7 use Scalar::Util 'blessed';
10 our $VERSION = '0.13';
12 # this is our global stash of both
13 # MRO's and method dispatch tables
14 # the structure basically looks like
18 # MRO => [ <class precendence list> ],
20 # orig => <original location of method>,
21 # code => \&<ref to original method>
23 # has_overload_fallback => (1 | 0)
28 # use these for debugging ...
29 sub _dump_MRO_table { %MRO }
34 # skip if the caller is main::
35 # since that is clearly not relevant
36 return if $class eq 'main';
37 return if $TURN_OFF_C3;
38 # make a note to calculate $class
40 $MRO{$class} = undef unless exists $MRO{$class};
46 # why bother if we don't have anything ...
47 return unless keys %MRO;
48 _calculate_method_dispatch_tables();
49 _apply_method_dispatch_tables();
50 %next::METHOD_CACHE = ();
54 # why bother if we don't have anything ...
55 return unless keys %MRO;
56 _remove_method_dispatch_tables();
57 %next::METHOD_CACHE = ();
62 # clean up the %MRO before we re-initialize
63 $MRO{$_} = undef foreach keys %MRO;
67 ## functions for applying C3 to classes
69 sub _calculate_method_dispatch_tables {
71 foreach my $class (keys %MRO) {
72 _calculate_method_dispatch_table($class, \%merge_cache);
76 sub _calculate_method_dispatch_table {
77 my ($class, $merge_cache) = @_;
79 my @MRO = calculateMRO($class, $merge_cache);
80 $MRO{$class} = { MRO => \@MRO };
81 my $has_overload_fallback = 0;
84 # we do @MRO[1 .. $#MRO] here because it
85 # makes no sense to interogate the class
86 # which you are calculating for.
87 foreach my $local (@MRO[1 .. $#MRO]) {
88 # if overload has tagged this module to
89 # have use "fallback", then we want to
91 $has_overload_fallback = ${"${local}::()"}
92 if defined ${"${local}::()"};
93 foreach my $method (grep { defined &{"${local}::$_"} } keys %{"${local}::"}) {
94 # skip if already overriden in local class
95 next unless !defined *{"${class}::$method"}{CODE};
97 orig => "${local}::$method",
98 code => \&{"${local}::$method"}
99 } unless exists $methods{$method};
102 # now stash them in our %MRO table
103 $MRO{$class}->{methods} = \%methods;
104 $MRO{$class}->{has_overload_fallback} = $has_overload_fallback;
107 sub _apply_method_dispatch_tables {
108 foreach my $class (keys %MRO) {
109 _apply_method_dispatch_table($class);
113 sub _apply_method_dispatch_table {
116 ${"${class}::()"} = $MRO{$class}->{has_overload_fallback}
117 if $MRO{$class}->{has_overload_fallback};
118 foreach my $method (keys %{$MRO{$class}->{methods}}) {
119 *{"${class}::$method"} = $MRO{$class}->{methods}->{$method}->{code};
123 sub _remove_method_dispatch_tables {
124 foreach my $class (keys %MRO) {
125 _remove_method_dispatch_table($class);
129 sub _remove_method_dispatch_table {
132 delete ${"${class}::"}{"()"} if $MRO{$class}->{has_overload_fallback};
133 foreach my $method (keys %{$MRO{$class}->{methods}}) {
134 delete ${"${class}::"}{$method}
135 if defined *{"${class}::${method}"}{CODE} &&
136 (*{"${class}::${method}"}{CODE} eq $MRO{$class}->{methods}->{$method}->{code});
140 ## functions for calculating C3 MRO
143 my ($class, $merge_cache) = @_;
144 return Algorithm::C3::merge($class, sub {
150 package # hide me from PAUSE
156 use Scalar::Util 'blessed';
158 our $VERSION = '0.05';
163 my $indirect = caller() =~ /^(?:next|maybe::next)$/;
164 my $level = $indirect ? 2 : 1;
166 my ($method_caller, $label, @label);
167 while ($method_caller = (caller($level++))[3]) {
168 @label = (split '::', $method_caller);
171 $label eq '(eval)' ||
172 $label eq '__ANON__';
174 my $caller = join '::' => @label;
176 my $class = blessed($self) || $self;
178 my $method = $METHOD_CACHE{"$class|$caller|$label"} ||= do {
180 my @MRO = Class::C3::calculateMRO($class);
183 while ($current = shift @MRO) {
184 last if $caller eq $current;
189 foreach my $class (@MRO) {
190 next if (defined $Class::C3::MRO{$class} &&
191 defined $Class::C3::MRO{$class}{methods}{$label});
192 last if (defined ($found = *{$class . '::' . $label}{CODE}));
198 return $method if $indirect;
200 die "No next::method '$label' found for $self" if !$method;
205 sub can { method($_[0]) }
207 package # hide me from PAUSE
213 our $VERSION = '0.01';
215 sub method { (next::method($_[0]) || return)->(@_) }
225 Class::C3 - A pragma to use the C3 method resolution order algortihm
231 sub hello { 'A::hello' }
241 sub hello { 'C::hello' }
247 # Classic Diamond MI pattern
256 # initializez the C3 module
257 # (formerly called in INIT)
258 Class::C3::initialize();
260 print join ', ' => Class::C3::calculateMRO('Diamond_D') # prints D, B, C, A
262 print D->hello() # prints 'C::hello' instead of the standard p5 'A::hello'
264 D->can('hello')->(); # can() also works correctly
265 UNIVERSAL::can('D', 'hello'); # as does UNIVERSAL::can()
269 This is pragma to change Perl 5's standard method resolution order from depth-first left-to-right
270 (a.k.a - pre-order) to the more sophisticated C3 method resolution order.
274 C3 is the name of an algorithm which aims to provide a sane method resolution order under multiple
275 inheritence. It was first introduced in the langauge Dylan (see links in the L<SEE ALSO> section),
276 and then later adopted as the prefered MRO (Method Resolution Order) for the new-style classes in
277 Python 2.3. Most recently it has been adopted as the 'canonical' MRO for Perl 6 classes, and the
278 default MRO for Parrot objects as well.
280 =head2 How does C3 work.
282 C3 works by always preserving local precendence ordering. This essentially means that no class will
283 appear before any of it's subclasses. Take the classic diamond inheritence pattern for instance:
291 The standard Perl 5 MRO would be (D, B, A, C). The result being that B<A> appears before B<C>, even
292 though B<C> is the subclass of B<A>. The C3 MRO algorithm however, produces the following MRO
293 (D, B, C, A), which does not have this same issue.
295 This example is fairly trival, for more complex examples and a deeper explaination, see the links in
296 the L<SEE ALSO> section.
298 =head2 How does this module work?
300 This module uses a technique similar to Perl 5's method caching. When C<Class::C3::initialize> is
301 called, this module calculates the MRO of all the classes which called C<use Class::C3>. It then
302 gathers information from the symbol tables of each of those classes, and builds a set of method
303 aliases for the correct dispatch ordering. Once all these C3-based method tables are created, it
304 then adds the method aliases into the local classes symbol table.
306 The end result is actually classes with pre-cached method dispatch. However, this caching does not
307 do well if you start changing your C<@ISA> or messing with class symbol tables, so you should consider
308 your classes to be effectively closed. See the L<CAVEATS> section for more details.
310 =head1 OPTIONAL LOWERCASE PRAGMA
312 This release also includes an optional module B<c3> in the F<opt/> folder. I did not include this in
313 the regular install since lowercase module names are considered I<"bad"> by some people. However I
314 think that code looks much nicer like this:
324 But hey, it's your choice, thats why it is optional.
330 =item B<calculateMRO ($class)>
332 Given a C<$class> this will return an array of class names in the proper C3 method resolution order.
336 This B<must be called> to initalize the C3 method dispatch tables, this module B<will not work> if
337 you do not do this. It is advised to do this as soon as possible B<after> loading any classes which
338 use C3. Here is a quick code example:
342 # ... Foo methods here
347 # ... Bar methods here
351 Class::C3::initialize(); # now it is safe to use Foo and Bar
353 This function used to be called automatically for you in the INIT phase of the perl compiler, but
354 that lead to warnings if this module was required at runtime. After discussion with my user base
355 (the L<DBIx::Class> folks), we decided that calling this in INIT was more of an annoyance than a
356 convience. I apologize to anyone this causes problems for (although i would very suprised if I had
357 any other users other than the L<DBIx::Class> folks). The simplest solution of course is to define
358 your own INIT method which calls this function.
361 This can B<not> be used to re-load the dispatch tables for all classes. Use C<reinitialize> for that.
363 =item B<uninitialize>
365 Calling this function results in the removal of all cached methods, and the restoration of the old Perl 5
366 style dispatch order (depth-first, left-to-right).
368 =item B<reinitialize>
370 This effectively calls C<uninitialize> followed by C<initialize> the result of which is a reloading of
371 B<all> the calculated C3 dispatch tables.
373 It should be noted that if you have a large class library, this could potentially be a rather costly
378 =head1 METHOD REDISPATCHING
380 It is always useful to be able to re-dispatch your method call to the "next most applicable method". This
381 module provides a pseudo package along the lines of C<SUPER::> or C<NEXT::> which will re-dispatch the
382 method along the C3 linearization. This is best show with an examples.
384 # a classic diamond MI pattern ...
398 sub foo { 'B::foo => ' . (shift)->next::method() }
403 sub foo { 'C::foo => ' . (shift)->next::method() }
408 sub foo { 'D::foo => ' . (shift)->next::method() }
410 print D->foo; # prints out "D::foo => B::foo => C::foo => A::foo"
412 A few things to note. First, we do not require you to add on the method name to the C<next::method>
413 call (this is unlike C<NEXT::> and C<SUPER::> which do require that). This helps to enforce the rule
414 that you cannot dispatch to a method of a different name (this is how C<NEXT::> behaves as well).
416 The next thing to keep in mind is that you will need to pass all arguments to C<next::method> it can
417 not automatically use the current C<@_>.
419 If C<next::method> cannot find a next method to re-dispatch the call to, it will throw an exception.
420 You can use C<next::can> to see if C<next::method> will succeed before you call it like so:
422 $self->next::method(@_) if $self->next::can;
424 Additionally, you can use C<maybe::next::method> as a shortcut to only call the next method if it exists.
425 The previous example could be simply written as:
427 $self->maybe::next::method(@_);
429 There are some caveats about using C<next::method>, see below for those.
433 This module used to be labeled as I<experimental>, however it has now been pretty heavily tested by
434 the good folks over at L<DBIx::Class> and I am confident this module is perfectly usable for
435 whatever your needs might be.
437 But there are still caveats, so here goes ...
441 =item Use of C<SUPER::>.
443 The idea of C<SUPER::> under multiple inheritence is ambigious, and generally not recomended anyway.
444 However, it's use in conjuntion with this module is very much not recommended, and in fact very
445 discouraged. The recommended approach is to instead use the supplied C<next::method> feature, see
446 more details on it's usage above.
448 =item Changing C<@ISA>.
450 It is the author's opinion that changing C<@ISA> at runtime is pure insanity anyway. However, people
451 do it, so I must caveat. Any changes to the C<@ISA> will not be reflected in the MRO calculated by this
452 module, and therefor probably won't even show up. If you do this, you will need to call C<reinitialize>
453 in order to recalulate B<all> method dispatch tables. See the C<reinitialize> documentation and an example
454 in F<t/20_reinitialize.t> for more information.
456 =item Adding/deleting methods from class symbol tables.
458 This module calculates the MRO for each requested class by interogatting the symbol tables of said classes.
459 So any symbol table manipulation which takes place after our INIT phase is run will not be reflected in
460 the calculated MRO. Just as with changing the C<@ISA>, you will need to call C<reinitialize> for any
461 changes you make to take effect.
463 =item Calling C<next::method> from methods defined outside the class
465 There is an edge case when using C<next::method> from within a subroutine which was created in a different
466 module than the one it is called from. It sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Here is an example which
467 will not work correctly:
469 *Foo::foo = sub { (shift)->next::method(@_) };
471 The problem exists because the anonymous subroutine being assigned to the glob C<*Foo::foo> will show up
472 in the call stack as being called C<__ANON__> and not C<foo> as you might expect. Since C<next::method>
473 uses C<caller> to find the name of the method it was called in, it will fail in this case.
475 But fear not, there is a simple solution. The module C<Sub::Name> will reach into the perl internals and
476 assign a name to an anonymous subroutine for you. Simply do this:
478 use Sub::Name 'subname';
479 *Foo::foo = subname 'Foo::foo' => sub { (shift)->next::method(@_) };
481 and things will Just Work. Of course this is not always possible to do, but to be honest, I just can't
482 manage to find a workaround for it, so until someone gives me a working patch this will be a known
483 limitation of this module.
489 I use B<Devel::Cover> to test the code coverage of my tests, below is the B<Devel::Cover> report on this
492 ---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
493 File stmt bran cond sub pod time total
494 ---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
495 Class/C3.pm 98.3 84.4 80.0 96.2 100.0 98.4 94.4
496 ---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
497 Total 98.3 84.4 80.0 96.2 100.0 98.4 94.4
498 ---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
502 =head2 The original Dylan paper
506 =item L<http://www.webcom.com/haahr/dylan/linearization-oopsla96.html>
510 =head2 The prototype Perl 6 Object Model uses C3
514 =item L<http://svn.openfoundry.org/pugs/perl5/Perl6-MetaModel/>
518 =head2 Parrot now uses C3
522 =item L<http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/perl6-internals/2746631>
524 =item L<http://use.perl.org/~autrijus/journal/25768>
528 =head2 Python 2.3 MRO related links
532 =item L<http://www.python.org/2.3/mro.html>
534 =item L<http://www.python.org/2.2.2/descrintro.html#mro>
538 =head2 C3 for TinyCLOS
542 =item L<http://www.call-with-current-continuation.org/eggs/c3.html>
546 =head1 ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
550 =item Thanks to Matt S. Trout for using this module in his module L<DBIx::Class>
551 and finding many bugs and providing fixes.
553 =item Thanks to Justin Guenther for making C<next::method> more robust by handling
554 calls inside C<eval> and anon-subs.
556 =item Thanks to Robert Norris for adding support for C<next::can> and
557 C<maybe::next::method>.
563 Stevan Little, E<lt>stevan@iinteractive.comE<gt>
565 =head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
567 Copyright 2005, 2006 by Infinity Interactive, Inc.
569 L<http://www.iinteractive.com>
571 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
572 it under the same terms as Perl itself.