |
659 | |
ce72e97c |
660 | Tru64 (aka Digital UNIX, aka DEC OSF/1) |
661 | |
662 | The operating system version letter now recorded in $Config{osvers}. |
53080bb1 |
663 | Allow compiling with gcc (previously explicitly forbidden). Compiling |
664 | with gcc still not recommended because buggy code results, even with |
665 | gcc 2.95.2. |
666 | |
667 | =item * |
668 | |
ce72e97c |
669 | Unicos |
53080bb1 |
670 | |
671 | Fixed various alignment problems that lead into core dumps either |
ce72e97c |
672 | during build or later; no longer dies on math errors at runtime; |
673 | now using full quad integers (64 bits), previously was using |
b84d4f81 |
674 | only 46 bit integers for speed. |
53080bb1 |
675 | |
53080bb1 |
676 | =item * |
677 | |
ce72e97c |
678 | VMS |
53080bb1 |
679 | |
ce72e97c |
680 | chdir() now works better despite a CRT bug; now works with MULTIPLICITY |
681 | (see INSTALL); now works with Perl's malloc. |
53080bb1 |
682 | |
683 | =item * |
684 | |
ce72e97c |
685 | Windows |
53080bb1 |
686 | |
ce72e97c |
687 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
688 | |
689 | =item * |
690 | |
d4ad863d |
691 | accept() no longer leaks memory. |
53080bb1 |
692 | |
693 | =item * |
694 | |
695 | Better chdir() return value for a non-existent directory. |
696 | |
697 | =item * |
698 | |
699 | New %ENV entries now propagate to subprocesses. |
700 | |
701 | =item * |
702 | |
703 | $ENV{LIB} now used to search for libs under Visual C. |
704 | |
705 | =item * |
706 | |
707 | A failed (pseudo)fork now returns undef and sets errno to EAGAIN. |
708 | |
709 | =item * |
710 | |
711 | Allow REG_EXPAND_SZ keys in the registry. |
712 | |
713 | =item * |
714 | |
715 | Can now send() from all threads, not just the first one. |
716 | |
717 | =item * |
718 | |
719 | Fake signal handling reenabled, bugs and all. |
720 | |
721 | =item * |
722 | |
723 | Less stack reserved per thread so that more threads can run |
0aa7271f |
724 | concurrently. (Still 16M per thread.) |
53080bb1 |
725 | |
726 | =item * |
727 | |
728 | C<File::Spec->tmpdir()> now prefers C:/temp over /tmp |
0aa7271f |
729 | (works better when perl is running as service). |
53080bb1 |
730 | |
731 | =item * |
732 | |
733 | Better UNC path handling under ithreads. |
734 | |
735 | =item * |
736 | |
737 | wait() and waitpid() now work much better. |
738 | |
739 | =item * |
740 | |
741 | winsock handle leak fixed. |
742 | |
743 | =back |
744 | |
13a2d996 |
745 | =back |
746 | |
cc0fca54 |
747 | =head1 New or Changed Diagnostics |
748 | |
53080bb1 |
749 | All regular expression compilation error messages are now hopefully |
750 | easier to understand both because the error message now comes before |
751 | the failed regex and because the point of failure is now clearly |
752 | marked. |
753 | |
754 | The various "opened only for", "on closed", "never opened" warnings |
755 | drop the C<main::> prefix for filehandles in the C<main> package, |
562628a3 |
756 | for example C<STDIN> instead of <main::STDIN>. |
53080bb1 |
757 | |
d4ad863d |
758 | The "Unrecognized escape" warning has been extended to include C<\8>, |
759 | C<\9>, and C<\_>. There is no need to escape any of the C<\w> characters. |
53080bb1 |
760 | |
53080bb1 |
761 | =head1 Changed Internals |
762 | |
ce72e97c |
763 | =over 4 |
764 | |
765 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
766 | |
d4ad863d |
767 | perlapi.pod (a companion to perlguts) now attempts to document the |
768 | internal API. |
53080bb1 |
769 | |
ce72e97c |
770 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
771 | |
ce72e97c |
772 | You can now build a really minimal perl called microperl. |
d4ad863d |
773 | Building microperl does not require even running Configure; |
774 | C<make -f Makefile.micro> should be enough. Beware: microperl makes |
775 | many assumptions, some of which may be too bold; the resulting |
0aa7271f |
776 | executable may crash or otherwise misbehave in wondrous ways. |
777 | For careful hackers only. |
53080bb1 |
778 | |
ce72e97c |
779 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
780 | |
43b92eec |
781 | Added rsignal(), whichsig(), do_join() to the publicised API. |
53080bb1 |
782 | |
ce72e97c |
783 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
784 | |
43b92eec |
785 | Made possible to propagate customised exceptions via croak()ing. |
53080bb1 |
786 | |
ce72e97c |
787 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
788 | |
789 | Added is_utf8_char(), is_utf8_string(), bytes_to_utf8(), and utf8_to_bytes(). |
790 | |
ce72e97c |
791 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
792 | |
793 | Now xsubs can have attributes just like subs. |
794 | |
ce72e97c |
795 | =back |
796 | |
cc0fca54 |
797 | =head1 Known Problems |
798 | |
53080bb1 |
799 | =head2 Unicode Support Still Far From Perfect |
800 | |
801 | We're working on it. Stay tuned. |
802 | |
803 | =head2 EBCDIC Still A Lost Platform |
804 | |
805 | The plan is to bring them back. |
806 | |
807 | =head2 Building Extensions Can Fail Because Of Largefiles |
808 | |
809 | Certain extensions like mod_perl and BSD::Resource are known to have |
ce72e97c |
810 | issues with `largefiles', a change brought by Perl 5.6.0 in which file |
4b2ec495 |
811 | offsets default to 64 bits wide, where supported. Modules may fail to |
ce72e97c |
812 | compile at all or compile and work incorrectly. Currently there is no |
4b2ec495 |
813 | good solution for the problem, but Configure now provides appropriate |
814 | non-largefile ccflags, ldflags, libswanted, and libs in the %Config |
815 | hash (e.g., $Config{ccflags_nolargefiles}) so the extensions that are |
816 | having problems can try configuring themselves without the |
817 | largefileness. This is admittedly not a clean solution, and the |
818 | solution may not even work at all. One potential failure is whether |
819 | one can (or, if one can, whether it's a good idea) link together at |
820 | all binaries with different ideas about file offsets, all this is |
821 | platform-dependent. |
53080bb1 |
822 | |
9dc46381 |
823 | =head2 ftmp-security tests warn 'system possibly insecure' |
824 | |
825 | Don't panic. Read INSTALL 'make test' section instead. |
826 | |
446288b8 |
827 | =head2 Test lib/posix Subtest 9 Fails In LP64-Configured HP-UX |
828 | |
829 | If perl is configured with -Duse64bitall, the successful result of the |
830 | subtest 10 of lib/posix may arrive before the successful result of the |
831 | subtest 9, which confuses the test harness so much that it thinks the |
832 | subtest 9 failed. |
833 | |
9dc46381 |
834 | =head2 Long Doubles Still Don't Work In Solaris |
835 | |
836 | The experimental long double support is still very much so in Solaris. |
2ff7ee21 |
837 | (Other platforms like Linux and Tru64 are beginning to solidify in |
838 | this area.) |
d184b07b |
839 | |
1047c2b3 |
840 | =head2 Linux With Sfio Fails op/misc Test 48 |
841 | |
842 | No known fix. |
843 | |
1937ada3 |
844 | =head2 sprintf tests 129 and 130 |
845 | |
846 | The op/sprintf tests 129 and 130 are known to fail in some platforms. |
847 | Examples include any platform using sfio, and Tandem's NonStop-UX. |
848 | The failing platforms do not comply with the ANSI C Standard, line |
849 | 19ff on page 134 of ANSI X3.159 1989 to be exact. (They produce |
850 | something else than "1" and "-1" when formatting 0.6 and -0.6 using |
851 | the printf format "%.0f", most often they produce "0" and "-0".) |
852 | |
d184b07b |
853 | =head2 Storable tests fail in some platforms |
854 | |
2ff7ee21 |
855 | If any Storable tests fail the use of Storable is not advisable. |
856 | |
d184b07b |
857 | =over 4 |
858 | |
859 | =item * |
860 | |
861 | Many Storable tests fail on AIX configured with 64 bit integers. |
862 | |
863 | So far unidentified problems break Storable in AIX if Perl is |
864 | configured to use 64 bit integers. AIX in 32-bit mode works and |
865 | other 64-bit platforms work with Storable. |
866 | |
867 | =item * |
868 | |
869 | DOS DJGPP may hang when testing Storable. |
870 | |
871 | =item * |
872 | |
873 | st-06compat fails in UNICOS and UNICOS/mk. |
24e657a8 |
874 | |
875 | This means that you cannot read old (pre-Storable-0.7) Storable images |
876 | made in other platforms. |
877 | |
2ff7ee21 |
878 | =item * |
879 | |
880 | st-store.t and st-retrieve may fail with Compaq C 6.2 on OpenVMS Alpha 7.2. |
881 | |
13a2d996 |
882 | =back |
883 | |
33a87e58 |
884 | =head2 Threads Are Still Experimental |
885 | |
886 | Multithreading is still an experimental feature. Some platforms |
887 | emit the following message for lib/thr5005 |
888 | |
889 | # |
890 | # This is a KNOWN FAILURE, and one of the reasons why threading |
891 | # is still an experimental feature. It is here to stop people |
892 | # from deploying threads in production. ;-) |
893 | # |
894 | |
0aa7271f |
895 | and another known thread-related warning is |
33a87e58 |
896 | |
897 | pragma/overload......Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores |
898 | panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction. |
899 | ok |
900 | lib/selfloader.......Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores |
901 | panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction. |
902 | ok |
903 | lib/st-dclone........Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores |
904 | panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction. |
905 | ok |
906 | |
907 | =head2 The Compiler Suite Is Still Experimental |
908 | |
0aa7271f |
909 | The compiler suite is slowly getting better but is nowhere near |
910 | working order yet. The backend part that has seen perhaps the most |
911 | progress is the bytecode compiler. |
33a87e58 |
912 | |
cc0fca54 |
913 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
914 | |
d4ad863d |
915 | If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles |
916 | recently posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl |
917 | bug database at http://bugs.perl.org. There may also be |
918 | information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl Home Page. |
cc0fca54 |
919 | |
920 | If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the B<perlbug> |
921 | program included with your release. Be sure to trim your bug down |
922 | to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the |
d4ad863d |
923 | output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be |
cc0fca54 |
924 | analysed by the Perl porting team. |
925 | |
926 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
927 | |
928 | The F<Changes> file for exhaustive details on what changed. |
929 | |
930 | The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl. |
931 | |
932 | The F<README> file for general stuff. |
933 | |
934 | The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information. |
935 | |
936 | =head1 HISTORY |
937 | |
53080bb1 |
938 | Written by Jarkko Hietaniemi <F<jhi@iki.fi>>, with many contributions |
939 | from The Perl Porters and Perl Users submitting feedback and patches. |
cc0fca54 |
940 | |
d4ad863d |
941 | Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.org>>. |
cc0fca54 |
942 | |
943 | =cut |