Perl.com update
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The Email for www.perl.com Subscribers
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Welcome, Perl hackers, to the bi-weekly Perl.com newsletter. This
semi-regular email delivers recent news from the Perl world as well as a
summary of just-published Perl.com articles.
* Perl News in Brief
Registration has opened for YAPC::NA in Toronto this summer. Remember
that you have about a month to submit talk proposals:
http://yapc.org/America/register-2005.shtml
Even if you can't make it to Toronto in June, you can still play with
Parrot. Pumpking and Patchmonster Leo released version 0.1.2, code-named
"Phoenix." This version adds improved string handling, better Python
support, and the long-awaited Parrot Grammar Engine:
http://use.perl.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/07/1451236&tid=33&tid=42
http://www.parrotcode.org/
Leo's also recently posted ideas for the 0.2.0 release on
perl6-internals.
* Perl.com Articles
If you've posted code for public review, you've probably heard over and
over again to avoid symbolic references and to use the strict pragma.
That's good advice and you should listen to it. However, when practised
carefully in appropriate ways and encapsulated well, manipulating Perl's
symbol tables can solve problems effectively and cleanly. Phil Crow's
contributed an article that explains how and why:
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/03/17/symtables.html
Don't miss the semi-regularly/fortnightly Perl 6 Mailing List Summaries
from Matt Fowles, either. The most recent is:
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/03/p6pdigest/20050307.html
(Your editor doesn't envy him summarizing the recent explosion of ideas on
Perl 6 language this past week either.)
* Conclusion and Teaser
That wraps up this installment. Keep reading, though; upcoming features
include the return of Perl Lightning Articles and some very cool stuff
from the incomparable Mark Jason Dominus and Michael G. Schwern.
Wait two weeks,
-- c
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Editor, Perl.com, et cetera
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*** Featured Articles ***
Symbol Table Manipulation
One of the most dramatic advantages of dynamic languages is that they
provide access to the symbol table at run-time, allowing new functions and
variables to spring into existence as you need them. Though they're not
always the right solution to common problems, they're very powerful and
useful in certain circumstances. Phil Crow demonstrates how and when and
why to manipulate Perl's symbol table.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/03/17/symtables.html
***
This Fortnight in Perl 6, Feb. 23 - March 7, 2005
Matt Fowles summarizes the Perl 6 mailing lists with the release of Parrot
0.1.2, lots of Pugs patches, and a plea for off-list summarization help.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/03/p6pdigest/20050307.html
***
A Plan for Pugs
Want to write actual working Perl 6 code? A month ago, it would have been
difficult. What a difference February made. Autrijus Tang and a loyal
cadre of Perl and Haskell people have developed an amazingly complete Perl
6 implementation in a few short weeks. chromatic recently caught up with
Autrijus on #perl6 to learn more about the project.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/03/03/pugs_interview.html
***
This Fortnight in Perl 6, Feb. 9-22, 2005
Matt Fowles summarizes the Perl 6 mailing lists with kudos to Autrijus,
still more plans for the Parrot 0.1.2 release, and lots and lots and lots
of words about junctions.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/02/p6pdigest/20050222.html
***
Perl and Mandrakelinux
Perl is a fantastic tool for system administrators. Why not use it for
building administrative applications? That's just what Mandrakelinux does!
Mark Stosberg recently interviewed Perl 5.10 pumpking and Mandrake
employee Rafael Garcia-Suarez about the use of Perl for graphical
applications.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/02/24/mandrakelinux.html
***
Building a 3D Engine in Perl, Part 3
The ultimate goal of all programming is to be as unproductive as
possible--to write games. In part three of a series on building a 3D
engine with Perl, Geoff Broadwell explains how to manage the viewpoint and
how to achieve impressive lighting effects with OpenGL.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/02/17/3d_engine.html
***
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