Commit | Line | Data |
cc0fca54 |
1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | |
53080bb1 |
3 | perldelta - what's new for perl v5.7.0 |
cc0fca54 |
4 | |
5 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
6 | |
53080bb1 |
7 | This document describes differences between the 5.6.0 release and |
8 | the 5.7.0 release. |
cc0fca54 |
9 | |
43b92eec |
10 | =head1 Security Vulnerability Closed |
d4ad863d |
11 | |
12 | A potential security vulnerability in the optional suidperl component |
ce72e97c |
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. |
d4ad863d |
17 | |
18 | The problem was caused by Perl trying to report a suspected security |
ce72e97c |
19 | exploit attempt using an external program, /bin/mail. On Linux |
d4ad863d |
20 | platforms the /bin/mail program had an undocumented feature which gave |
ce72e97c |
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/). |
d4ad863d |
35 | |
36 | =head1 Incompatible Changes |
37 | |
ce72e97c |
38 | =over 4 |
39 | |
40 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
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 | |
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 |
ce72e97c |
55 | the examples need to be documented, tested and (most importantly) |
56 | maintained. |
d4ad863d |
57 | |
ce72e97c |
58 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
59 | |
60 | The obsolete chat2 library that should never have been allowed |
61 | to escape the laboratory has been decommissioned. |
62 | |
ce72e97c |
63 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
64 | |
65 | The unimplemented POSIX regex features [[.cc.]] and [[=c=]] are still |
43b92eec |
66 | recognised but now cause fatal errors. The previous behaviour of |
d4ad863d |
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 | |
ce72e97c |
70 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
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 | |
ce72e97c |
75 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
76 | |
ce72e97c |
77 | The long deprecated uppercase aliases for the string comparison |
d4ad863d |
78 | operators (EQ, NE, LT, LE, GE, GT) have now been removed. |
79 | |
ce72e97c |
80 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
81 | |
82 | The regular expression captured submatches ($1, $2, ...) are now |
ce72e97c |
83 | more consistently unset if the match fails, instead of leaving false |
d4ad863d |
84 | data lying around in them. |
85 | |
ce72e97c |
86 | =item * |
d4ad863d |
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 | |
ce72e97c |
92 | =back |
93 | |
cc0fca54 |
94 | =head1 Core Enhancements |
95 | |
53080bb1 |
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 | |
ce72e97c |
109 | C<no Module;> now works even if there is no "sub unimport" in the Module. |
53080bb1 |
110 | |
111 | =item * |
112 | |
d4ad863d |
113 | The numerical comparison operators return C<undef> if either operand |
114 | is a NaN. Previously the behaviour was unspecified. |
53080bb1 |
115 | |
116 | =item * |
117 | |
43b92eec |
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 | |
53080bb1 |
128 | =back |
129 | |
cc0fca54 |
130 | =head1 Modules and Pragmata |
131 | |
53080bb1 |
132 | =head2 New Modules |
133 | |
d4ad863d |
134 | =over 4 |
135 | |
136 | =item * |
137 | |
ce72e97c |
138 | File::Temp allows one to create temporary files and directories in an |
139 | easy, portable, and secure way. |
d4ad863d |
140 | |
141 | =item * |
142 | |
ce72e97c |
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. |
d4ad863d |
146 | |
147 | =back |
53080bb1 |
148 | |
149 | =head2 Updated And Improved Modules and Pragmata |
150 | |
151 | =over 4 |
152 | |
153 | =item * |
154 | |
ce72e97c |
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. |
53080bb1 |
158 | |
159 | =item * |
160 | |
ce72e97c |
161 | Bug fixes and minor enhancements have been applied to B::Deparse, |
9db5a202 |
162 | Data::Dumper, IO::Poll, IO::Socket::INET, Math::BigFloat, |
163 | Math::Complex, Math::Trig, re, SelfLoader, Sys::SysLog, Test::Harness, |
164 | Text::Wrap, UNIVERSAL. |
53080bb1 |
165 | |
166 | =item * |
167 | |
ce72e97c |
168 | The attributes::reftype() now works on tied arguments. |
53080bb1 |
169 | |
170 | =item * |
171 | |
ce72e97c |
172 | AutoLoader can now be disabled with C<no AutoLoader;>, |
53080bb1 |
173 | |
174 | =item * |
175 | |
176 | The English module can now be used without the infamous performance |
177 | hit by saying |
178 | |
179 | use English '-no_performance_hit'; |
180 | |
181 | (Assuming, of course, that one doesn't need the troublesome variables |
182 | C<$`>, C<$&>, or C<$'>.) Also, introduce C<@LAST_MATCH_START> and |
183 | C<@LAST_MATCH_END> English aliases for C<@-> and C<@+>. |
184 | |
185 | =item * |
186 | |
ce72e97c |
187 | File::Find now has pre- and post-processing callbacks. It also |
188 | correctly changes directories when chasing symbolic links. Callbacks |
189 | (naughtily) exiting with "next;" instead of "return;" now work. |
53080bb1 |
190 | |
191 | =item * |
192 | |
d4ad863d |
193 | File::Glob::glob() renamed to File::Glob::bsd_glob() to avoid |
53080bb1 |
194 | prototype mismatch with CORE::glob(). |
195 | |
196 | =item * |
197 | |
ce72e97c |
198 | IPC::Open3 now allows the use of numeric file descriptors. |
53080bb1 |
199 | |
200 | =item * |
201 | |
ce72e97c |
202 | use lib now works identically to @INC. Removing directories |
203 | with 'no lib' now works. |
53080bb1 |
204 | |
205 | =item * |
206 | |
ce72e97c |
207 | C<%INC> now localised in a Safe compartment so that use/require work. |
53080bb1 |
208 | |
209 | =item * |
210 | |
ce72e97c |
211 | The Shell module now has an OO interface. |
53080bb1 |
212 | |
ce72e97c |
213 | =back |
53080bb1 |
214 | |
ce72e97c |
215 | =head1 Utility Changes |
53080bb1 |
216 | |
ce72e97c |
217 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
218 | |
219 | =item * |
220 | |
ce72e97c |
221 | The Emacs perl mode (emacs/cperl-mode.el) has been updated to version 4.31. |
53080bb1 |
222 | |
223 | =item * |
224 | |
ce72e97c |
225 | Perlbug is now much more robust. It also sends the bug report to perl.org, |
226 | not perl.com. |
53080bb1 |
227 | |
228 | =item * |
229 | |
ce72e97c |
230 | The perlcc utility has been rewritten and its user interface (that is, |
231 | command line) is much more like that of the UNIX C compiler, cc. |
53080bb1 |
232 | |
233 | =item * |
234 | |
ce72e97c |
235 | The xsubpp utility for extension writers now understands POD |
236 | documentation embedded in the *.xs files. |
53080bb1 |
237 | |
ce72e97c |
238 | =back |
53080bb1 |
239 | |
ce72e97c |
240 | =head1 New Documentation |
53080bb1 |
241 | |
ce72e97c |
242 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
243 | |
244 | =item * |
245 | |
ce72e97c |
246 | perl56delta details the changes between the 5.005 release and the |
247 | 5.6.0 release. |
53080bb1 |
248 | |
249 | =item * |
250 | |
ce72e97c |
251 | perldebtut is a Perl debugging tutorial. |
53080bb1 |
252 | |
253 | =item * |
254 | |
ce72e97c |
255 | perlebcdic contains considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms. |
256 | Note that unfortunately EBCDIC platforms that used to supported back in |
257 | Perl 5.005 are still unsupported by Perl 5.7.0; the plan, however, is to |
258 | bring them back to the fold. |
53080bb1 |
259 | |
260 | =item * |
261 | |
ce72e97c |
262 | perlnewmod tells about writing and submitting a new module. |
53080bb1 |
263 | |
264 | =item * |
265 | |
ce72e97c |
266 | perlposix-bc explains using Perl on the POSIX-BC platform |
562628a3 |
267 | (an EBCDIC mainframe platform). |
53080bb1 |
268 | |
269 | =item * |
270 | |
ce72e97c |
271 | perlretut is a regular expression tutorial. |
53080bb1 |
272 | |
273 | =item * |
274 | |
ce72e97c |
275 | perlrequick is a regular expressions quick-start guide. |
276 | Yes, much quicker than perlretut. |
53080bb1 |
277 | |
278 | =item * |
279 | |
ce72e97c |
280 | perlutil explains the command line utilities packaged with the Perl |
281 | distribution. |
53080bb1 |
282 | |
283 | =back |
284 | |
ce72e97c |
285 | =head1 Performance Enhancements |
53080bb1 |
286 | |
562628a3 |
287 | =over 4 |
288 | |
289 | =item * |
290 | |
ce72e97c |
291 | map() that changes the size of the list should now work faster. |
53080bb1 |
292 | |
dbee9b14 |
293 | =item * |
be7ddd5d |
294 | |
295 | sort() has been changed to use mergesort internally as opposed to the |
296 | earlier quicksort. For very small lists this may result in slightly |
297 | slower sorting times, but in general the speedup should be at least 20%. |
298 | Additional bonuses are that the worst case behaviour of sort() is now |
e11c4a89 |
299 | better (in computer science terms it now runs in time O(N log N), as |
300 | opposed to quicksorts Theta(N**2) worst-case run time behaviour), and |
301 | that sort() is now stable (meaning that elements with identical keys |
302 | will stay ordered as they were before the sort). |
be7ddd5d |
303 | |
562628a3 |
304 | =back |
305 | |
ce72e97c |
306 | =head1 Installation and Configuration Improvements |
53080bb1 |
307 | |
ce72e97c |
308 | =head2 Generic Improvements |
cc0fca54 |
309 | |
53080bb1 |
310 | =over 4 |
311 | |
312 | =item * |
313 | |
ce72e97c |
314 | INSTALL now explains how you can configure perl to use 64-bit |
315 | integers even on non-64-bit platforms. |
53080bb1 |
316 | |
317 | =item * |
318 | |
ce72e97c |
319 | Policy.sh policy change: if you are reusing a Policy.sh file (see |
320 | INSTALL) and you use Configure -Dprefix=/foo/bar and in the old |
321 | Policy $prefix eq $siteprefix and $prefix eq $vendorprefix, all of |
322 | them will now be changed to the new prefix, /foo/bar. (Previously |
323 | only $prefix changed.) If you do not like this new behaviour, |
324 | specify prefix, siteprefix, and vendorprefix explicitly. |
53080bb1 |
325 | |
326 | =item * |
327 | |
ce72e97c |
328 | A new optional location for Perl libraries, otherlibdirs, is available. |
329 | It can be used for example for vendor add-ons without disturbing Perl's |
330 | own library directories. |
53080bb1 |
331 | |
332 | =item * |
333 | |
ce72e97c |
334 | In many platforms the vendor-supplied 'cc' is too stripped-down to |
335 | build Perl (basically, 'cc' doesn't do ANSI C). If this seems |
336 | to be the case and 'cc' does not seem to be the GNU C compiler |
337 | 'gcc', an automatic attempt is made to find and use 'gcc' instead. |
53080bb1 |
338 | |
339 | =item * |
340 | |
ce72e97c |
341 | gcc needs to closely track the operating system release to avoid |
342 | build problems. If Configure finds that gcc was built for a different |
343 | operating system release than is running, it now gives a clearly visible |
344 | warning that there may be trouble ahead. |
53080bb1 |
345 | |
346 | =item * |
347 | |
ce72e97c |
348 | If binary compatibility with the 5.005 release is not wanted, Configure |
349 | no longer suggests including the 5.005 modules in @INC. |
53080bb1 |
350 | |
351 | =item * |
352 | |
ce72e97c |
353 | Configure C<-S> can now run non-interactively. |
53080bb1 |
354 | |
355 | =item * |
356 | |
ce72e97c |
357 | configure.gnu now works with options with whitespace in them. |
53080bb1 |
358 | |
359 | =item * |
360 | |
ce72e97c |
361 | installperl now outputs everything to STDERR. |
53080bb1 |
362 | |
363 | =item * |
364 | |
ce72e97c |
365 | $Config{byteorder} is now computed dynamically (this is more robust |
366 | with "fat binaries" where an executable image contains binaries for |
367 | more than one binary platform.) |
53080bb1 |
368 | |
ce72e97c |
369 | =back |
53080bb1 |
370 | |
ce72e97c |
371 | =head1 Selected Bug Fixes |
53080bb1 |
372 | |
ce72e97c |
373 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 |
374 | |
375 | =item * |
376 | |
ce72e97c |
377 | Several debugger fixes: exit code now reflects the script exit code, |
378 | condition C<"0"> now treated correctly, the C<d> command now checks |
379 | line number, the C<$.> no longer gets corrupted, all debugger output now |
380 | goes correctly to the socket if RemotePort is set. |
53080bb1 |
381 | |
382 | =item * |
383 | |
ce72e97c |
384 | C<*foo{FORMAT}> now works. |
53080bb1 |
385 | |
386 | =item * |
387 | |
ce72e97c |
388 | Lexical warnings now propagating correctly between scopes. |
53080bb1 |
389 | |
390 | =item * |
391 | |
ce72e97c |
392 | Line renumbering with eval and C<#line> now works. |
53080bb1 |
393 | |
394 | =item * |
395 | |
ce72e97c |
396 | Fixed numerous memory leaks, especially in eval "". |
53080bb1 |
397 | |
398 | =item * |
399 | |
ce72e97c |
400 | Modulus of unsigned numbers now works (4063328477 % 65535 used to |
401 | return 27406, instead of 27047). |
53080bb1 |
402 | |
403 | =item * |
404 | |
ce72e97c |
405 | Some "not a number" warnings introduced in 5.6.0 eliminated to be |
406 | more compatible with 5.005. Infinity is now recognised as a number. |
53080bb1 |
407 | |
408 | =item * |
409 | |
ce72e97c |
410 | our() variables will not cause "will not stay shared" warnings. |
53080bb1 |
411 | |
412 | =item * |
413 | |
ce72e97c |
414 | pack "Z" now correctly terminates the string with "\0". |
53080bb1 |
415 | |
416 | =item * |
417 | |
ce72e97c |
418 | Fix password routines which in some shadow password platforms |
419 | (e.g. HP-UX) caused getpwent() to return every other entry. |
53080bb1 |
420 | |
421 | =item * |
422 | |
ce72e97c |
423 | printf() no longer resets the numeric locale to "C". |
53080bb1 |
424 | |
425 | =item * |
426 | |
ce72e97c |
427 | C<q(a\\b)> now parses correctly as C<'a\\b'>. |
53080bb1 |
428 | |
429 | =item * |
430 | |
ce72e97c |
431 | Printing quads (64-bit integers) with printf/sprintf now works |
562628a3 |
432 | without the q L ll prefixes (assuming you are on a quad-capable platform). |
53080bb1 |
433 | |
434 | =item * |
435 | |
ce72e97c |
436 | Regular expressions on references and overloaded scalars now work. |
53080bb1 |
437 | |
438 | =item * |
439 | |
ce72e97c |
440 | scalar() now forces scalar context even when used in void context. |
53080bb1 |
441 | |
442 | =item * |
ce72e97c |
443 | |
444 | sort() arguments are now compiled in the right wantarray context |
445 | (they were accidentally using the context of the sort() itself). |
53080bb1 |
446 | |
447 | =item * |
448 | |
ce72e97c |
449 | Changed the POSIX character class C<[[:space:]]> to include the (very |
450 | rare) vertical tab character. Added a new POSIX-ish character class |
451 | C<[[:blank:]]> which stands for horizontal whitespace (currently, |
452 | the space and the tab). |
53080bb1 |
453 | |
454 | =item * |
455 | |
ce72e97c |
456 | $AUTOLOAD, sort(), lock(), and spawning subprocesses |
457 | in multiple threads simultaneously are now thread-safe. |
53080bb1 |
458 | |
459 | =item * |
460 | |
ce72e97c |
461 | Allow read-only string on left hand side of non-modifying tr///. |
53080bb1 |
462 | |
463 | =item * |
464 | |
ce72e97c |
465 | Several Unicode fixes (but still not perfect). |
53080bb1 |
466 | |
ce72e97c |
467 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
468 | |
469 | =item * |
470 | |
ce72e97c |
471 | BOMs (byte order marks) in the beginning of Perl files |
472 | (scripts, modules) should now be transparently skipped. |
473 | UTF16 encoded Perl files should now be read correctly. |
53080bb1 |
474 | |
475 | =item * |
476 | |
ce72e97c |
477 | The character tables have been updated to new Unicode 3.0 features. |
53080bb1 |
478 | |
ce72e97c |
479 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
480 | |
ce72e97c |
481 | chr() for values greater than 127 now create utf8 when under use |
482 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
483 | |
ce72e97c |
484 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
485 | |
ce72e97c |
486 | Comparing with utf8 data does not magically upgrade non-utf8 data into |
487 | utf8. |
53080bb1 |
488 | |
489 | =item * |
490 | |
ce72e97c |
491 | C<IsAlnum>, C<IsAlpha>, and C<IsWord> now match titlecase. |
53080bb1 |
492 | |
493 | =item * |
494 | |
ce72e97c |
495 | Concatenation with the C<.> operator or via variable interpolation, |
496 | C<eq>, C<substr>, C<reverse>, C<quotemeta>, the C<x> operator, |
497 | substitution with C<s///>, single-quoted UTF8, should now work--in |
498 | theory. |
53080bb1 |
499 | |
500 | =item * |
501 | |
ce72e97c |
502 | The C<tr///> operator now works I<slightly> better but is still rather |
503 | broken. Note that the C<tr///CU> functionality has been removed (but |
504 | see pack('U0', ...)). |
53080bb1 |
505 | |
506 | =item * |
507 | |
ce72e97c |
508 | Zero entries were missing from the Unicode classes like C<IsDigit>. |
53080bb1 |
509 | |
510 | =back |
511 | |
ce72e97c |
512 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
513 | |
ce72e97c |
514 | UNIVERSAL::isa no longer caches methods incorrectly. (This broke |
515 | the Tk extension with 5.6.0.) |
53080bb1 |
516 | |
ce72e97c |
517 | =back |
53080bb1 |
518 | |
ce72e97c |
519 | =head2 Platform Specific Changes and Fixes |
53080bb1 |
520 | |
521 | =over 4 |
522 | |
523 | =item * |
524 | |
ce72e97c |
525 | BSDI 4.* |
53080bb1 |
526 | |
ce72e97c |
527 | Perl now works on post-4.0 BSD/OSes. |
53080bb1 |
528 | |
ce72e97c |
529 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
530 | |
ce72e97c |
531 | All BSDs |
53080bb1 |
532 | |
ce72e97c |
533 | Setting C<$0> now works (as much as possible; see perlvar for details). |
53080bb1 |
534 | |
ce72e97c |
535 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
536 | |
ce72e97c |
537 | Cygwin |
53080bb1 |
538 | |
ce72e97c |
539 | Numerous updates; currently synchronised with Cygwin 1.1.4. |
53080bb1 |
540 | |
541 | =item * |
542 | |
ce72e97c |
543 | EPOC |
53080bb1 |
544 | |
ce72e97c |
545 | EPOC update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.epoc. |
53080bb1 |
546 | |
ce72e97c |
547 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
548 | |
ce72e97c |
549 | FreeBSD 3.* |
53080bb1 |
550 | |
ce72e97c |
551 | Perl now works on post-3.0 FreeBSDs. |
53080bb1 |
552 | |
553 | =item * |
554 | |
ce72e97c |
555 | HP-UX |
53080bb1 |
556 | |
ce72e97c |
557 | README.hpux updated; C<Configure -Duse64bitall> now almost works. |
53080bb1 |
558 | |
ce72e97c |
559 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
560 | |
ce72e97c |
561 | IRIX |
53080bb1 |
562 | |
ce72e97c |
563 | Numerous compilation flag and hint enhancements; accidental mixing |
564 | of 32-bit and 64-bit libraries (a doomed attempt) made much harder. |
53080bb1 |
565 | |
566 | =item * |
567 | |
ce72e97c |
568 | Linux |
53080bb1 |
569 | |
ce72e97c |
570 | Long doubles should now work (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
571 | |
572 | =item * |
573 | |
ce72e97c |
574 | MacOS Classic |
575 | |
53080bb1 |
576 | Compilation of the standard Perl distribution in MacOS Classic should |
ce72e97c |
577 | now work if you have the Metrowerks development environment and |
578 | the missing Mac-specific toolkit bits. Contact the macperl mailing |
53080bb1 |
579 | list for details. |
580 | |
ce72e97c |
581 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
582 | |
ce72e97c |
583 | MPE/iX |
53080bb1 |
584 | |
ce72e97c |
585 | MPE/iX update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.mpeix. |
53080bb1 |
586 | |
ce72e97c |
587 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
588 | |
ce72e97c |
589 | NetBSD/sparc |
53080bb1 |
590 | |
ce72e97c |
591 | Perl now works on NetBSD/sparc. |
53080bb1 |
592 | |
593 | =item * |
594 | |
ce72e97c |
595 | OS/2 |
53080bb1 |
596 | |
ce72e97c |
597 | Now works with usethreads (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 |
598 | |
599 | =item * |
600 | |
ce72e97c |
601 | Solaris |
53080bb1 |
602 | |
ce72e97c |
603 | 64-bitness using the Sun Workshop compiler now works. |
53080bb1 |
604 | |
605 | =item * |
606 | |
ce72e97c |
607 | Tru64 (aka Digital UNIX, aka DEC OSF/1) |
608 | |
609 | The operating system version letter now recorded in $Config{osvers}. |
53080bb1 |
610 | Allow compiling with gcc (previously explicitly forbidden). Compiling |
611 | with gcc still not recommended because buggy code results, even with |
612 | gcc 2.95.2. |
613 | |
614 | =item * |
615 | |
ce72e97c |
616 | Unicos |
53080bb1 |
617 | |
618 | Fixed various alignment problems that lead into core dumps either |
ce72e97c |
619 | during build or later; no longer dies on math errors at runtime; |
620 | now using full quad integers (64 bits), previously was using |
b84d4f81 |
621 | only 46 bit integers for speed. |
53080bb1 |
622 | |
53080bb1 |
623 | =item * |
624 | |
ce72e97c |
625 | VMS |
53080bb1 |
626 | |
ce72e97c |
627 | chdir() now works better despite a CRT bug; now works with MULTIPLICITY |
628 | (see INSTALL); now works with Perl's malloc. |
53080bb1 |
629 | |
630 | =item * |
631 | |
ce72e97c |
632 | Windows |
53080bb1 |
633 | |
ce72e97c |
634 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 |
635 | |
636 | =item * |
637 | |
d4ad863d |
638 | accept() no longer leaks memory. |
53080bb1 |
639 | |
640 | =item * |
641 | |
642 | Better chdir() return value for a non-existent directory. |
643 | |
644 | =item * |
645 | |
646 | New %ENV entries now propagate to subprocesses. |
647 | |
648 | =item * |
649 | |
650 | $ENV{LIB} now used to search for libs under Visual C. |
651 | |
652 | =item * |
653 | |
654 | A failed (pseudo)fork now returns undef and sets errno to EAGAIN. |
655 | |
656 | =item * |
657 | |
658 | Allow REG_EXPAND_SZ keys in the registry. |
659 | |
660 | =item * |
661 | |
662 | Can now send() from all threads, not just the first one. |
663 | |
664 | =item * |
665 | |
666 | Fake signal handling reenabled, bugs and all. |
667 | |
668 | =item * |
669 | |
670 | Less stack reserved per thread so that more threads can run |
671 | concurrently. (still 16M perl thread) |
672 | |
673 | =item * |
674 | |
675 | C<File::Spec->tmpdir()> now prefers C:/temp over /tmp |
676 | (works better when perl running as service). |
677 | |
678 | =item * |
679 | |
680 | Better UNC path handling under ithreads. |
681 | |
682 | =item * |
683 | |
684 | wait() and waitpid() now work much better. |
685 | |
686 | =item * |
687 | |
688 | winsock handle leak fixed. |
689 | |
690 | =back |
691 | |
cc0fca54 |
692 | =head1 New or Changed Diagnostics |
693 | |
53080bb1 |
694 | All regular expression compilation error messages are now hopefully |
695 | easier to understand both because the error message now comes before |
696 | the failed regex and because the point of failure is now clearly |
697 | marked. |
698 | |
699 | The various "opened only for", "on closed", "never opened" warnings |
700 | drop the C<main::> prefix for filehandles in the C<main> package, |
562628a3 |
701 | for example C<STDIN> instead of <main::STDIN>. |
53080bb1 |
702 | |
d4ad863d |
703 | The "Unrecognized escape" warning has been extended to include C<\8>, |
704 | C<\9>, and C<\_>. There is no need to escape any of the C<\w> characters. |
53080bb1 |
705 | |
53080bb1 |
706 | =head1 Changed Internals |
707 | |
ce72e97c |
708 | =over 4 |
709 | |
710 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
711 | |
d4ad863d |
712 | perlapi.pod (a companion to perlguts) now attempts to document the |
713 | internal API. |
53080bb1 |
714 | |
ce72e97c |
715 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
716 | |
ce72e97c |
717 | You can now build a really minimal perl called microperl. |
d4ad863d |
718 | Building microperl does not require even running Configure; |
719 | C<make -f Makefile.micro> should be enough. Beware: microperl makes |
720 | many assumptions, some of which may be too bold; the resulting |
721 | executable may crash or otherwise misbehave in wondrous ways. For |
722 | careful hackers only. |
53080bb1 |
723 | |
ce72e97c |
724 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
725 | |
43b92eec |
726 | Added rsignal(), whichsig(), do_join() to the publicised API. |
53080bb1 |
727 | |
ce72e97c |
728 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
729 | |
43b92eec |
730 | Made possible to propagate customised exceptions via croak()ing. |
53080bb1 |
731 | |
ce72e97c |
732 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
733 | |
734 | Added is_utf8_char(), is_utf8_string(), bytes_to_utf8(), and utf8_to_bytes(). |
735 | |
ce72e97c |
736 | =item * |
53080bb1 |
737 | |
738 | Now xsubs can have attributes just like subs. |
739 | |
ce72e97c |
740 | =back |
741 | |
cc0fca54 |
742 | =head1 Known Problems |
743 | |
53080bb1 |
744 | =head2 Unicode Support Still Far From Perfect |
745 | |
746 | We're working on it. Stay tuned. |
747 | |
748 | =head2 EBCDIC Still A Lost Platform |
749 | |
750 | The plan is to bring them back. |
751 | |
752 | =head2 Building Extensions Can Fail Because Of Largefiles |
753 | |
754 | Certain extensions like mod_perl and BSD::Resource are known to have |
ce72e97c |
755 | issues with `largefiles', a change brought by Perl 5.6.0 in which file |
4b2ec495 |
756 | offsets default to 64 bits wide, where supported. Modules may fail to |
ce72e97c |
757 | compile at all or compile and work incorrectly. Currently there is no |
4b2ec495 |
758 | good solution for the problem, but Configure now provides appropriate |
759 | non-largefile ccflags, ldflags, libswanted, and libs in the %Config |
760 | hash (e.g., $Config{ccflags_nolargefiles}) so the extensions that are |
761 | having problems can try configuring themselves without the |
762 | largefileness. This is admittedly not a clean solution, and the |
763 | solution may not even work at all. One potential failure is whether |
764 | one can (or, if one can, whether it's a good idea) link together at |
765 | all binaries with different ideas about file offsets, all this is |
766 | platform-dependent. |
53080bb1 |
767 | |
d184b07b |
768 | =head2 ftmp-posix subtest 6 fails in VMS |
769 | |
770 | The test exposed a flushing bug in VMS, this failure can be ignored. |
771 | |
772 | =head2 Storable tests fail in some platforms |
773 | |
774 | =over 4 |
775 | |
776 | =item * |
777 | |
778 | Many Storable tests fail on AIX configured with 64 bit integers. |
779 | |
780 | So far unidentified problems break Storable in AIX if Perl is |
781 | configured to use 64 bit integers. AIX in 32-bit mode works and |
782 | other 64-bit platforms work with Storable. |
783 | |
784 | =item * |
785 | |
786 | DOS DJGPP may hang when testing Storable. |
787 | |
788 | =item * |
789 | |
790 | st-06compat fails in UNICOS and UNICOS/mk. |
24e657a8 |
791 | |
792 | This means that you cannot read old (pre-Storable-0.7) Storable images |
793 | made in other platforms. |
794 | |
d184b07b |
795 | =back |
796 | |
cc0fca54 |
797 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
798 | |
d4ad863d |
799 | If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles |
800 | recently posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl |
801 | bug database at http://bugs.perl.org. There may also be |
802 | information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl Home Page. |
cc0fca54 |
803 | |
804 | If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the B<perlbug> |
805 | program included with your release. Be sure to trim your bug down |
806 | to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the |
d4ad863d |
807 | output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be |
cc0fca54 |
808 | analysed by the Perl porting team. |
809 | |
810 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
811 | |
812 | The F<Changes> file for exhaustive details on what changed. |
813 | |
814 | The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl. |
815 | |
816 | The F<README> file for general stuff. |
817 | |
818 | The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information. |
819 | |
820 | =head1 HISTORY |
821 | |
53080bb1 |
822 | Written by Jarkko Hietaniemi <F<jhi@iki.fi>>, with many contributions |
823 | from The Perl Porters and Perl Users submitting feedback and patches. |
cc0fca54 |
824 | |
d4ad863d |
825 | Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.org>>. |
cc0fca54 |
826 | |
827 | =cut |