Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials, 2/e

Description:

Distilling many years of Perl experience--including an insiders look at Perl development (the authors are members of the Perl 6 core development team)--Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials, 2nd Edition is an unparalleled preview of major changes in the widely-anticipated Perl 6. This sneak peek of what's coming in Perl includes succinct but thorough coverage of groundbreaking new developments in Parrot--the language-independent interpreter engine that will execute code written in the new Perl 6 language. Designed to be language independent, Parrot can be used to interpret other dynamic languages such as Python, Tcl, Ruby, and even Java.

Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials also uncovers the most revolutionary change in the language itself--Apocalypse 12 on objects. The Apocalypse design documents (in the sense of "revealing", not "end-of-the-world") explain significant changes in new Perl 6 features, numbered according to the chapters in O'Reilly's landmark Camel book , Programming Perl.

Apocalypse 12 is the result of cutting-edge research in object-oriented languages and is guaranteed to grab the attention of any serious Perl programmer. Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials also includes expanded coverage of Apocalypse 5 (regular expressions) and Apocalypse 6 (subroutines).

Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials is the only book available to chart the course of the long but fruitful voyage of Perl 6. It reveals all the ingenious developments that will make Perl 6 more powerful and easier to use.

Perl gurus and programmers alike will rely on this slim but essential book for both a clear view of the Perl horizon and to ensure they hit the ground running once this important new version of Perl is released. 

Table of Contents:

Preface 

1. Project Overview

      The Birth of Perl 6 

      In the Beginning . . .  

      The Continuing Mission 

2. Project Development

      Language Development 

      Parrot Development 

3. Design Philosophy

      Linguistic and Cognitive Considerations 

      Architectural Considerations 

4. Basic Syntax

      Variables 

      Operators 

      Control Structures 

5. Subroutines

      Using Subroutines 

      Parameters 

      Arguments 

      Subroutine Stubs 

      Subroutine Scope 

      Anonymous Subroutines 

      Multi Subroutines 

      Curried Subroutines 

      Wrapped Subroutines 

      Lvalue Subroutines 

      Macros 

6. Objects

      Using Objects 

      Classes 

      Roles 

      Delegation 

      Private and Public 

      Subroutines 

      Submethods 

      Multiple Dispatch 

7. Grammars and Rules

      Using Rules 

      Building Blocks 

      Modifiers 

      Built-in Rules 

      Backtracking Control 

      Hypothetical Variables 

8. Parrot Internals

      Core Design Principles 

      Parrot's Architecture 

      The Interpreter 

      I/O, Events, and Threads 

      Objects 

      Advanced Features 

      Conclusion 

9. Parrot Assembly Language

      Getting Started 

      Basics 

      Working with PMCs 

      Flow Control 

      Stacks and Register Frames 

      Lexicals and Globals 

      Subroutines 

      Exceptions and Exception Handlers 

      Events 

      Threads 

      Loading Bytecode 

      Classes and Objects 

      Writing Tests 

10. Parrot Intermediate Representation

      Statements 

      Variables and Constants 

      Symbol Operators 

      Labels 

      Flow Control 

      Subroutines 

      Methods 

11. Parrot Reference

      PASM Opcodes 

      PIR Directives 

      PIR Instructions 

      Parrot Command-Line Options 

Index