This document describes differences between the 5.6.0 release and
the 5.7.0 release.
-=head1 Core Enhancements
-
-=over 4
-
-=item *
-
-C<perl -d:Module=arg,arg,arg> now works (previously one couldn't pass
-in multiple arguments.)
-
-=item *
-
-Infinity (in numerical context, for example as "Inf", the exact string
-representation is platform-dependent) doesn't cause "not a number"
-warnings.
-
-=item *
-
-my __PACKAGE__ now works.
-
-=item *
-
-no Module; now works even if there is no "sub unimport" in the Module.
-
-=item *
-
-The numerical comparison <=> now returns C<undef> if either operand is a NaN.
-Previously the behaviour was unspecified.
-
-=item *
-
-C<pack('U0a*', ...)> can now be used to force the string to UTF8.
-
-=item *
-
-prototype(\&) is now available.
-
-=item *
-
-sort() is now re-entrant (sort() can call sort(), in other words)
+=head1 Security Vulnerability Closed
-=back
-
-=head1 Modules and Pragmata
+A potential security vulnerability in the optional suidperl component
+of Perl has been identified. suidperl is neither built nor installed
+by default. As of September the 2nd, 2000, the only known vulnerable
+platform is Linux, most likely all Linux distributions. CERT and
+various vendors have been alerted about the vulnerability.
-=head2 New Modules
+The problem was caused by Perl trying to report a suspected security
+exploit attempt using an external program, /bin/mail. On Linux
+platforms the /bin/mail program had an undocumented feature which
+when combined with suidperl gave access to a root shell, resulting in
+a serious compromise instead of reporting the exploit attempt. If you
+don't have /bin/mail, or if you have 'safe setuid scripts', or if
+suidperl is not installed, you are safe.
-The Storable extnesion, version 0.7.2, released the 14th of August
-2000, has been added to the Perl distribution. Storable gives
-persistence to Perl data structures by allowing to store and retrieve
-Perl data to and from files in fast and compact binary format.
+The exploit attempt reporting feature has been completely removed from
+the Perl 5.7.0 release, so that particular vulnerability isn't there
+anymore. However, further security vulnerabilities are,
+unfortunately, always possible. The suidperl code is being reviewed
+and if deemed too risky to continue to be supported, it may be
+completely removed from future releases. In any case, suidperl should
+only be used by security experts who know exactly what they are doing
+and why they are using suidperl instead of some other solution such as
+sudo (see http://www.courtesan.com/sudo/).
-=head2 Updated And Improved Modules and Pragmata
+=head1 Incompatible Changes
=over 4
=item *
-The attributes::reftype() now works on tied arguments.
-
-=item *
-
-AutoLoader can now be `stopped' by
-
- no AutoLoader;
-
-=item *
-
-B::Deparse now understands sub attributes.
-
-=item *
-
-Data::Dumper now works on negative number on 32-bit platforms where IV
-(the Perl's integer datatype) is greater than 32 bits. Also, large
-unsigned numbers are now dumped as such, not as large negative numbers.
-
-=item *
-
-CGI has been updated to version 2.72, released
-the 20th of August 2000.
-
-=item *
-
-CPAN has been updated to version 1.57, released
-the 16th of August 2000.
-
-=item *
-
-DB_File has been updated to version 1.73, released the
-27th of April 2000.
-
-=item *
-
-The English module can now be used without the infamous performance
-hit by saying
-
- use English '-no_performance_hit';
-
-(Assuming, of course, that one doesn't need the troublesome variables
-C<$`>, C<$&>, or C<$'>.) Also, introduce C<@LAST_MATCH_START> and
-C<@LAST_MATCH_END> English aliases for C<@-> and C<@+>.
-
-=item *
-
-File::Find now has pre- and postprocessing callbacks.
-It also correctly changes directories when chasing symbolic links.
-Callbacks doing (naughtily) "next;" instead of "return;" now work.
+Arrays now always interpolate into double-quoted strings:
+constructs like "foo@bar" now always assume C<@bar> is an array,
+whether or not the compiler has seen use of C<@bar>.
=item *
-File::Glob::globI() rename to File::Glob::bsd_glob() to avoid
-prototype mismatch with CORE::glob().
-
-=item *
-
-File::Spec has been updated to version 0.82, released the
-1st of July 2000.
+The semantics of bless(REF, REF) were unclear and until someone proves
+it to make some sense, it is forbidden.
=item *
-File::Temp has been updated to version 0.10 (unpublished as the 20th
-of August 2000).
+A reference to a reference now stringify as "REF(0x81485ec)" instead
+of "SCALAR(0x81485ec)" in order to be more consistent with the return
+value of ref().
=item *
-Getopt::Long has been updated to version 2.23_05, released the 2nd of
-August 2000.
+The very dusty examples in the eg/ directory have been removed.
+Suggestions for new shiny examples welcome but the main issue is that
+the examples need to be documented, tested and (most importantly)
+maintained.
=item *
-IO::Poll has been thoroughly fixed.
+The obsolete chat2 library that should never have been allowed
+to escape the laboratory has been decommissioned.
=item *
-IO::Socket::INET now works when given an unknown service name with
-a port number.
+The unimplemented POSIX regex features [[.cc.]] and [[=c=]] are still
+recognised but now cause fatal errors. The previous behaviour of
+ignoring them by default and warning if requested was unacceptable
+since it, in a way, falsely promised that the features could be used.
=item *
-IPC::Open3 now allows the use of numeric filedescriptors.
+The (bogus) escape sequences \8 and \9 now give an optional warning
+("Unrecognized escape passed through"). There is no need to \-escape
+any C<\w> character.
=item *
-use lib now works identically to @INC. Removing directories
-with 'no lib' now works.
+lstat(FILEHANDLE) now gives a warning because the operation makes no sense.
+In future releases this may become a fatal error.
=item *
-Math::BigFloat now more robust (less "uninitialized" warnings).
+The long deprecated uppercase aliases for the string comparison
+operators (EQ, NE, LT, LE, GE, GT) have now been removed.
=item *
-Math::Complex now handles extreme values (e.g. 1E20-1E30i more) more
-gracefully.
+The regular expression captured submatches ($1, $2, ...) are now
+more consistently unset if the match fails, instead of leaving false
+data lying around in them.
=item *
-The podlators bundle has been updated to version 1.02, released the
-25th of April 2000. It contains the modules Pod::Man 1.04, Pod::Text
-2.04, and modules Pod::Text::Color and Pod::Text::Termcap (no version
-numbers).
+The tr///C and tr///U features have been removed and will not return;
+the interface was a mistake. Sorry about that. For similar
+functionality, see pack('U0', ...) and pack('C0', ...).
=item *
-Pod::LaTeX has been updated to version 0.52, released the 15th
-of May 2000.
-
-=item *
+Although "you shouldn't do that", it was possible to write code that
+depends on Perl's hashed key order (Data::Dumper does this). The new
+algorithm "One-at-a-Time" produces a different hashed key order.
+More details are in L<perldelta/Performance Enhancements>.
-Pod::Parser has been updated to version 1.17, released the 25th of
-July 2000. It contains the modules Pod::Checker 1.20, Pod::Find 0.21,
-Pod::InputObjects 1.13, Pod::ParseUtils 0.22, Pod::Parser 1.12,
-Pod::Select 1.13, and Pod::Usage 1.13.
+=back
-=item *
+=head1 Core Enhancements
-The subpragma 'debug' of the 're' pragma now produces cleaner output.
+=over 4
=item *
-C<%INC> now localized in a Safe compartment so that use/require work.
+Formats now support zero-padded decimal fields.
=item *
-SelfLoader no more loses C<$@> in AUTOLOAD.
+C<perl -d:Module=arg,arg,arg> now works (previously one couldn't pass
+in multiple arguments.)
=item *
-The Shell module now has an OO interface.
+my __PACKAGE__ now works.
=item *
-Sys::Syslog now works on domain sockets. Also, a forked child
-now exits correctly if it fails to open /dev/console.
+C<no Module;> now works even if there is no "sub unimport" in the Module.
=item *
-Term::ANSIColor has been updated to version 1.03, released the 6th of
-August 2000.
+The numerical comparison operators return C<undef> if either operand
+is a NaN. Previously the behaviour was unspecified.
=item *
-The Test module has been updated to version 1.14, released the 21st of June
-1999. This is for all practical purposes identical to the previous release
-of Test included with the Perl distribution, 1.13, but upgrading the module
-stops the CPAN module from suggesting an upgrade.
+C<pack('U0a*', ...)> can now be used to force a string to UTF8.
=item *
-Test::Harness output now prettier on failed test.
+The printf and sprintf now support parameter reordering using the
+C<%\d+\$> and C<*\d+\$> syntaxes.
=item *
-Text::Wrap::wtbrap now handles multiline strings properly.
+prototype(\&) is now available.
=item *
-UNIVERSAL::isa no more caches methods incorrectly.
+There is now an UNTIE method.
=back
-=head1 Utility Changes
-
-=head2 cperl-mode version 4.31
-
-The Emacs perl mode (emacs/cperl-mode.el) has been updated to version 4.31.
-
-=head2 perlbug
-
-Perlbug is now much more robust. It also sends the bug report to perl.org,
-not perl.com.
-
-=head2 perlcc now more cc-like and more robust
-
-The perlcc utility has been rewritten and its user interface (that is,
-command line) is much more like that of the UNIX C compiler, cc.
-
-=head2 xsubpp now understands embedded pod
-
-The xsubpp utility for extension writers now understands POD
-documentation embedded in the *.xs files.
+=head1 Modules and Pragmata
-=head1 Improved Documentation
+=head2 New Modules
=over 4
=item *
-In many places say "alphanumeric characters" instead of "word
-characters" because that was what was meant.
-
-=item *
-
-Eradicate "array context" from the documentation and diagnostics.
-
-=item *
-
-The return values of a failing backtick (`, qx{}) are now documented
-in perlop.
-
-=item *
-
-caller() return values now better documented.
+File::Temp allows one to create temporary files and directories in an
+easy, portable, and secure way.
=item *
-SDBM_File, NDBM_File, ODBM_File, now tell about tying instead of
-glossing over.
-
-=item *
-
-Document that the C<$(> special variable does not interpolate
-in regular expressions.
-
-=item *
-
-Add an URL for FSF in README.
-
-=item *
+Storable gives persistence to Perl data structures by allowing the
+storage and retrieval of Perl data to and from files in a fast and
+compact binary format.
-The timeout unit of IO::Select is now documented to be identical
-to the timeout unit of the 4-arg select(), that is, (optionally
-fractional) seconds, or an undef to wait indefinitely.
-
-=item *
-
-Document the C<D> and C<d> magic types.
+=back
-=item *
+=head2 Updated And Improved Modules and Pragmata
-The ordering of PODs in perl.pod is now more sensical.
+=over 4
=item *
-perlbook now only mentions the Camel III, all other book references
-have been moved to perlfaq2, some good known books added.
+The following independently supported modules have been updated to
+newer versions from CPAN: CGI, CPAN, DB_File, File::Spec, Getopt::Long,
+the podlators bundle, Pod::LaTeX, Pod::Parser, Term::ANSIColor, Test.
=item *
-Numerous missing warning/error messages added to perldiag.
+Bug fixes and minor enhancements have been applied to B::Deparse,
+Data::Dumper, IO::Poll, IO::Socket::INET, Math::BigFloat,
+Math::Complex, Math::Trig, Net::protoent, the re pragma, SelfLoader,
+Sys::SysLog, Test::Harness, Text::Wrap, UNIVERSAL, and the warnings
+pragma.
=item *
-Tell what's perl6 in perlfaq1.
+The attributes::reftype() now works on tied arguments.
=item *
-perlhack much extended.
+AutoLoader can now be disabled with C<no AutoLoader;>,
=item *
-perltrap cleaned up.
+The English module can now be used without the infamous performance
+hit by saying
-=item *
+ use English '-no_performance_hit';
-Add perlxstut example for passing/returning refs to arrays.
+(Assuming, of course, that one doesn't need the troublesome variables
+C<$`>, C<$&>, or C<$'>.) Also, introduced C<@LAST_MATCH_START> and
+C<@LAST_MATCH_END> English aliases for C<@-> and C<@+>.
=item *
-POSIX module documentation embellished.
+File::Find now has pre- and post-processing callbacks. It also
+correctly changes directories when chasing symbolic links. Callbacks
+(naughtily) exiting with "next;" instead of "return;" now work.
=item *
-Clarify the status of shadow password support.
+File::Glob::glob() renamed to File::Glob::bsd_glob() to avoid
+prototype mismatch with CORE::glob().
=item *
-Remind that preprocessors and source filters can alter
-your code before Perl sees it and therefore debugging
-can be somewhat surprising. ("I didn't write *that*!")
+IPC::Open3 now allows the use of numeric file descriptors.
=item *
-Remove incorrect documentation about implicit split to @_
-in list context, which never really worked in Perl 5 anyway.
+use lib now works identically to @INC. Removing directories
+with 'no lib' now works.
=item *
-Tell that split /^/ is split /^/m.
+C<%INC> now localised in a Safe compartment so that use/require work.
=item *
-Many more sprintf() examples in perlfunc.
-
-=item *
+The Shell module now has an OO interface.
-Document the handling of negative indices to tied arrays.
+=back
-=item *
+=head1 Utility Changes
-The C<$yday> in localtime()/gmtime() is 0..364, not 1..365.
+=over 4
=item *
-Document that tr() is not tr(1): that is, do not expect regular expressions.
+The Emacs perl mode (emacs/cperl-mode.el) has been updated to version
+4.31.
=item *
-Warn about the vagaries of UDP.
+Perlbug is now much more robust. It also sends the bug report to
+perl.org, not perl.com.
=item *
-The uninitialized variable warnings now say "concat or string" or
-"join or string" instead of just "concat" or "join" since many users
-found the "concat" a bit surprising when they were doing "just"
-variable interpolation.
+The perlcc utility has been rewritten and its user interface (that is,
+command line) is much more like that of the UNIX C compiler, cc.
=item *
-Document that the values() are copies, not aliases.
+The xsubpp utility for extension writers now understands POD
+documentation embedded in the *.xs files.
=back
-=head2 New Documentation
+=head1 New Documentation
=over 4
=item *
perl56delta details the changes between the 5.005 release and the
-release 5.6.0.
+5.6.0 release.
=item *
-perl56delta is a Perl debugging tutorial.
+perldebtut is a Perl debugging tutorial.
=item *
perlebcdic contains considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms.
Note that unfortunately EBCDIC platforms that used to supported back in
-Perl 5.005 are still unsupported by Perl 5.7; the plan, however, is to
+Perl 5.005 are still unsupported by Perl 5.7.0; the plan, however, is to
bring them back to the fold.
=item *
=item *
perlposix-bc explains using Perl on the POSIX-BC platform
-(a mainframe platform).
+(an EBCDIC mainframe platform).
=item *
=item *
-perlrequick is regular expressions quick-start guide.
+perlrequick is a regular expressions quick-start guide.
Yes, much quicker than perlretut.
=item *
=back
-=head1 Security Vulnerability
-
-A potential security vulnerability in the optional suidperl component
-of Perl has been identified. The suidperl is neither built nor
-installed by default. As of August the 20th 2000 the only known
-vulnerable platform is Linux, most likely all Linux distributions.
-The CERT and various vendors have been alerted about the vulnerability.
-
-The problem was caused by Perl trying to report a suspected security
-exploit attempt using an external program, /bin/mail. In Linux
-platforms the /bin/mail program had an undocumented feature which gave
-access to a root shell, resulting in a serious compromise, instead of
-reporting the exploit attempt. If you don't have /bin/mail or if you
-have 'safe suid scripts' or if you haven't installed the suidperl, you
-are safe.
-
-The exploit attempt reporting feature has been completely removed from
-the Perl 5.7.0 release, so that particular vulnerability isn't there
-anymore. However, further security vulnerabilities are,
-unfortunately, always possible. The suidperl code is being reviewed
-and if deemed too risky to continue being supported, in the extreme
-case it may be completely removed in future releases. In any case,
-suidperl should only be used by security experts who know exactly what
-they are doing and why are they using suidperl instead of some other solution.
-A good tool for similar needs is sudo: http://www.courtesan.com/sudo/
-
=head1 Performance Enhancements
-map() that changes the size of the list should now work faster.
-
-=head1 Installation and Configuration Improvements
-
-=head2 INSTALL now explains 64-bit configuration.
-
-In some platforms Perl can be configured to use 64-bit integers,
-allowing 4 billion times better...sorry, switched accidentally to
-marketdroid mode for a moment in there. (In platforms which are
-natively 64-bit this makes no difference.)
-
-=head2 Policy.sh policy change
-
-If you are reusing a Policy.sh file (see INSTALL) and you use
-Configure -Dprefix=/foo/bar and in the old Policy $prefix eq
-$siteprefix and $prefix eq $vendorprefix, all of them will now
-be changed to the new prefix, /foo/bar. (Previously only $prefix
-did change.) If you do not like this new behaviour, specify
-prefix, siteprefix, and vendorprefix explicitly.
-
-=head2 Additional Library Locations
-
-A new optional location for Perl libraries, otherlibdirs, is available.
-It can be used for example for vendor add-ons without disturbing Perl's
-own library directories.
-
-=head2 gcc automatically tried if 'cc' does not seem to be working
-
-In many platforms the vendor-supplied 'cc' is too stripped-down to
-build Perl (basically, the 'cc' doesn't do ANSI C). If this seems
-to be the case and the 'cc' does not seem to be the GNU C compiler
-'gcc', an automatic attempt is made to find and use 'gcc' instead.
-
-=head2 If gcc seems to be from from a different operating system release ...
-
-gcc needs to closely track the operating system release because gcc
-wants to have its own versions of the operating system header files
-fixed to be clean enough for gcc's tastes. Therefore using a gcc
-compiled for a different release of the operating system is often a
-bad idea. If Configure can find out the operating system release that
-was used to compile the gcc and that release is different from the one
-being used now, gcc gives a clearly visible warning that trouble may
-lie ahead.
-
-=head2 If no binary compatibilty with 5.005 wanted, no 5.005 modules, either
-
-If no binary compatibility with the 5.005 release is wanted, Configure
-does not suggest including the 5.005 modules in the @INC.
-
-=head2 Configuration and Installation fixes
-
=over 4
=item *
-Configure C<-S> can now run non-interactively
+map() that changes the size of the list should now work faster.
=item *
-configure.gnu now works with options with whitespace in them
+sort() has been changed to use mergesort internally as opposed to the
+earlier quicksort. For very small lists this may result in slightly
+slower sorting times, but in general the speedup should be at least
+20%. Additional bonuses are that the worst case behaviour of sort()
+is now better (in computer science terms it now runs in time O(N log N),
+as opposed to quicksort's Theta(N**2) worst-case run time behaviour),
+and that sort() is now stable (meaning that elements with identical
+keys will stay ordered as they were before the sort).
=item *
-installperl now outputs everything to STDERR
+Hashes now use Bob Jenkins "One-at-a-Time" hashing key algorithm
+(http://burtleburtle.net/bob/hash/doobs.html).
+This algorithm is reasonably fast while producing a much better spread
+of values. Hash values output from the algorithm on a hash of all
+3-char printable ASCII keys comes much closer to passing the DIEHARD
+random number generation tests. According to perlbench, this change
+has not affected the overall speed of Perl.
-=item *
-
-$Config{byteorder} is now computed dynamically (this is more robust
-with "fat binaries" where an executable image contains binaries for
-more than one binary platform.)
=back
-=head1 Platform Specific Changes and Fixes
-
-=head2 BSDI 4.*
-
-Perl now works on post-4.0 BSD/OSes.
-
-=head2 All BSDs
-
-Setting the C<$0> now works (as much as possible, see perlvar for details).
+=head1 Installation and Configuration Improvements
-=head2 Cygwin
+=head2 Generic Improvements
=over 4
=item *
-Numerous updates; currently synchronized with Cygwin 1.1.4.
-
-=back
-
-=head2 EPOC
-
-EPOC update after Perl 5.6.0. The EPOC port home page is at
-http://members.linuxstart.com/~oflebbe/perl/perl5.html
-
-=head2 FreeBSD 3.*
-
-Perl now works on post-3.0 FreeBSDs.
-
-=head2 HP-UX
-
-=over 4
+INSTALL now explains how you can configure Perl to use 64-bit
+integers even on non-64-bit platforms.
=item *
-Document that the C<perl -P> causes problems if one uses C<s/foo//>
-(because the HP C compiler does funny things to that // thinking it
-to be C++), document also the workaround.
+Policy.sh policy change: if you are reusing a Policy.sh file
+(see INSTALL) and you use Configure -Dprefix=/foo/bar and in the old
+Policy $prefix eq $siteprefix and $prefix eq $vendorprefix, all of
+them will now be changed to the new prefix, /foo/bar. (Previously
+only $prefix changed.) If you do not like this new behaviour,
+specify prefix, siteprefix, and vendorprefix explicitly.
=item *
-C<Configure -Duse64bitall> now almost works (one failing test).
-
-=back
-
-=head2 IRIX
-
-=over 4
+A new optional location for Perl libraries, otherlibdirs, is available.
+It can be used for example for vendor add-ons without disturbing Perl's
+own library directories.
=item *
-Numerous compilation flag and hint enhancements.
+In many platforms the vendor-supplied 'cc' is too stripped-down to
+build Perl (basically, 'cc' doesn't do ANSI C). If this seems
+to be the case and 'cc' does not seem to be the GNU C compiler
+'gcc', an automatic attempt is made to find and use 'gcc' instead.
=item *
-Accidental mixing of 32-bit and 64-bit libraries (a doomed attempt)
-made much harder.
-
-=back
-
-=head2 Linux
-
-=over 4
+gcc needs to closely track the operating system release to avoid
+build problems. If Configure finds that gcc was built for a different
+operating system release than is running, it now gives a clearly visible
+warning that there may be trouble ahead.
=item *
-Long doubles should now work (see INSTALL).
-
-=back
-
-=head2 MacOS Classic
-
-=over 4
+If binary compatibility with the 5.005 release is not wanted, Configure
+no longer suggests including the 5.005 modules in @INC.
=item *
-Compilation of the standard Perl distribution in MacOS Classic should
-now work--assuming you have the Metrowerks development environment and
-the missing Mac-specific toolkit bits, contact the macperl mailing
-list for details.
-
-=back
-
-=head2 MPE/iX
-
-MPE/iX update after Perl 5.6.0. The Perl/iX home page is at
-http://www.bixby.org/mark/perlix.html
-
-=head2 NetBSD/sparc
-
-Perl now works on NetBSD/sparc.
-
-=head2 OS/2
-
-=over 4
+Configure C<-S> can now run non-interactively.
=item *
-Now works with usethreads (see INSTALL).
-
-=back
-
-=head2 Solaris
-
-=over 4
+configure.gnu now works with options with whitespace in them.
=item *
-64-bitness using the Sun Workshop compiler now works.
-
-=back
-
-=head2 Tru64 (aka Digital UNIX, aka DEC OSF/1)
-
-=over 4
+installperl now outputs everything to STDERR.
=item *
-Allow compiling with gcc (previously explicitly forbidden). Compiling
-with gcc still not recommended because buggy code results, even with
-gcc 2.95.2.
+$Config{byteorder} is now computed dynamically (this is more robust
+with "fat binaries" where an executable image contains binaries for
+more than one binary platform.)
=item *
-The operating system version letter now recorded in $Config{osvers}.
+Configure no longer included the DBM libraries (dbm, gdbm, db, ndbm)
+when building the Perl binary. The only exception to this is SunOS 4.x,
+which needs them.
=back
-=head2 Unicos
+=head1 Selected Bug Fixes
=over 4
=item *
-Fixed various alignment problems that lead into core dumps either
-during build or later.
+Several debugger fixes: exit code now reflects the script exit code,
+condition C<"0"> now treated correctly, the C<d> command now checks
+line number, the C<$.> no longer gets corrupted, all debugger output now
+goes correctly to the socket if RemotePort is set.
=item *
-No more dying on math errors in runtime.
+C<*foo{FORMAT}> now works.
=item *
-Now using full quad integers (64 bits), previously was using
-only 43 bit integers for speed.
-
-=back
-
-=head2 VMS
-
-=over 4
+Lexical warnings now propagating correctly between scopes.
=item *
-chdir() now works better despite a CRT bug.
+Line renumbering with eval and C<#line> now works.
=item *
-Now works with MULTIPLICITY (see INSTALL).
+Fixed numerous memory leaks, especially in eval "".
=item *
-Now works with Perl's malloc.
-
-=back
-
-=head2 Windows
-
-=over 4
+Modulus of unsigned numbers now works (4063328477 % 65535 used to
+return 27406, instead of 27047).
=item *
-accept() no more leaks memory.
+Some "not a number" warnings introduced in 5.6.0 eliminated to be
+more compatible with 5.005. Infinity is now recognised as a number.
=item *
-Better chdir() return value for a non-existent directory.
+our() variables will not cause "will not stay shared" warnings.
=item *
-New %ENV entries now propagate to subprocesses.
+pack "Z" now correctly terminates the string with "\0".
=item *
-$ENV{LIB} now used to search for libs under Visual C.
+Fix password routines which in some shadow password platforms
+(e.g. HP-UX) caused getpwent() to return every other entry.
=item *
-A failed (pseudo)fork now returns undef and sets errno to EAGAIN.
+printf() no longer resets the numeric locale to "C".
=item *
-Allow REG_EXPAND_SZ keys in the registry.
+C<q(a\\b)> now parses correctly as C<'a\\b'>.
=item *
-Can now send() from all threads, not just the first one.
+Printing quads (64-bit integers) with printf/sprintf now works
+without the q L ll prefixes (assuming you are on a quad-capable platform).
=item *
-Fake signal handling reenabled, bugs and all.
+Regular expressions on references and overloaded scalars now work.
=item *
-Less stack reserved per thread so that more threads can run
-concurrently. (still 16M perl thread)
+scalar() now forces scalar context even when used in void context.
=item *
-C<File::Spec->tmpdir()> now prefers C:/temp over /tmp
-(works better when perl running as service).
+sort() arguments are now compiled in the right wantarray context
+(they were accidentally using the context of the sort() itself).
=item *
-Better UNC path handling under ithreads.
+Changed the POSIX character class C<[[:space:]]> to include the (very
+rare) vertical tab character. Added a new POSIX-ish character class
+C<[[:blank:]]> which stands for horizontal whitespace (currently,
+the space and the tab).
=item *
-wait() and waitpid() now work much better.
+$AUTOLOAD, sort(), lock(), and spawning subprocesses
+in multiple threads simultaneously are now thread-safe.
=item *
-winsock handle leak fixed.
-
-=back
+Allow read-only string on left hand side of non-modifying tr///.
-=head1 Selected Bug Fixes
+=item *
-The following is by no means a comprehensive list of all the
-numerous bug fixes.
+Several Unicode fixes (but still not perfect).
-=over 4
+=over 8
=item *
-Redefining constant subroutines using eval (again) warns.
+BOMs (byte order marks) in the beginning of Perl files
+(scripts, modules) should now be transparently skipped.
+UTF-16 (UCS-2)encoded Perl files should now be read correctly.
=item *
-Several debugger fixes: exit code now reflects the script exit code,
-condition C<"0"> now treated correctly, the C<d> command now checks
-line number, the C<$.> no more gets corrupted, all debugger output now
-goes correctly to the socket if RemotePort is set.
+The character tables have been updated to Unicode 3.0.1.
=item *
-C<*foo{FORMAT}> now works.
+chr() for values greater than 127 now create utf8 when under use
+utf8.
=item *
-Lexical warnings now propagating correctly between scopes.
+Comparing with utf8 data does not magically upgrade non-utf8 data into
+utf8.
=item *
-Line renumbering with eval and C<#line> now works.
+C<IsAlnum>, C<IsAlpha>, and C<IsWord> now match titlecase.
=item *
-Module name now mandatory after the C<-M> switch.
+Concatenation with the C<.> operator or via variable interpolation,
+C<eq>, C<substr>, C<reverse>, C<quotemeta>, the C<x> operator,
+substitution with C<s///>, single-quoted UTF8, should now work--in
+theory.
=item *
-Fixed numerous memory leaks, especially in eval "".
+The C<tr///> operator now works I<slightly> better but is still rather
+broken. Note that the C<tr///CU> functionality has been removed (but
+see pack('U0', ...)).
=item *
-Moduli of unsigned numbers now works (4063328477 % 65535 used to
-return 27406, instead of 27047).
+vec() now tries to work with characters <= 255 when possible, but it leaves
+higher character values in place. In that case, if vec() was used to modify
+the string, it is no longer considered to be utf8-encoded.
=item *
-msgrcv() no more warns about uninitialized input scalar.
-
-=item *
+Zero entries were missing from the Unicode classes like C<IsDigit>.
-Some "not a number" warnings introduce in 5.6.0 eliminated to be
-more compatible with 5.005.
+=back
=item *
-out() variables will not cause "will not stay shared" warnings
+UNIVERSAL::isa no longer caches methods incorrectly. (This broke
+the Tk extension with 5.6.0.)
-=item *
+=back
-The pack "Z" now correctly terminates the string with an "\0".
+=head2 Platform Specific Changes and Fixes
-=item *
-
-Fix password routines which in some shadow password platforms
-(e.g. HP-UX) caused getpwent() to return every other entry.
+=over 4
=item *
-POSIX::STDERR_FILENO (not POSIX::STRERR_FILENO).
+BSDI 4.*
-=item *
-
-printf() no more resets the numeric locale to "C".
+Perl now works on post-4.0 BSD/OSes.
=item *
-C<q(a\\b)> now parses as C<'a\\b'>.
+All BSDs
-=item *
-
-In quad (64-bit) platforms numbers now stay integers longer
-(as opposed to converting automatically to floating point numbers).
+Setting C<$0> now works (as much as possible; see perlvar for details).
=item *
-Printing quads (64-bit integers) with printfs/sprintf works now
-without q L ll prefixes (assuming you are on a quad-capable platform).
-
-=item *
+Cygwin
-Regular expressions on references and overloaded scalars now work.
+Numerous updates; currently synchronised with Cygwin 1.1.4.
=item *
-Multiline matching of C<"a\nxb\n" =~ /(?!\A)x/m> now works.
-
-=item *
+EPOC
-C</(?i)/> now works.
+EPOC update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.epoc.
=item *
-C</x{ab}/> now works.
+FreeBSD 3.*
-=item *
-
-scalar() now doesn't force scalar context when used in void context.
+Perl now works on post-3.0 FreeBSDs.
=item *
-All the documented examples Shell.pm now work.
+HP-UX
-=item *
-
-sort() arguments are now compiled in the right wantarray context
-(were accidentally using the context of the sort() itself).
+README.hpux updated; C<Configure -Duse64bitall> now almost works.
=item *
-Changed the POSIX character class C<[[:space:]]> to include the (very
-rare) vertical tabulator character. Added a new POSIX-ish character
-class C<[[:blank:]] which stands for horizontal whitespace (currently,
-the space and the tabulator).
-
-=item *
+IRIX
-sprintf() format specs like C<%v-*d> now work.
+Numerous compilation flag and hint enhancements; accidental mixing
+of 32-bit and 64-bit libraries (a doomed attempt) made much harder.
=item *
-The (nonsensical) C<%#p> format made illegal.
+Linux
-=item *
-
-C<${$1}> now works (again).
+Long doubles should now work (see INSTALL).
=item *
-$AUTOLOAD, sort(), lock(), and spawning subprocesses
-in multiple thread simultaneously are now thread-safe.
-
-=item *
+MacOS Classic
-Allow non-variable as left-handside of non-updating tr///.
+Compilation of the standard Perl distribution in MacOS Classic should
+now work if you have the Metrowerks development environment and
+the missing Mac-specific toolkit bits. Contact the macperl mailing
+list for details.
=item *
-Several Unicode fixes (but still not perfect).
+MPE/iX
-BOMs (byte order marks) in the beginning of Perl files
-(scripts, modules) should now be transparently skipped.
+MPE/iX update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.mpeix.
-The character tables have been updated to new Unicode 3.0 features.
+=item *
-chr() for values greater than 127 now create utf8 when under use
-utf8.
+NetBSD/sparc
-Comparing with utf8 data does not magically upgrade non-utf8 data into
-utf8.
+Perl now works on NetBSD/sparc.
-C<IsAlnum>, C<IsAlpha>, and C<IsWord> now match titlecase.
+=item *
-Concatenation with the C<.> operator or via variable interpolation,
-C<eq>, C<substr>, C<reverse>, C<quotemeta>, the C<x> operator,
-substitution with C<s///>, single-quoted UTF8, should now work--in
-theory.
+OS/2
-The C<tr///> operator now works I<slightly> better but is still rather
-broken. Note that the C<tr///CU> functionality has been removed (but
-see pack('U0', ...).
-
-Zero entries were missing from the Unicode classes like C<IsDigit>.
+Now works with usethreads (see INSTALL).
=item *
-Unsignedness could disappear from a scalar causing later numeric
-comparisons to fail.
+Solaris
+
+64-bitness using the Sun Workshop compiler now works.
=item *
-vec() now drops numericalness.
+Tru64 (aka Digital UNIX, aka DEC OSF/1)
-=back
-
-=head1 New or Changed Diagnostics
+The operating system version letter now recorded in $Config{osvers}.
+Allow compiling with gcc (previously explicitly forbidden). Compiling
+with gcc still not recommended because buggy code results, even with
+gcc 2.95.2.
-All regular expression compilation error messages are now hopefully
-easier to understand both because the error message now comes before
-the failed regex and because the point of failure is now clearly
-marked.
+=item *
-The various "opened only for", "on closed", "never opened" warnings
-drop the C<main::> prefix for filehandles in the C<main> package,
-for example C<STDIN> instead of <main::STDIN>.
+Unicos
-=over 4
+Fixed various alignment problems that lead into core dumps either
+during build or later; no longer dies on math errors at runtime;
+now using full quad integers (64 bits), previously was using
+only 46 bit integers for speed.
=item *
-(perhaps you forgot to load "%s"?)
+VMS
-(F) This is an educated guess made in conjunction with the message
-"Can't locate object method \"%s\" via package \"%s\"". It often means
-that a method requires a package that has not been loaded.
+chdir() now works better despite a CRT bug; now works with MULTIPLICITY
+(see INSTALL); now works with Perl's malloc.
=item *
-Ambiguous range in transliteration operator
+Windows
-(F) You wrote something like C<tr/a-z-0//> which doesn't mean anything at
-all. To include a C<-> character in a transliteration, put it either
-first or last. (In the past, C<tr/a-z-0//> was synonymous with
-C<tr/a-y//>, which was probably not what you would have expected.)
+=over 8
=item *
-The "Unrecgonized escape" warning has been extended to include C<\8>,
-C<\9>, and C<\_>. There is no need to espace any of the C<\w> characters.
+accept() no longer leaks memory.
-=back
-
-=head1 New tests
+=item *
-=over 4
+Better chdir() return value for a non-existent directory.
=item *
-lib/b tests the various compiler backends (see L<perlcompile>).
+New %ENV entries now propagate to subprocesses.
=item *
-lib/cgi-pretty tests CGI pretty printing.
+$ENV{LIB} now used to search for libs under Visual C.
=item *
-lib/ftmp-*.t test File::Temp.
+A failed (pseudo)fork now returns undef and sets errno to EAGAIN.
=item *
-lib/gol-oo tests Getopt::Long objected-oriented interface.
+Allow REG_EXPAND_SZ keys in the registry.
=item *
-lib/peek tests Devel::Peek.
+Can now send() from all threads, not just the first one.
=item *
-lib/selfloader tests SelfLoader.
+Fake signal handling reenabled, bugs and all.
=item *
-lib/syslog tests Sys::Syslog.
+Less stack reserved per thread so that more threads can run
+concurrently. (Still 16M per thread.)
=item *
-op/bless tests bless().
+C<File::Spec->tmpdir()> now prefers C:/temp over /tmp
+(works better when perl is running as service).
=item *
-op/stash tests the "my Package ..." feature.
+Better UNC path handling under ithreads.
=item *
-op/regmesg exercises all various regex errors.
+wait() and waitpid() now work much better.
=item *
-pod/find tests Pod::Find.
+winsock handle leak fixed.
+
+=back
=back
-=head2 Improved Tests
+=head1 New or Changed Diagnostics
+
+All regular expression compilation error messages are now hopefully
+easier to understand both because the error message now comes before
+the failed regex and because the point of failure is now clearly
+marked.
+
+The various "opened only for", "on closed", "never opened" warnings
+drop the C<main::> prefix for filehandles in the C<main> package,
+for example C<STDIN> instead of <main::STDIN>.
+
+The "Unrecognized escape" warning has been extended to include C<\8>,
+C<\9>, and C<\_>. There is no need to escape any of the C<\w> characters.
+
+=head1 Changed Internals
=over 4
=item *
-op/sprintf coverage is now of much more comprehensive.
+perlapi.pod (a companion to perlguts) now attempts to document the
+internal API.
=item *
-op/taint now continues on failed shmget().
+You can now build a really minimal perl called microperl.
+Building microperl does not require even running Configure;
+C<make -f Makefile.micro> should be enough. Beware: microperl makes
+many assumptions, some of which may be too bold; the resulting
+executable may crash or otherwise misbehave in wondrous ways.
+For careful hackers only.
=item *
-lib/*lfs.t now continues even if SIXFSZ happens.
+Added rsignal(), whichsig(), do_join() to the publicised API.
=item *
-lib/syslog.t now works without sockets.
+Made possible to propagate customised exceptions via croak()ing.
-=back
+=item *
-=head1 Incompatible Changes
+Added is_utf8_char(), is_utf8_string(), bytes_to_utf8(), and utf8_to_bytes().
-=head2 Arrays Now Always Interpolate Into Double-Quoted Strings
+=item *
-Constructs like "foo@bar" now always assume the C<@bar> to be an array,
-and not dependent on whether it is known whether that is an array or not.
+Now xsubs can have attributes just like subs.
-=head2 bless(REF, REF) is now a fatal error
+=back
-The semantics of bless(REF, REF) were unclear and until someone proves
-it to make some sense, it is forbidden.
+=head1 Known Problems
-=head2 The eg/* Directory Removed
+=head2 Unicode Support Still Far From Perfect
-The very dusty examples in the eg/ directory have been removed.
-Suggestions for new shiny examples welcome but the main issue is that
-the examples need to be documented, tested, and most importantly maintained.
+We're working on it. Stay tuned.
+
+=head2 EBCDIC Still A Lost Platform
-=head2 The lib/chat2.pl
+The plan is to bring them back.
-The obsolete chat2 library that should never have been allowed
-to escape the laboratory has been decommissioned.
+=head2 Building Extensions Can Fail Because Of Largefiles
-=head2 The Unimplemented (But Recognized) POSIX Regex Features Now Fatal
+Certain extensions like mod_perl and BSD::Resource are known to have
+issues with `largefiles', a change brought by Perl 5.6.0 in which file
+offsets default to 64 bits wide, where supported. Modules may fail to
+compile at all or compile and work incorrectly. Currently there is no
+good solution for the problem, but Configure now provides appropriate
+non-largefile ccflags, ldflags, libswanted, and libs in the %Config
+hash (e.g., $Config{ccflags_nolargefiles}) so the extensions that are
+having problems can try configuring themselves without the
+largefileness. This is admittedly not a clean solution, and the
+solution may not even work at all. One potential failure is whether
+one can (or, if one can, whether it's a good idea) link together at
+all binaries with different ideas about file offsets, all this is
+platform-dependent.
-The unimplemented POSIX regex features [[.cc.]] and [[=c=]] are
-recognized as before but now cause fatal runtime errors. The previous
-behaviour of ignoring them by default and warning if requested was
-unacceptable since it in a way falsely promised that the features
-can be used.
+=head2 ftmp-security tests warn 'system possibly insecure'
-=head2 lstat(FILEHANDLE) now warns
+Don't panic. Read INSTALL 'make test' section instead.
-lstat(FILEHANDLE) now gives a warning because the operation makes no sense.
-In future releases this may become a fatal error.
+=head2 Test lib/posix Subtest 9 Fails In LP64-Configured HP-UX
-=head2 Obsolete String Comparison Operators Removed
+If perl is configured with -Duse64bitall, the successful result of the
+subtest 10 of lib/posix may arrive before the successful result of the
+subtest 9, which confuses the test harness so much that it thinks the
+subtest 9 failed.
-The long since deprecated uppercase aliases for the string comparison
-operators (EQ, NE, LT, LE, GE, GT) have now been removed.
+=head2 Long Doubles Still Don't Work In Solaris
-=head2 The Regular Expression Submatches Are Now Unset When Backtracking
+The experimental long double support is still very much so in Solaris.
+(Other platforms like Linux and Tru64 are beginning to solidify in
+this area.)
-The regular expression captured submatches ($1, $2, ...) are now
-consistently unset if the match fails, instead of leaving false
-data lying around in them.
+=head2 Linux With Sfio Fails op/misc Test 48
-=head2 tr///CU Removed, Not To Return
+No known fix.
-The tr///C and tr///U features have been removed and will not return,
-the interface was a mistake. Sorry about that. For similar
-functionality, see pack('U0', ...) and pack('C0', ...).
+=head2 sprintf tests 129 and 130
-=head1 Changed Internals
+The op/sprintf tests 129 and 130 are known to fail in some platforms.
+Examples include any platform using sfio, and Tandem's NonStop-UX.
+The failing platforms do not comply with the ANSI C Standard, line
+19ff on page 134 of ANSI X3.159 1989 to be exact. (They produce
+something else than "1" and "-1" when formatting 0.6 and -0.6 using
+the printf format "%.0f", most often they produce "0" and "-0".)
+
+=head2 Storable tests fail in some platforms
-=head2 apidoc
+If any Storable tests fail the use of Storable is not advisable.
-The perlapi.pod now attempts to document the internal API
-(a companion to perlguts).
+=over 4
-=head2 microperl
+=item *
-There is now a way to build really minimal perl called microperl.
-Building does not require even running Configure, C<make -f Makefile.micro>
-should be enough. Beware: microperl makes many assumptions, some of
-which may be too bold, the resulting executable may crash or
-otherwise misbehave in wondrous ways. For careful hackers only.
+Many Storable tests fail on AIX configured with 64 bit integers.
-=head2 Publicize More Functions
+So far unidentified problems break Storable in AIX if Perl is
+configured to use 64 bit integers. AIX in 32-bit mode works and
+other 64-bit platforms work with Storable.
-Added rsignal(), whichsig(), do_join() to the publicized API.
+=item *
-=head2 Propagating Exception Objects via Perl_croak() IN XS code
+DOS DJGPP may hang when testing Storable.
-Made possible to propagate customized exceptions via croak()ing.
+=item *
-=head2 UTF8 Interfaces
+st-06compat fails in UNICOS and UNICOS/mk.
-Added is_utf8_char(), is_utf8_string(), bytes_to_utf8(), and utf8_to_bytes().
+This means that you cannot read old (pre-Storable-0.7) Storable images
+made in other platforms.
-=head2 xsub attributes
+=item *
-Now xsubs can have attributes just like subs.
+st-store.t and st-retrieve may fail with Compaq C 6.2 on OpenVMS Alpha 7.2.
-=head1 Known Problems
+=back
-=head2 Unicode Support Still Far From Perfect
+=head2 Threads Are Still Experimental
-We're working on it. Stay tuned.
+Multithreading is still an experimental feature. Some platforms
+emit the following message for lib/thr5005
-=head2 EBCDIC Still A Lost Platform
+ #
+ # This is a KNOWN FAILURE, and one of the reasons why threading
+ # is still an experimental feature. It is here to stop people
+ # from deploying threads in production. ;-)
+ #
-The plan is to bring them back.
+and another known thread-related warning is
-=head2 Building Extensions Can Fail Because Of Largefiles
+ pragma/overload......Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores
+ panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction.
+ ok
+ lib/selfloader.......Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores
+ panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction.
+ ok
+ lib/st-dclone........Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores
+ panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction.
+ ok
-Certain extensions like mod_perl and BSD::Resource are known to have
-issues with `largefiles', a change brought by Perl 5.6.0 in where file
-offsets are by default 64 bits wide (assuming the platform supports
-such large files). Modules may fail to compile at all or compile and
-work incorrectly. Currently there is no good solution for the problem
-but Configure now stores the flags and libraries that effect the
-largefileness to the %Config hash, the extensions that are having
-problems can try configuring themselves without the largefileness.
-This is admittedly not a clean solution.
+=head2 The Compiler Suite Is Still Experimental
-=head1 Obsolete Diagnostics
+The compiler suite is slowly getting better but is nowhere near
+working order yet. The backend part that has seen perhaps the most
+progress is the bytecode compiler.
=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.
-There may also be information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl
-Home Page.
+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.
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
to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the
-output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to perlbug@perl.com to be
+output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be
analysed by the Perl porting team.
=head1 SEE ALSO
Written by Jarkko Hietaniemi <F<jhi@iki.fi>>, with many contributions
from The Perl Porters and Perl Users submitting feedback and patches.
-Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.com>>.
+Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.org>>.
=cut
projects / p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git / blobdiff