This and other RFCs are available on the web at
http://dev.perl.org/rfc/
=head1 TITLE
Method calls should not suffer from the action on a distance
=head1 VERSION
Maintainer: Ilya Zakharevich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 15 Sep 2000
Mailing List: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Number: 244
Version: 1
Status: Developing
=head1 ABSTRACT
This RFC proposes to remove indirect object syntax, and modify the
semantic of the C<< -> >> operator.
=head1 DESCRIPTION
=head2 ->
Currently,
foo->bar($baz)
can be parsed either as C<<'foo'->bar($baz)>>, or as C<<foo()->bar($baz)>>
depending on how the symbol C<foo> was used on other places. The proposal
is to always choose the first meaning: make C<< -> >> autoquote the bareword
on the left.
This interpretation is more desirable on esthetical ground, since
'foo'->bar($baz)
looks visually clattered, but C<<foo()->bar($baz)>> looks as if it expresses
its meaning. The default choice is done so that if you need other
choice, your code does not look artificial.
=head2 Parentheses
foo->bar($baz, $coon)
should be made synonymous with
foo->bar $baz, $coon
I can see no ambiguity in this call, but it not always works with Perl5.
=head2 Indirect object syntax
Currently,
bar foo $baz
can be parsed either as C<<'foo'->bar($baz)>>, or as C<&bar(&foo($baz))>,
depending on how the symbols C<foo> and C<bar> were used on other places.
There only way to avoid the action at a distance is to prohibit one of these
interpretations. Since the other way C<<foo->bar $baz>> to write this
method call is as convenient as the indirect object syntax, the proposal
is to prohibit the indirect object method calls altogether.
Make the above syntax be interpreted as C<&bar(&foo($baz))>.
=head1 MIGRATION ISSUES
Translate Perl5 code as specified above.
=head1 IMPLEMENTATION
Remove the DWIM logic from the parser.
=head1 REFERENCES
None.
