Re: A tentative list of vtable functions

[Dan Sugalski]

At 01:49 AM 9/1/00 -0400, Bradley M. Kuhn wrote:
>Dan Sugalski wrote:
> > > >     get_value
> > > >     set_value
>
> >  The get/set value functions are for when something knows what the SV (or
> > whatever we call it) really is and can handle the raw data. For example,
> > if my code knew a SV held a complex number (which doesn't map well to the
> > int/float/char translation) and I could handle it, then I'd call get_value
> > and get the raw data.
>
>Are you envisioning that a lot of the perl core will use these functions, or
>are they for special things like:
>
>my complex_number $ii;

I'm not sure. They're there mainly for guaranteed unfiltered access to the 
variable's guts, and I'm not sure what things will need that.

>My reason for asking is that the more of the perl core that relies on
>specific representations of data, the more complexity there is in porting to
>other architectures.

Fair enough.  It may turn out to be unnecessary, in which case we'll toss 
it, or if not we'll just make sure to force some reasonable requirements on 
it so porting's easier.

                                        Dan

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