the file Person.pm. If it were called a Happy::Person class, it would
be stored in the file Happy/Person.pm, and its package would become
Happy::Person instead of just Person. (On a personal computer not
-running Unix or Plan 9, but something like MacOS or VMS, the directory
+running Unix or Plan 9, but something like Mac OS or VMS, the directory
separator may be different, but the principle is the same.) Do not assume
any formal relationship between modules based on their directory names.
This is merely a grouping convenience, and has no effect on inheritance,
PEERS => [ "Norbert", "Rhys", "Phineas"],
};
-And so you could get at C<$rec-E<gt>{NAME}> to find "Jason", or
-C<@{ $rec-E<gt>{PEERS} }> to get at "Norbert", "Rhys", and "Phineas".
+And so you could get at C<< $rec->{NAME} >> to find "Jason", or
+C<< @{ $rec->{PEERS} } >> to get at "Norbert", "Rhys", and "Phineas".
(Have you ever noticed how many 23-year-old programmers seem to
be named "Jason" these days? :-)
Notice how there's no memory to deallocate in the destructor? That's
something that Perl takes care of for you all by itself.
+Alternatively, you could use the Class::Data::Inheritable module from
+CPAN.
+
+
=head2 Accessing Class Data
It turns out that this is not really a good way to go about handling
}
What happens if a derived class (which we'll call Employee) inherits
-methods from this Person base class? Then C<Employee-E<gt>debug()>, when called
+methods from this Person base class? Then C<< Employee->debug() >>, when called
as a class method, manipulates $Person::Debugging not $Employee::Debugging.
=head2 Class Destructors
a method? Well, in principle, yes. A method is just a function that
expects as its first argument a class name (package) or object
(blessed reference). Person::new() is the function that both the
-C<Person-E<gt>new()> method and the C<Employee-E<gt>new()> method end
+C<< Person->new() >> method and the C<< Employee->new() >> method end
up calling. Understand that while a method call looks a lot like a
function call, they aren't really quite the same, and if you treat them
as the same, you'll very soon be left with nothing but broken programs.
It would be nice to combine Alias with
something like Class::Struct or Class::MethodMaker.
-=head2 NOTES
+=head1 NOTES
=head2 Object Terminology
call a class method (one expecting a string argument) on an
object (one expecting a reference), or vice versa.
-Z<>From the C++ perspective, all methods in Perl are virtual.
+From the C++ perspective, all methods in Perl are virtual.
This, by the way, is why they are never checked for function
prototypes in the argument list as regular builtin and user-defined
functions can be.
and
L<overload>.
+L<perlboot> is a kinder, gentler introduction to object-oriented
+programming.
+
+L<perltooc> provides more detail on class data.
+
+Some modules which might prove interesting are Class::Accessor,
+Class::Class, Class::Contract, Class::Data::Inheritable,
+Class::MethodMaker and Tie::SecureHash
+
+
=head1 AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1997, 1998 Tom Christiansen
All rights reserved.
-When included as part of the Standard Version of Perl, or as part of
-its complete documentation whether printed or otherwise, this work
-may be distributed only under the terms of Perl's Artistic License.
-Any distribution of this file or derivatives thereof I<outside>
-of that package require that special arrangements be made with
-copyright holder.
+This documentation is free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+under the same terms as Perl itself.
Irrespective of its distribution, all code examples in this file
are hereby placed into the public domain. You are permitted and