3 perlmod - Perl modules (packages and symbol tables)
9 Perl provides a mechanism for alternative namespaces to protect
10 packages from stomping on each other's variables. In fact, there's
11 really no such thing as a global variable in Perl. The package
12 statement declares the compilation unit as being in the given
13 namespace. The scope of the package declaration is from the
14 declaration itself through the end of the enclosing block, C<eval>,
15 or file, whichever comes first (the same scope as the my() and
16 local() operators). Unqualified dynamic identifiers will be in
17 this namespace, except for those few identifiers that if unqualified,
18 default to the main package instead of the current one as described
19 below. A package statement affects only dynamic variables--including
20 those you've used local() on--but I<not> lexical variables created
21 with my(). Typically it would be the first declaration in a file
22 included by the C<do>, C<require>, or C<use> operators. You can
23 switch into a package in more than one place; it merely influences
24 which symbol table is used by the compiler for the rest of that
25 block. You can refer to variables and filehandles in other packages
26 by prefixing the identifier with the package name and a double
27 colon: C<$Package::Variable>. If the package name is null, the
28 C<main> package is assumed. That is, C<$::sail> is equivalent to
31 The old package delimiter was a single quote, but double colon is now the
32 preferred delimiter, in part because it's more readable to humans, and
33 in part because it's more readable to B<emacs> macros. It also makes C++
34 programmers feel like they know what's going on--as opposed to using the
35 single quote as separator, which was there to make Ada programmers feel
36 like they knew what was going on. Because the old-fashioned syntax is still
37 supported for backwards compatibility, if you try to use a string like
38 C<"This is $owner's house">, you'll be accessing C<$owner::s>; that is,
39 the $s variable in package C<owner>, which is probably not what you meant.
40 Use braces to disambiguate, as in C<"This is ${owner}'s house">.
42 Packages may themselves contain package separators, as in
43 C<$OUTER::INNER::var>. This implies nothing about the order of
44 name lookups, however. There are no relative packages: all symbols
45 are either local to the current package, or must be fully qualified
46 from the outer package name down. For instance, there is nowhere
47 within package C<OUTER> that C<$INNER::var> refers to
48 C<$OUTER::INNER::var>. C<INNER> refers to a totally
49 separate global package.
51 Only identifiers starting with letters (or underscore) are stored
52 in a package's symbol table. All other symbols are kept in package
53 C<main>, including all punctuation variables, like $_. In addition,
54 when unqualified, the identifiers STDIN, STDOUT, STDERR, ARGV,
55 ARGVOUT, ENV, INC, and SIG are forced to be in package C<main>,
56 even when used for other purposes than their built-in ones. If you
57 have a package called C<m>, C<s>, or C<y>, then you can't use the
58 qualified form of an identifier because it would be instead interpreted
59 as a pattern match, a substitution, or a transliteration.
61 Variables beginning with underscore used to be forced into package
62 main, but we decided it was more useful for package writers to be able
63 to use leading underscore to indicate private variables and method names.
64 However, variables and functions named with a single C<_>, such as
65 $_ and C<sub _>, are still forced into the package C<main>. See also
66 L<perlvar/"Technical Note on the Syntax of Variable Names">.
68 C<eval>ed strings are compiled in the package in which the eval() was
69 compiled. (Assignments to C<$SIG{}>, however, assume the signal
70 handler specified is in the C<main> package. Qualify the signal handler
71 name if you wish to have a signal handler in a package.) For an
72 example, examine F<perldb.pl> in the Perl library. It initially switches
73 to the C<DB> package so that the debugger doesn't interfere with variables
74 in the program you are trying to debug. At various points, however, it
75 temporarily switches back to the C<main> package to evaluate various
76 expressions in the context of the C<main> package (or wherever you came
77 from). See L<perldebug>.
79 The special symbol C<__PACKAGE__> contains the current package, but cannot
80 (easily) be used to construct variable names.
82 See L<perlsub> for other scoping issues related to my() and local(),
83 and L<perlref> regarding closures.
87 The symbol table for a package happens to be stored in the hash of that
88 name with two colons appended. The main symbol table's name is thus
89 C<%main::>, or C<%::> for short. Likewise the symbol table for the nested
90 package mentioned earlier is named C<%OUTER::INNER::>.
92 The value in each entry of the hash is what you are referring to when you
93 use the C<*name> typeglob notation. In fact, the following have the same
94 effect, though the first is more efficient because it does the symbol
95 table lookups at compile time:
97 local *main::foo = *main::bar;
98 local $main::{foo} = $main::{bar};
100 (Be sure to note the B<vast> difference between the second line above
101 and C<local $main::foo = $main::bar>. The former is accessing the hash
102 C<%main::>, which is the symbol table of package C<main>. The latter is
103 simply assigning scalar C<$bar> in package C<main> to scalar C<$foo> of
106 You can use this to print out all the variables in a package, for
107 instance. The standard but antiquated F<dumpvar.pl> library and
108 the CPAN module Devel::Symdump make use of this.
110 Assignment to a typeglob performs an aliasing operation, i.e.,
114 causes variables, subroutines, formats, and file and directory handles
115 accessible via the identifier C<richard> also to be accessible via the
116 identifier C<dick>. If you want to alias only a particular variable or
117 subroutine, assign a reference instead:
121 Which makes $richard and $dick the same variable, but leaves
122 @richard and @dick as separate arrays. Tricky, eh?
124 There is one subtle difference between the following statements:
129 C<*foo = *bar> makes the typeglobs themselves synonymous while
130 C<*foo = \$bar> makes the SCALAR portions of two distinct typeglobs
131 refer to the same scalar value. This means that the following code:
134 *foo = \$bar; # Make $foo an alias for $bar
137 local $bar = 2; # Restrict changes to block
138 print $foo; # Prints '1'!
141 Would print '1', because C<$foo> holds a reference to the I<original>
142 C<$bar> -- the one that was stuffed away by C<local()> and which will be
143 restored when the block ends. Because variables are accessed through the
144 typeglob, you can use C<*foo = *bar> to create an alias which can be
145 localized. (But be aware that this means you can't have a separate
146 C<@foo> and C<@bar>, etc.)
148 What makes all of this important is that the Exporter module uses glob
149 aliasing as the import/export mechanism. Whether or not you can properly
150 localize a variable that has been exported from a module depends on how
153 @EXPORT = qw($FOO); # Usual form, can't be localized
154 @EXPORT = qw(*FOO); # Can be localized
156 You can work around the first case by using the fully qualified name
157 (C<$Package::FOO>) where you need a local value, or by overriding it
158 by saying C<*FOO = *Package::FOO> in your script.
160 The C<*x = \$y> mechanism may be used to pass and return cheap references
161 into or from subroutines if you don't want to copy the whole
162 thing. It only works when assigning to dynamic variables, not
165 %some_hash = (); # can't be my()
166 *some_hash = fn( \%another_hash );
168 local *hashsym = shift;
169 # now use %hashsym normally, and you
170 # will affect the caller's %another_hash
171 my %nhash = (); # do what you want
175 On return, the reference will overwrite the hash slot in the
176 symbol table specified by the *some_hash typeglob. This
177 is a somewhat tricky way of passing around references cheaply
178 when you don't want to have to remember to dereference variables
181 Another use of symbol tables is for making "constant" scalars.
183 *PI = \3.14159265358979;
185 Now you cannot alter C<$PI>, which is probably a good thing all in all.
186 This isn't the same as a constant subroutine, which is subject to
187 optimization at compile-time. A constant subroutine is one prototyped
188 to take no arguments and to return a constant expression. See
189 L<perlsub> for details on these. The C<use constant> pragma is a
190 convenient shorthand for these.
192 You can say C<*foo{PACKAGE}> and C<*foo{NAME}> to find out what name and
193 package the *foo symbol table entry comes from. This may be useful
194 in a subroutine that gets passed typeglobs as arguments:
196 sub identify_typeglob {
198 print 'You gave me ', *{$glob}{PACKAGE}, '::', *{$glob}{NAME}, "\n";
200 identify_typeglob *foo;
201 identify_typeglob *bar::baz;
205 You gave me main::foo
208 The C<*foo{THING}> notation can also be used to obtain references to the
209 individual elements of *foo. See L<perlref>.
211 Subroutine definitions (and declarations, for that matter) need
212 not necessarily be situated in the package whose symbol table they
213 occupy. You can define a subroutine outside its package by
214 explicitly qualifying the name of the subroutine:
217 sub Some_package::foo { ... } # &foo defined in Some_package
219 This is just a shorthand for a typeglob assignment at compile time:
221 BEGIN { *Some_package::foo = sub { ... } }
223 and is I<not> the same as writing:
226 package Some_package;
230 In the first two versions, the body of the subroutine is
231 lexically in the main package, I<not> in Some_package. So
236 $Some_package::name = "fred";
237 $main::name = "barney";
239 sub Some_package::foo {
240 print "in ", __PACKAGE__, ": \$name is '$name'\n";
247 in main: $name is 'barney'
251 in Some_package: $name is 'fred'
253 This also has implications for the use of the SUPER:: qualifier
256 =head2 Package Constructors and Destructors
258 Four special subroutines act as package constructors and destructors.
259 These are the C<BEGIN>, C<CHECK>, C<INIT>, and C<END> routines. The
260 C<sub> is optional for these routines. See the B<begincheck> program, at
261 the end of this section, to see them in action.
263 A C<BEGIN> subroutine is executed as soon as possible, that is, the moment
264 it is completely defined, even before the rest of the containing file
265 is parsed. You may have multiple C<BEGIN> blocks within a file--they
266 will execute in order of definition. Because a C<BEGIN> block executes
267 immediately, it can pull in definitions of subroutines and such from other
268 files in time to be visible to the rest of the file. Once a C<BEGIN>
269 has run, it is immediately undefined and any code it used is returned to
270 Perl's memory pool. This means you can't ever explicitly call a C<BEGIN>.
272 An C<END> subroutine is executed as late as possible, that is, after
273 perl has finished running the program and just before the interpreter
274 is being exited, even if it is exiting as a result of a die() function.
275 (But not if it's polymorphing into another program via C<exec>, or
276 being blown out of the water by a signal--you have to trap that yourself
277 (if you can).) You may have multiple C<END> blocks within a file--they
278 will execute in reverse order of definition; that is: last in, first
279 out (LIFO). C<END> blocks are not executed when you run perl with the
280 C<-c> switch, or if compilation fails.
282 Inside an C<END> subroutine, C<$?> contains the value that the program is
283 going to pass to C<exit()>. You can modify C<$?> to change the exit
284 value of the program. Beware of changing C<$?> by accident (e.g. by
285 running something via C<system>).
287 C<CHECK> and C<INIT> blocks are useful to catch the transition between
288 the compilation phase and the execution phase of the main program.
290 C<CHECK> blocks are run just after the Perl compile phase ends and before
291 the run time begins, in LIFO order. C<CHECK> blocks are used in
292 the Perl compiler suite to save the compiled state of the program.
294 C<INIT> blocks are run just before the Perl runtime begins execution, in
295 "first in, first out" (FIFO) order. For example, the code generators
296 documented in L<perlcc> make use of C<INIT> blocks to initialize and
297 resolve pointers to XSUBs.
299 When you use the B<-n> and B<-p> switches to Perl, C<BEGIN> and
300 C<END> work just as they do in B<awk>, as a degenerate case.
301 Both C<BEGIN> and C<CHECK> blocks are run when you use the B<-c>
302 switch for a compile-only syntax check, although your main code
305 The B<begincheck> program makes it all clear, eventually:
311 print " 8. Ordinary code runs at runtime.\n";
313 END { print "14. So this is the end of the tale.\n" }
314 INIT { print " 5. INIT blocks run FIFO just before runtime.\n" }
315 CHECK { print " 4. So this is the fourth line.\n" }
317 print " 9. It runs in order, of course.\n";
319 BEGIN { print " 1. BEGIN blocks run FIFO during compilation.\n" }
320 END { print "13. Read perlmod for the rest of the story.\n" }
321 CHECK { print " 3. CHECK blocks run LIFO at compilation's end.\n" }
322 INIT { print " 6. Run this again, using Perl's -c switch.\n" }
324 print "10. This is anti-obfuscated code.\n";
326 END { print "12. END blocks run LIFO at quitting time.\n" }
327 BEGIN { print " 2. So this line comes out second.\n" }
328 INIT { print " 7. You'll see the difference right away.\n" }
330 print "11. It merely _looks_ like it should be confusing.\n";
336 There is no special class syntax in Perl, but a package may act
337 as a class if it provides subroutines to act as methods. Such a
338 package may also derive some of its methods from another class (package)
339 by listing the other package name(s) in its global @ISA array (which
340 must be a package global, not a lexical).
342 For more on this, see L<perltoot> and L<perlobj>.
346 A module is just a set of related functions in a library file, i.e.,
347 a Perl package with the same name as the file. It is specifically
348 designed to be reusable by other modules or programs. It may do this
349 by providing a mechanism for exporting some of its symbols into the
350 symbol table of any package using it, or it may function as a class
351 definition and make its semantics available implicitly through
352 method calls on the class and its objects, without explicitly
353 exporting anything. Or it can do a little of both.
355 For example, to start a traditional, non-OO module called Some::Module,
356 create a file called F<Some/Module.pm> and start with this template:
358 package Some::Module; # assumes Some/Module.pm
365 our ($VERSION, @ISA, @EXPORT, @EXPORT_OK, %EXPORT_TAGS);
367 # set the version for version checking
369 # if using RCS/CVS, this may be preferred
370 $VERSION = sprintf "%d.%03d", q$Revision: 1.1 $ =~ /(\d+)/g;
373 @EXPORT = qw(&func1 &func2 &func4);
374 %EXPORT_TAGS = ( ); # eg: TAG => [ qw!name1 name2! ],
376 # your exported package globals go here,
377 # as well as any optionally exported functions
378 @EXPORT_OK = qw($Var1 %Hashit &func3);
382 # exported package globals go here
386 # non-exported package globals go here
390 # initialize package globals, first exported ones
394 # then the others (which are still accessible as $Some::Module::stuff)
398 # all file-scoped lexicals must be created before
399 # the functions below that use them.
401 # file-private lexicals go here
403 my %secret_hash = ();
405 # here's a file-private function as a closure,
406 # callable as &$priv_func; it cannot be prototyped.
407 my $priv_func = sub {
411 # make all your functions, whether exported or not;
412 # remember to put something interesting in the {} stubs
413 sub func1 {} # no prototype
414 sub func2() {} # proto'd void
415 sub func3($$) {} # proto'd to 2 scalars
417 # this one isn't exported, but could be called!
418 sub func4(\%) {} # proto'd to 1 hash ref
420 END { } # module clean-up code here (global destructor)
422 ## YOUR CODE GOES HERE
424 1; # don't forget to return a true value from the file
426 Then go on to declare and use your variables in functions without
427 any qualifications. See L<Exporter> and the L<perlmodlib> for
428 details on mechanics and style issues in module creation.
430 Perl modules are included into your program by saying
438 This is exactly equivalent to
440 BEGIN { require Module; import Module; }
444 BEGIN { require Module; import Module LIST; }
450 is exactly equivalent to
452 BEGIN { require Module; }
454 All Perl module files have the extension F<.pm>. The C<use> operator
455 assumes this so you don't have to spell out "F<Module.pm>" in quotes.
456 This also helps to differentiate new modules from old F<.pl> and
457 F<.ph> files. Module names are also capitalized unless they're
458 functioning as pragmas; pragmas are in effect compiler directives,
459 and are sometimes called "pragmatic modules" (or even "pragmata"
460 if you're a classicist).
465 require "SomeModule.pm";
467 differ from each other in two ways. In the first case, any double
468 colons in the module name, such as C<Some::Module>, are translated
469 into your system's directory separator, usually "/". The second
470 case does not, and would have to be specified literally. The other
471 difference is that seeing the first C<require> clues in the compiler
472 that uses of indirect object notation involving "SomeModule", as
473 in C<$ob = purge SomeModule>, are method calls, not function calls.
474 (Yes, this really can make a difference.)
476 Because the C<use> statement implies a C<BEGIN> block, the importing
477 of semantics happens as soon as the C<use> statement is compiled,
478 before the rest of the file is compiled. This is how it is able
479 to function as a pragma mechanism, and also how modules are able to
480 declare subroutines that are then visible as list or unary operators for
481 the rest of the current file. This will not work if you use C<require>
482 instead of C<use>. With C<require> you can get into this problem:
484 require Cwd; # make Cwd:: accessible
485 $here = Cwd::getcwd();
487 use Cwd; # import names from Cwd::
490 require Cwd; # make Cwd:: accessible
491 $here = getcwd(); # oops! no main::getcwd()
493 In general, C<use Module ()> is recommended over C<require Module>,
494 because it determines module availability at compile time, not in the
495 middle of your program's execution. An exception would be if two modules
496 each tried to C<use> each other, and each also called a function from
497 that other module. In that case, it's easy to use C<require> instead.
499 Perl packages may be nested inside other package names, so we can have
500 package names containing C<::>. But if we used that package name
501 directly as a filename it would make for unwieldy or impossible
502 filenames on some systems. Therefore, if a module's name is, say,
503 C<Text::Soundex>, then its definition is actually found in the library
504 file F<Text/Soundex.pm>.
506 Perl modules always have a F<.pm> file, but there may also be
507 dynamically linked executables (often ending in F<.so>) or autoloaded
508 subroutine definitions (often ending in F<.al>) associated with the
509 module. If so, these will be entirely transparent to the user of
510 the module. It is the responsibility of the F<.pm> file to load
511 (or arrange to autoload) any additional functionality. For example,
512 although the POSIX module happens to do both dynamic loading and
513 autoloading, the user can say just C<use POSIX> to get it all.
515 =head2 Making your module threadsafe
517 Since 5.6.0, Perl has had support for a new type of threads called
518 interpreter threads (ithreads). These threads can be used explicitly
521 Ithreads work by cloning the data tree so that no data is shared
522 between different threads. These threads can be used by using the C<threads>
523 module or by doing fork() on win32 (fake fork() support). When a
524 thread is cloned all Perl data is cloned, however non-Perl data cannot
525 be cloned automatically. Perl after 5.7.2 has support for the C<CLONE>
526 special subroutine . In C<CLONE> you can do whatever you need to do,
527 like for example handle the cloning of non-Perl data, if necessary.
528 C<CLONE> will be executed once for every package that has it defined
529 (or inherits it). It will be called in the context of the new thread,
530 so all modifications are made in the new area.
532 If you want to CLONE all objects you will need to keep track of them per
533 package. This is simply done using a hash and Scalar::Util::weaken().
537 See L<perlmodlib> for general style issues related to building Perl
538 modules and classes, as well as descriptions of the standard library
539 and CPAN, L<Exporter> for how Perl's standard import/export mechanism
540 works, L<perltoot> and L<perltooc> for an in-depth tutorial on
541 creating classes, L<perlobj> for a hard-core reference document on
542 objects, L<perlsub> for an explanation of functions and scoping,
543 and L<perlxstut> and L<perlguts> for more information on writing