This is the seventh in a series of articles about migrating code from Perl 5 to Perl 6. This article looks at how to create classes (objects) in Perl 6 and how it differs from Perl 5.

Perl 5 has a very basic form of object orientation, which you could argue has been bolted on as an afterthought. Several attempts have been made to improve that situation, most notably Moose, which "is based in large part on the Perl 6 object system, as well as drawing on the best ideas from CLOS, Smalltalk, and many other languages." And, in turn, the Perl 6 object creation logic has taken a few lessons from Moose.

Moose has inspired a number of other modern object systems in Perl 5, most notably Moo and Mouse. Before you start a new project in Perl 5, I recommend reading Modern Perl; among other things, it describes how to use Moose to create classes/objects.

For simplicity, this article will describe the general differences between basic Perl 5 and basic Perl 6 object creation.

How to make a 'Point'

A picture is worth more than a thousand words. So, let's start with defining a Point class with two immutable attributes, x and y, and a constructor that takes named parameters. Here's how it would look in Perl 5:

# Perl 5

{

sub new {

my $class = shift ;

my %args = @_ ; # maps remaining args as key / value into hash

bless \%args , $class

}

sub x { shift -> { x } }

sub y { shift -> { y } }

} package Pointshiftshift

And in Perl 6:

# Perl 6

class Point {

has $ . x ;

has $ . y ;

} class Pointhas $has $

As you can see, the Perl 6 syntax is much more declarative; there is no need to write code to have a new method, nor is code needed to create the accessors for x and y. Also note that instead of package, you need to specify class in Perl 6.

After this, creating a Point object is remarkably similar in Perl 5 and Perl 6:

# Perl 5

my $point = Point -> new ( x => 42 , y = 666 ) ;



# Perl 6

my $point = Point . new ( x => 42 , y => 666 ) ; PointPoint

The only difference is Perl 6 uses . (a period) to call a method instead of -> (Hyphen+Greater-than symbol).

Error checking

In an ideal world, all parameters to methods would always be correctly specified. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world, so it is wise to add error checking to your object creation. Suppose you want to make sure that both x and y are specified and are integer values. In Perl 5, you could do it like this:

# Perl 5

{

sub new {

my ( $class , %args ) = @_ ;

die "The attribute 'x' is required" unless exists $args { x } ;

die "The attribute 'y' is required" unless exists $args { y } ;

die "Type check failed on 'x'" unless $args { x } =~ /^-?\d+\z/ ;

die "Type check failed on 'y'" unless $args { y } =~ /^-?\d+\z/ ;

bless \%args , $class

}

sub x { shift -> { x } }

sub y { shift -> { y } }

} package Pointshiftshift

Pardon the /^-?\d+\z/ line noise. This is a regular expression checking for an optional (?) hyphen (-) at the start of a string (^) consisting of one or more decimal digits (\d+) until the end of the string (\z).

That's quite a bit of extra boilerplate. Of course, you can abstract that into an is_valid subroutine, like this:

# Perl 5

sub is_valid {

my $args = shift ;

for ( @_ ) { # loop over all keys specified

die "The attribute '$_' is required" unless exists $args -> { $_ } ;

die "Type check failed on '$_'" unless $args -> { $_ } =~ /^-?\d+\z/ ;

}

1

} is_valid

Or you can use one of the many parameter-validation modules on CPAN, such as Params::Validate. In any case, your code would look something like this:

# Perl 5

{

sub new {

my ( $class , %args ) = @_ ;

bless \%args , $class if is_valid ( \%args , 'x' , 'y' ) ;

}

sub x { shift -> { x } }

sub y { shift -> { y } }

}

Point -> new ( x => 42 , y => 666 ) ; # ok

Point -> new ( x => 42 ) ; # 'y' missing

Point -> new ( x => "foo" , y => 666 ) ; # 'x' is not an integer package Pointis_validshiftshiftPointPointPoint

If you use Moose, your code would look something like this:

# Perl 5

;

use Moose ;

has 'x' => ( is => 'ro' , isa => 'Int' , required => 1 ) ;

has 'y' => ( is => 'ro' , isa => 'Int' , required => 1 ) ;

;

__PACKAGE__ -> meta -> make_immutable ;

Point -> new ( x => 42 , y => 666 ) ; # ok

Point -> new ( x => 42 ) ; # 'y' missing

Point -> new ( x => "foo" , y => 666 ) ; # 'x' is not an integer package PointMoosehasisisarequiredhasisisarequired no Moose__PACKAGE__PointPointPoint

Note that with an object system like Moose, you don't need to create a new subroutine, like in Perl 6.

In Perl 6, however, this is all is built-in. The is required attribute trait indicates that an attribute must be specified. And specifying a type (e.g., Int) automatically throws a type-check exception if the provided value is not an acceptable type:

# Perl 6

class Point {

has Int $ . x is required ;

has Int $ . is required ;

}

Point . new ( x => 42 , y => 666 ) ; # ok

Point . new ( x => 42 ) ; # 'y' missing

Point . new ( x => "foo" , y => 666 ) ; # 'x' is not an integer class Pointhas Int $x is requiredhas Int $ y is requiredPointPointPoint

Providing defaults

Alternately, you might want to make the attributes optional and have them initialized to 0 if they are not specified. In Perl 5, that could look like this:

# Perl 5

{

sub new {

my ( $class , %args ) = @_ ;

$args { x } = 0 unless exists $args { x } ; # initialize to 0 is not given

$args { y } = 0 unless exists $args { y } ;

bless \%args , $class if is_valid ( \%args , 'x' , 'y' ) ;

}

sub x { shift -> { x } }

sub y { shift -> { y } }

} package Pointis_validshiftshift

In Perl 6, you would add an assignment with the default value to each attribute declaration:

# Perl 6

class Point {

has Int $ . x = 0 ; # initialize to 0 if not given

has Int $ . y = 0 ;

} class Pointhas Int $has Int $

Providing mutators

In the class/object examples so far, an object's attributes have been immutable. They can't be changed by the usual means after the object has been created.

In Perl 5, there are various ways to create a mutator (a method on the object to change an attribute's value). The simplest way is to create a separate subroutine that will set the value in the object:

# Perl 5

...

sub set_x {

my $object = shift ;

$object -> { x } = shift ;

} set_x

which can be shortened to:

# Perl 5

...

sub set_x { $_ [ 0 ] -> { x } = $_ [ 1 ] } # access elements in @_ directly

so you could use it as:

# Perl 5

my $point = Point -> new ( x => 42 , y => 666 ) ;

$point -> set_x ( 314 ) ; Point

Some people prefer to use the same subroutine name for both accessing and mutating the attribute. Specifying a parameter then means the subroutine should be used as a mutator:

# Perl 5

...

sub x {

my $object = shift ;

@_ ? $object -> { x } = shift : $object -> { x }

}

which can be shortened to:

# Perl 5

...

sub x { @_ > 1 ? $_ [ 0 ] -> { x } = $_ [ 1 ] : $_ [ 0 ] -> { x } }

so you could use it as:

# Perl 5

my $point = Point -> new ( x => 42 , y => 666 ) ;

$point -> x ( 314 ) ; Point

Here is a way this is used a lot, but it depends on the implementation detail of how objects are implemented in Perl 5. Since an object in Perl 5 is usually just a hash reference with benefits, you can use the object as a hash reference and directly access keys in the underlying hash. But this breaks the object's encapsulation and bypasses any additional checks that a mutator might do:

# Perl 5

my $point = Point -> new ( x => 42 , y => 666 ) ;

$point -> { x } = 314 ; # change x to 314 unconditionally: dirty but fast Point

An "official" way of creating accessors that can also be used as mutators uses lvalue subroutines, but this isn't used often in Perl 5 for various reasons. It is however very close to how mutators work in Perl 6:

# Perl 5

...

sub x : lvalue { shift -> { x } } # make "x" an lvalue sub

So you could use it as:

# Perl 5

my $point = Point -> new ( x => 42 , y => 666 ) ;

$point -> x = 314 ; # just as if $point->x is a variable Point

In Perl 6, allowing an accessor to be used as a mutator is also done in a declarative way by using the is rw trait on the attribute declaration, just like with the is required trait:

# Perl 6

class Point {

has Int $ . x is rw = 0 ; # allowed to change, default is 0

has Int $ . is rw = 0 ;

} class Pointhas Int $x is rwhas Int $ y is rw

This allows you to use it in Perl 6 like this:

# Perl 6

my $point = Point . new ( x => 42 , y => 666 ) ;

$point . x = 314 ; # just as if $point.x is a variable Point

If you don't like the way mutators work in Perl 6, you can create your own mutators by adding a method for them. For example, the set_x case from Perl 5 could look like this in Perl 6:

# Perl 6

class Point {

has $ . x ;

has $ . y ;

method set_x ( $new ) { $ ! x = $new }

method set_y ( $new ) { $ ! y = $new }

} class Pointhas $has $method set_xmethod set_y

But wait: What's that exclamation point doing in $!x ???

The ! indicates the real name of the attribute in the class; it gives direct access to the attribute in the object. Let's take a step back and see what the attribute's so-called twigil (i.e., the secondary sigil) means.

The '!' twigil

A ! in a declaration of an attribute like $!x designates that the attribute is private. This means you can't access that attribute from the outside unless the class' developer has provided a means to do so. This also means that it can not be initialized with a call to .new.

A method for accessing the private attribute value can be very simple:

# Perl 6

class Point {

has $ ! x ; # ! indicates a private attribute

has $ ! y ;

method x ( ) { $ ! x } # return private attribute value

method ( ) { $ ! y }

} class Pointhas $has $method xmethod y

This is, in fact, pretty much what happens automatically if you declare the attribute with the . twigil:

The '.' twigil

A . in a declaration of an attribute like $.x designates that the attribute is public. This means that an accessor method is created for it (much like the example above with the method for the private attribute). This also means the attribute can be initialized with a call to .new.

If you otherwise use the attribute form $.x, you are not referring to the attribute, rather to its accessor. It is syntactic sugar for self.x. But the $.x form has the advantage that you can easily interpolate inside a string. Furthermore, the accessor can be overridden by a subclass:

# Perl 6

class Answer {

has $ . x = 42 ;

method message ( ) { "The answer is $.x" } # use accessor in message

}

class Fake is Answer { # subclassing is done with "is" trait

method x ( ) { 666 } # override the accessor in Answer

}

say Answer . new . message ; # The answer is 42

say Fake . new . message ; # The answer is 666 (even though $!x is 42)

Tweaking object creation

Sometimes you need to perform extra checks or tweaks to an object before it is ready for consumption. Without getting into the nitty-gritty of creating objects in Perl 6, you can usually do all the tweaking that you need by supplying a TWEAK method. Suppose you also want to allow the value 314 to be considered as an alternative to 666:

# Perl 6

class Answer {

has Int $ . x = 42 ;

submethod TWEAK ( ) {

$ ! x = 666 if $ ! x == 314 ; # 100 x pi is also bad

}

}

If a class has a TWEAK method, it will be called after all arguments have been processed and assigned to attributes, as appropriate (including assigning any default values and any processing of traits such as is rw and is required). Inside the method, you can do whatever you want to the attributes in the object.

Note that the TWEAK method is best implemented as a so-called submethod. A submethod is a special type of method that can be executed only on the class itself and not on any subclass. In other words, this method has the visibility of a subroutine.

Positional parameters

Finally, sometimes an interface to an object is so clear that you do not need named parameters at all. Instead, you want to use positional parameters. In Perl 5, that would look something like this:

# Perl 5

{

sub new {

my ( $class , $x , $y ) = @_ ;

bless { x => $x , y => $y } , $class

}

sub x { shift -> { x } }

sub y { shift -> { y } }

} package Pointshiftshift

Even though object creation in Perl 6 is optimized for using named parameters, you can use positional parameters if you want to. In this case, you'll have to create your own "new" method. By the way, there is nothing special about the new method in Perl 6. You can create your own, or you can create a method with another name to act as an object constructor:

# Perl 6

class Point {

has $ . x ;

has $ . y ;

method new ( $x , $y ) {

self . bless ( x => $x , y => $y )

}

} class Pointhas $has $methodself

This looks very similar to Perl 5, but there are subtle differences. In Perl 6, positional arguments are obligatory (unless they're declared to be optional). Making them optional with a default value works pretty much the same as with attribute declaration, as does indicating a type: you specify those in the signature of the new method:

# Perl 6

...

method new ( Int $x = 0 , Int $y = 0 ) {

self . bless ( x => $x , y => $y )

} methodIntIntself

The bless method provides the logic of object creation with given named parameters in Perl 6: its interface is the same as the default implementation of the new method. You can call it whenever you want to create an instantiated object of a class.

Don't repeat yourself (DRY) is a principle you should always use. One example of making it easier to DRY in Perl 6 is the syntactic sugar for x => $x (a Pair in which the key has the same name as the variable for the value). In Perl 6, this can be expressed as :$x. That would make the above new method look like the following:

6

...

method new ( Int $x = 0 , Int $y = 0 ) { self . bless ( : $x , : $y ) } $ PerlmethodIntIntself

After this, creating a Point object is remarkably similar between Perl 5 and Perl 6:

# Perl 5

my $point = Point -> new ( 42 , 666 ) ;



# Perl 6

my $point = Point . new ( 42 , 666 ) ;

Summary

Creating classes in Perl 6 is mostly declarative, whereas object creation in standard Perl 5 is mostly procedural. The way classes are defined in Perl 6 is very similar in semantics to Moose. This is because Moose was inspired by the design of the Perl 6 object creation model, and vice-versa.

Performance concerns about object creation have always been a focus in both Perl 5 and Perl 6. Even though Perl 6 provides more functionality in object creation than Perl 5, benchmarks show that Perl 6 has recently become faster than Perl 5 at creating and accessing objects.