run-time. (Subroutine and C<our> variables still get attributes applied
at compile-time.) See L<attributes> for additional details. In particular,
however, this allows variable attributes to be useful for C<tie> interfaces,
-which was a deficiency of earlier releaes.
+which was a deficiency of earlier releases. Note that the new semantics
+doesn't work with the Attribute::Handlers module (as of version 0.76).
=head2 Socket Extension Dynamic in VMS
=back
-=head2 Signals Are Now Safe
+=head2 Safe Signals
Perl used to be fragile in that signals arriving at inopportune moments
could corrupt Perl's internal state. Now Perl postpones handling of
-signals until it's safe.
+signals until it's safe (between opcodes).
+
+This change may have surprising side effects because signals no more
+interrupt Perl instantly. Perl will now first finish whatever it was
+doing, like finishing an internal operation (like sort()) or an
+external operation (like an I/O operation), and only then look at any
+arrived signals (and before starting the next operation). No more corrupt
+internal state since the current operation is always finished first,
+but the signal may take more time to get heard.
=head2 Unicode Overhaul
=head2 VMS
There is one known test failure with a default configuration:
-
+
[.run]switches..........................FAILED on test 1
-
+
=head2 Win32
In multi-CPU boxes there are some problems with the I/O buffering:
The compiler suite is slowly getting better but it continues to be
highly experimental. Use in production environments is discouraged.
-=head2 The Long Double Support is Still Experimental
+=head2 The Long Double Support Is Still Experimental
The ability to configure Perl's numbers to use "long doubles",
floating point numbers of hopefully better accuracy, is still
operations are more likely to be executed by less optimised
libraries).
+=head2 Seen In Perl 5.7 But Gone Now
+
+Some modules were seen in the Perl 5.7 development releases
+but are not present in 5.8.0.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+C<Attribute::Handlers> was removed because the implementation of C<my>
+variable attributes changed so much that the Attribute::Handlers will
+require a major rewrite. (This means that you can't use
+Attribute::Handler 0.76 with Perl 5.8.0.)
+
+=item *
+
+C<Time::Piece> (previously known as C<Time::Object>) was removed
+because it was felt that it didn't have enough value in it to be a
+core module. It is still a useful module, though, and is available
+from the CPAN.
+
+=back
+
=head1 Reporting Bugs
If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles
recently posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl
bug database at http://bugs.perl.org. There may also be
-information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl Home Page.
+information at http://www.perl.com/, the Perl Home Page.
If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the B<perlbug>
program included with your release. Be sure to trim your bug down