X-Git-Url: http://git.shadowcat.co.uk/gitweb/gitweb.cgi?a=blobdiff_plain;f=pod%2Fperltodo.pod;h=f12b10f4b9736c94dece24fb2528d7b5adae35fc;hb=91331b4fc62e0ad9094741aa6359fb89e2fc5554;hp=f7ab458c9d8c5b67799017ce682d07be2d587806;hpb=766b5730e1f2ccdb3d0842855ffa97b0269db5fb;p=p5sagit%2Fp5-mst-13.2.git diff --git a/pod/perltodo.pod b/pod/perltodo.pod index f7ab458..f12b10f 100644 --- a/pod/perltodo.pod +++ b/pod/perltodo.pod @@ -1,4 +1,8 @@ -=head1 Perl TO-DO List +=head1 NAME + +perltodo - Perl TO-DO List + +=head1 DESCRIPTION This is a list of wishes for Perl. It is maintained by Nathan Torkington for the Perl porters. Send updates to @@ -26,21 +30,21 @@ several, like gnats and the Debian system, but at the time we investigated them, none met our needs. Since then, Jitterbug has matured, and may be worth reinvestigation. -The system we've developed will eventually be recipient of perlbug -mail. New bugs are entered into a mysql database, and sent on to +The system we've developed is the recipient of perlbug mail, and any +followups it generates from perl5-porters. New bugs are entered +into a mysql database, and sent on to perl5-porters with the subject line rewritten to include a "ticket number" (unique ID for the new bug). If the incoming message already had a ticket number in the subject line, then the message is logged against that bug. There is a separate email interface (not forwarding to p5p) that permits porters to claim, categorize, and close tickets. -The next desire is a web interface. It is hoped that code can be -reused between the mail and the web interfaces. +There is also a web interface to the system at http://bugs.perl.org. The current delay in implementation is caused by perl.org lockups. One suspect is the mail handling system, possibly going into loops. -We're probably going to need a bugmaster, someone who will look at +We still desperately need a bugmaster, someone who will look at every new "bug" and kill those that we already know about, those that are not bugs at all, etc. @@ -81,7 +85,7 @@ We need regression/sanity tests for suidperl This value may or may not be accurate, but it certainly is eye-catching. For some things perl5 is faster than perl4, but often -the reliability and extensability have come at a cost of speed. The +the reliability and extensibility have come at a cost of speed. The benchmark suite that Gisle released earlier has been hailed as both a fantastic solution and as a source of entirely meaningless figures. Do we need to test "real applications"? Can you do so? Anyone have @@ -117,11 +121,6 @@ Verify complete 64 bit support so that the value of sysseek, or C<-s>, or stat(), or tell can fit into a perl number without losing precision. Work with the perl-64bit mailing list on perl.org. -=head2 Figure a way out of $^(capital letter) - -Figure out a clean way to extend $^(capital letter) beyond -the 26 alphabets. (${^WORD} maybe?) - =head2 Prototypes =over 4 @@ -148,14 +147,6 @@ lexically-scoped subs, e.g. my sub =back -=head2 Built-in globbing - -Currently the C*.cE> syntax calls the c shell. This causes -problems on sites without csh, systems where fork() is expensive, and -setuid environments. Decide between Glob::BSD and File::KGlob, move -it into the core, and make Perl use it for globbing. Ben Holzman and -Tye McQueen have claimed the pumpkin for this. - =head1 Perl Internals =head2 magic_setisa @@ -170,11 +161,11 @@ Sarathy, I believe, did the work. Here's what he has to say: Yeah, I hope to implement it someday too. The points that were raised in TPC2 were all to do with calling DESTROY() methods, but -I think we can accomodate that by extending bless() to stash +I think we can accommodate that by extending bless() to stash extra information for objects so we track their lifetime accurately for those that want their DESTROY() to be predictable (this will be a speed hit, naturally, and will therefore be optional, naturally. :) - + [N.B. Don't even ask me about this now! When I have the time to write a cogent summary, I'll post it.] @@ -298,6 +289,8 @@ subject on perl5-porters. Ronald Kimball (rjk@linguist.dartmouth.edu) has volunteered. +=back + =head2 Include a search tool perldoc should be able to 'grep' fulltext indices of installed POD @@ -328,14 +321,14 @@ We need something in the vicinity of: No documentation for perl function `random stuff' found The following entry in perlfunc.pod matches /random/a: =item rand EXPR - + =item rand - + Returns a random fractional number greater than or equal to C<0> and less than the value of EXPR. (EXPR should be positive.) If EXPR is omitted, the value C<1> is used. Automatically calls C unless C has already been called. See also C. - + (Note: If your rand function consistently returns numbers that are too large or too small, then your version of Perl was probably compiled with the wrong number of RANDBITS.) @@ -379,7 +372,9 @@ Make C tell users what they need to add to their .login or =head2 Install ALL Documentation Make the standard documentation kit include the VMS, OS/2, Win32, -Threads, etc information. +Threads, etc information. installperl and pod/Makefile should know +enough to copy README.foo to perlfoo.pod before building everything, +when appropriate. =head2 Outstanding issues to be documented @@ -590,20 +585,12 @@ pointed out that perllib_mangle() is good for this. =head1 Win32 Stuff -=head2 Get PERL_OBJECT building under gcc - -B, according to Sarathy. It builds under egcs on win32, -but doesn't run for occult reasons. If anyone knows the right -breed of chicken to sacrifice, please speak up. - =head2 Rename new headers to be consistent with the rest =head2 Sort out the spawnvp() mess =head2 Work out DLL versioning -=head2 Get PERL_OBJECT building on non-win32 - =head2 Style-check =head1 Would be nice to have @@ -713,7 +700,7 @@ criticized for being of questionable value. =head2 Making my() work on "package" variables Being able to say my($Foo::Bar), something that sounds ludicrous and -the 5.006 pumpking has mocked. +the 5.6 pumpking has mocked. =head2 "or" testing defined not truth @@ -823,7 +810,8 @@ Workarounds to help Win32 dynamic loading. =head2 END blocks -END blocks need saving in compiled output. +END blocks need saving in compiled output, now that CHECK blocks +are available. =head2 _AUTOLOAD @@ -840,15 +828,18 @@ Can we install modules as bytecode? =head1 Recently Finished Tasks -=head2 Filenames +=head2 Figure a way out of $^(capital letter) -Make filenames in the distribution and in the standard module set -be 8.3 friendly where feasible. Good luck changing the standard -modules, though. B. +Figure out a clean way to extend $^(capital letter) beyond +the 26 alphabets. (${^WORD} maybe?) -=head2 Proper tied array support +Mark-Jason Dominus sent a patch which went into 5.005_56. + +=head2 Filenames -This was B in 5.005 by Nick Ing-Simmons. +Keep filenames in the distribution and in the standard module set +be 8.3 friendly where feasible. Good luck changing the standard +modules, though. =head2 Foreign lines @@ -862,49 +853,18 @@ Mostly B in 5.005. CPP-space: stop malloc()/free() pollution unless asked -=head2 Explain tool - -Given a piece of Perl code, say what it does. B::Deparse is doing -this. B. - =head2 ISA.pm Rename and alter ISA.pm. B. It is now base.pm. -=head2 Automate maintenance of most PERL_OBJECT code - -B, says Sarathy. - -=head2 -iprefix. - -Added in 5.004_70. B - =head2 gettimeofday See Time::HiRes. -=head2 reference to compiled regexp - -B This is the qr// support in 5.005. - -=head2 eval qw() at compile time - -qw() is presently compiled as a call to split. This means the split -happens at runtime. Change this so qw() is compiled as a real list -assignment. This also avoids surprises like: - - $a = () = qw(What will $a hold?); - -B. Tom Hughes submitted a patch that went into 5.005_55. - =head2 autocroak? -B. This is the Fatal.pm module, so any builtin that that does +This is the Fatal.pm module, so any builtin that does not return success automatically die()s. If you're feeling brave, tie this in with the unified exceptions scheme. -=head2 Status variable - -$^C to track compiler/checker status. B in 5.005_54. - =cut