=head1 WHAT IS MOOSE?
-Moose is a I<complete> object system for Perl 5. If you've used a
-modern object-oriented language (which Perl 5 definitely isn't), you
-know they provide keywords for attribute declaration, object
-construction, and inheritance. These keywords are part of the
-language, and you don't care how they are implemented.
+Moose is a I<complete> object system for Perl 5. Consider any modern
+object-oriented language (which Perl 5 definitely isn't). It provides
+keywords for attribute declaration, object construction, inheritance,
+and maybe more. These keywords are part of the language, and you don't
+care how they are implemented.
Moose aims to do the same thing for Perl 5 OO. We can't actually
create new keywords, but we do offer "sugar" that looks a lot like
-them. More importantly, with Moose, you I<declaratively define> your
-class, without needing to know about blessed hashrefs, accessor
-methods, and so on.
+them. More importantly, with Moose, you I<define your class
+declaratively>, without needing to know about blessed hashrefs,
+accessor methods, and so on.
-Moose helps you define the I<logical> structure of your classes, so
-you can focus on "what" rather than "how". With Moose, a class
-definition reads like a list of very concise English sentences.
+With Moose, you can concentrate on the I<logical> structure of your
+classes, focusing on "what" rather than "how". A class definition with
+Moose reads like a list of very concise English sentences.
-Moose is built in top of C<Class::MOP>, a meta-object protocol (aka
+Moose is built on top of C<Class::MOP>, a meta-object protocol (aka
MOP). Using the MOP, Moose provides complete introspection for all
Moose-using classes. This means you can ask classes about their
attributes, parents, children, methods, etc., all using a well-defined
-API. The MOP abstracts away tedious digging about in the Perl symbol
-table, looking at C<@ISA> vars, and all the other crufty Perl tricks
-we know and love(?).
+API. The MOP abstracts away the symbol table, looking at C<@ISA> vars,
+and all the other crufty Perl tricks we know and love(?).
Moose is based in large part on the Perl 6 object system, as well as
drawing on the best ideas from CLOS, Smalltalk, and many other
=head1 WHY MOOSE?
Moose makes Perl 5 OO both simpler and more powerful. It encapsulates
-all the tricks of Perl 5 power users in high-level declarative APIs
-which are easy to use, and don't require any special knowledge of how
-Perl works under the hood.
+Perl 5 power tools in high-level declarative APIs which are easy to
+use. Best of all, you don't need to be a wizard to use it.
-Moose makes Perl 5 OO fun, accessible, and powerful. And if you want
-to dig about in the guts, Moose lets you do that too, by using and
-extending its powerful introspection API.
+But if you want to dig about in the guts, Moose lets you do that too,
+by using and extending its powerful introspection API.
=head1 AN EXAMPLE
isa => 'Str',
);
+ no Moose;
+ __PACKAGE__->meta->make_immutable;
+
This is a I<complete and usable> class definition!
package User;
return 1;
}
+ no Moose;
+ __PACKAGE__->meta->make_immutable;
+
We'll leave the line-by-line explanation of this code to other
documentation, but you can see how Moose reduces common OO idioms to
simple declarative constructs.
Introduces Moose concepts, and contrasts them against "old school"
Perl 5 OO.
-=item L<Moose::Manual::UsingMoose>
-
-How do you make use of Moose in your classes?
+=item L<Moose::Manual::Unsweetened>
-=item L<Moose::Manual::Subclassing>
+Show two examples classes, each written first with Moose and then with
+"plain old Perl 5".
-Now that I'm a Moose, how do I subclass something?
+=item L<Moose::Manual::Classes>
-=item L<Moose::Manual::Construction>
-
-Learn how objects are built in Moose, and in particular about the
-C<BUILD>, C<BUILDARGS> methods. Also covers object destruction
-with C<DEMOLISH>.
+How do you make use of Moose in your classes? Now that I'm a Moose,
+how do I subclass something?
=item L<Moose::Manual::Attributes>
piece of data that an object has. Moose has a lot of attribute-related
features!
+=item L<Moose::Manual::Delegation>
+
+Delegation is a powerful way to make use of attributes which are
+themselves objects.
+
+=item L<Moose::Manual::Construction>
+
+Learn how objects are built in Moose, and in particular about the
+C<BUILD> and C<BUILDARGS> methods. Also covers object destruction
+with C<DEMOLISH>.
+
=item L<Moose::Manual::MethodModifiers>
A method modifier lets you say "before calling method X, do this
Moose's type system lets you strictly define what values an attribute
can contain.
-=item L<Moose::Manual::Introspection>
+=item L<Moose::Manual::MOP>
-Moose's introspection system (primarily from C<Class::MOP>) lets you
-ask classes about their parents, children, methods, attributes, etc.
+Moose's meta API system lets you ask classes about their parents,
+children, methods, attributes, etc.
=item L<Moose::Manual::MooseX>
-This document shows a few of the most useful Moose extensions on CPAN.
+This document describes a few of the most useful Moose extensions on
+CPAN.
+
+=item L<Moose::Manual::BestPractices>
+
+Moose has a lot of features, and there's definitely more than one way
+to do it. However, we think that picking a subset of these features
+and using them consistently makes everyone's life easier.
+
+=item L<Moose::Manual::FAQ>
+
+Frequently asked questions about Moose.
+
+=item L<Moose::Manual::Contributing>
+
+Interested in hacking on Moose? Read this.
+
+=item L<Moose::Manual::Delta>
+
+This document details backwards-incompatibilities and other major
+changes to Moose.
=back
=head1 JUSTIFICATION
-If you're still still asking yourself "Why do I need this?", then this
+If you're still asking yourself "Why do I need this?", then this
section is for you.
=over 4
=item Another object system!?!?
-Yes, I know there has been an explosion recently of new ways to
-build objects in Perl 5, most of them based on inside-out objects
-and other such things. Moose is different because it is not a new
-object system for Perl 5, but instead an extension of the existing
-object system.
+Yes, we know there are many, many ways to build objects in Perl 5,
+many of them based on inside-out objects and other such things. Moose
+is different because it is not a new object system for Perl 5, but
+instead an extension of the existing object system.
Moose is built on top of L<Class::MOP>, which is a metaclass system
for Perl 5. This means that Moose not only makes building normal
Yes.
-Moose has been used successfully in production environments by several
+Moose has been used successfully in production environments by many
people and companies. There are Moose applications which have been in
-production with little or no issue now for well over two years. We
-consider it highly stable and we are commited to keeping it stable.
+production with little or no issue now for years. We consider it
+highly stable and we are committed to keeping it stable.
Of course, in the end, you need to make this call yourself. If you
-have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email Stevan, the
-moose@perl.org list, or just stop by irc.perl.org#moose and ask away.
+have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email Stevan or
+the moose@perl.org list, or just stop by irc.perl.org#moose and ask
+away.
=item Is Moose just Perl 6 in Perl 5?
No. While Moose is very much inspired by Perl 6, it is not itself Perl
-6. Instead, it is an OO system for Perl 5. Stevan built Moose because
+6. Instead, it is an OO system for Perl 5. Stevan built Moose because
he was tired of writing the same old boring Perl 5 OO code, and
drooling over Perl 6 OO. So instead of switching to Ruby, he wrote
Moose :)
=back
-=head1 AUTHOR
+=head1 AUTHORS
+
+Dave Rolsky E<lt>autarch@urth.orgE<gt>
-Dave Rolsky E<lt>autarch@urth.orgE<gt> and Stevan Little
-E<lt>stevan@iinteractive.comE<gt>
+Stevan Little E<lt>stevan@iinteractive.comE<gt>
=head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
-Copyright 2008 by Infinity Interactive, Inc.
+Copyright 2008-2009 by Infinity Interactive, Inc.
L<http://www.iinteractive.com>