system$ re.pl
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+This is an interactive shell for Perl, commonly known as a REPL - Read,
+Evaluate, Print, Loop. The shell provides for rapid development or testing
+of code without the need to create a temporary source code file.
+
+Through a plugin system, many features are available on demand. You can also
+tailor the environment through the use of profiles and run control files, for
+example to pre-load certain Perl modules when working on a particular project.
+
+=head1 USAGE
+
+To start a shell, follow one of the examples in the L</"SYNOPSIS"> above.
+
+Once running, the shell accepts and will attempt to execute any code given. If
+the code executes successfully you'll be shown the result, otherwise an error
+message will be returned. Here are a few examples:
+
+ $_ print "Hello, world!\n"
+ Hello, world!
+ 1
+ $_ nosuchfunction
+ Compile error: Bareword "nosuchfunction" not allowed while "strict subs" in use at (eval 130) line 5.
+
+ $_
+
+In the first example above you see the output of the command (C<Hello,
+world!>), if any, and then the return value of the statement (C<1>). Following
+that example, an error is returned when the execution of some code fails.
+
+Note that the lack of semicolon on the end is not a mistake - the code is
+run inside a Block structure (to protect the REPL in case the code blows up),
+which means a single statement doesn't require the semicolon. You can add one
+if you like, though.
+
+If you followed the first example in the L</"SYNOPSIS"> above, you'l have the
+History and LexEnv plugins loaded (and there are many more available).
+Although the shell might support "up-arrow" history, the History plugin adds
+"bang" history to that so you can re-execute chosen commands (with e.g.
+C<!53>). The LexEnv plugin ensures that lexical variables declared with the
+C<my> keyword will automatically persist between statements executed in the
+REPL shell.
+
+When you C<use> any Perl module, the C<import()> will work as expected - the
+exported functions from that module are available for immediate use:
+
+ $_ carp "I'm dieeeing!\n"
+ String found where operator expected at (eval 129) line 5, near "carp "I'm dieeeing!\n""
+ (Do you need to predeclare carp?)
+ Compile error: syntax error at (eval 129) line 5, near "carp "I'm dieeeing!\n""
+ BEGIN not safe after errors--compilation aborted at (eval 129) line 5.
+
+ $_ use Carp
+
+ $_ carp "I'm dieeeing!\n"
+ I'm dieeeing!
+ at /usr/share/perl5/Lexical/Persistence.pm line 327
+ 1
+ $_
+
+To quit from the shell, hit C<control+d> or C<control+c>.
+
+=head2 Run Control Files
+
+For particular projects you might well end up running the same commands each
+time the REPL shell starts up - loading Perl modules, setting configuration,
+and so on. A run control file lets you have this done automatically, and you
+can have multiple files for different projects.
+
+By default the C<re.pl> program looks for C<< $HOME/.re.pl/repl.rc >>, and
+runs whatever code is in there as if you had entered it at the REPL shell
+yourself.
+
+To set a new run control file that's also in that directory, pass it as a
+filename like so:
+
+ system$ re.pl --rcfile myproject.pc
+
+If the filename happens to contain a forwardslash, then it's used absolutely,
+or realive to the current working directory:
+
+ system$ re.pl --rcfile /path/to/my/project/repl.rc
+
+Within the run control file you might want to load plugins. This is covered in
+L</"The REPL shell object"> section, below.
+
+=head2 Profiles
+
+To allow for the sharing of run control files, you can fashion them into a
+Perl module for distribution (perhaps via the CPAN). For more information on
+this feature, please see the L<Devel::REPL::Profile> manual page.
+
+A default profile ships with C<Devel::REPL>; it loads the following plugins:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+L<Devel::REPL::Plugin::History>
+
+=item *
+
+L<Devel::REPL::Plugin::LexEnv>
+
+=item *
+
+L<Devel::REPL::Plugin::DDS>
+
+=item *
+
+L<Devel::REPL::Plugin::Packages>
+
+=item *
+
+L<Devel::REPL::Plugin::Commands>
+
+=item *
+
+L<Devel::REPL::Plugin::MultiLine::PPI>
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Plugins
+
+Plugins are a way to add funcionality to the REPL shell, and take advantage of
+C<Devel::REPL> being based on the L<Moose> object system for Perl 5. This
+means it's simple to 'hook into' many steps of the R-E-P-L process. Plugins
+can change the way commands are interpreted, or the way their results are
+output, or even add commands to the shell environment.
+
+A number of plugins ship with C<Devel::REPL>, and more are available on the
+CPAN. Some of the shipped plugins are loaded in the default profile, mentioned
+above.
+
+Writing your own plugins is not difficult, and is discussed in the
+L<Devel::REPL::Plugin> manual page, along with links to the manual pages of
+all the plugins shipped with C<Devel::REPL>.
+
+=head2 The REPL shell object
+
+From time to time you'll want to interact with or manipulate the
+C<Devel::REPL> shell object itself; that is, the instance of the shell you're
+currently running.
+
+The object is always available through the C<$_REPL> variable. One common
+requirement is to load an additional plugin, after your profile and run
+control files have already been executed:
+
+ $_ $_REPL->load_plugin('Timing');
+ 1
+ $_ print "Hello again, world!\n"
+ Hello again, world!
+ Took 0.00148296356201172 seconds.
+ 1
+ $_
+
+=head1 REQUIREMENTS
+
+In addition to the contents of the standard Perl distribution, you will need
+the following:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item *
+
+L<Moose> >= 0.38
+
+=item *
+
+L<MooseX::Object::Pluggable> >= 0.0007
+
+=item *
+
+L<MooseX::Getopt>
+
+=item *
+
+L<namespace::clean>
+
+=item *
+
+L<File::HomeDir>
+
+=item *
+
+L<Lexical::Persistence>
+
+=item *
+
+L<PPI>
+
+=item *
+
+L<Term::ANSIColor>
+
+=item *
+
+L<B::Keywords>
+
+=item *
+
+L<Task::Weaken>
+
+=item *
+
+L<App::Nopaste>
+
+=back
+
=head1 AUTHOR
Matt S Trout - mst (at) shadowcatsystems.co.uk (L<http://www.shadowcatsystems.co.uk/>)
projects / p5sagit/Devel-REPL.git / commitdiff