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'''Perl 6''' is a planned major revision to the [[Perl]] [[programming language]]. Perl 6 introduces elements of many modern and historical languages. Perl 6 is not intended to be [[Backward compatibility|backwards-compatible]] with earlier versions of Perl, though a [[compatibility mode]] is part of the specification.
Perl 6 has been under development for over seven years, prompting some commentators to suggest that Perl 6 may be [[vaporware]]. The Perl 6 project has never had a clear timeline, although various contributors have given estimates over the years. In early 2007 [[Jesse Vincent]], the Perl 6 Project Manager said, "The Perl 6 project has no schedule ... one doesn't want to rush a largely volunteer effort to design and implement a worthy successor to Perl 5."<ref>{{cite web | title=List discussion about future Perl 5 development | author=Perl 6 Project Manager | url=http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/120613 | year=2007}}</ref>
There is currently a slow, but mostly complete, implementation written in the [[Haskell (programming language)|Haskell]] programming language called [[Pugs]], and two alternative implementations exist, one based on [[Parrot (virtual machine)|Parrot]] and [[Parser Grammar Engine|PGE]] and the other on [[Perl|Perl 5]].
==History==
The Perl 6 design process was first announced on July 19, [[2000]], on day 4 of that year's [[OSCON|Perl Conference]],<ref>{{cite web | title=Report from the Perl Conference | url=http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2000/08/tpc4.html | author=Kline, Joe | date=[[2000-08-21]] }}</ref> by [[Larry Wall]] in his ''State of the Onion 2000'' talk.<ref>{{cite web | title=State of the Onion 2000 | author=[[Larry Wall|Wall, Larry]] | publisher=O'Reilly Network | url=http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2000/10/23/soto2000.html | year=2000}}</ref> At that time, the primary goals were to remove "historical warts" from the language; "easy things should stay easy, hard things should get easier, and impossible things should get hard;" a general cleanup of the internal design and APIs. The process began with a series of [[Request for Comments|requests for comments]] or "RFCs". This process was open to all contributors, and left no aspect of the language closed to change.<ref>{{cite web | title=About Perl6 RFCs | author=The Perl Foundation | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/rfc/meta/ | year=2000}}</ref>
Once the RFC process was complete, Wall reviewed and classified each request. He then began the process of writing the Apocalypses, the name of which refers to "a revealing" according to the first such document.<ref name="apoc1">{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/apo/A01.html | title=Apocalypse 1: The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good | author=Wall, Larry | date=[[2001-04-02]]}}</ref> While the original goal was to write one Apocalypse for each chapter of ''Programming Perl'', it became obvious that, as each Apocalypse was written, previous Apocalypses were being invalidated by later changes. For this reason, a set of Synopses were published, each one relating the contents of an Apocalypse, but with any subsequent changes reflected in updates. Today, Perl 6 specification continues almost entirely within the Synopses.<ref name="syn">{{cite web | author=The Perl Foundation | title=Perl Development: Synopses | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/synopsis.html | year=2002}}</ref>
There are also a series of Exegeses written by [[Damian Conway]] that explain the content of each Apocalypse in terms of practical usage. Each Exegesis consists of code examples along with discussion of the usage and implications of the examples.<ref name="exegeses">{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/exegesis.html | title=Exegeses | author=The Perl Foundation | year=2001}}</ref>
There are three primary methods of communication used in the development of Perl 6 today. The first is the [irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl6 #perl6] [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC channel]] on [[freenode]]. The second is a set of [[mailing list]]s on [[The Perl Foundation]]'s servers at [http://perl.org perl.org].<ref name="lists">{{cite web | title=Perl Development: Mailing Lists | author=The Perl Foundation | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/lists/ | year=2002}}</ref> The third is the [[Subversion (software)|Subversion]] [[source code repository]] used by the [[pugs]] team. Pugs is an early implementation of Perl 6; see the [[#Implementations|Implementations]] section for more detail.
[[As of 2007]], Perl 6 was still under development, with no planned completion date.
===Goals===
The break in compatibility was mandated from the start of the project, and immediately allowed some of the changes that Larry Wall had suggested in his initial speech. "Historical warts" such as the confusion surrounding sigil usage for containers; the ambiguity between the select functions; the syntactic impact of bareword filehandles; and many other problems that Perl programmers had discussed fixing for years were some of the first issues addressed.
Over the years, Perl 6 has undergone several alterations in its direction. The introduction of concepts from [[Python (programming language)|Python]] and [[Ruby programming language|Ruby]] were early influences, but as the pugs interpreter was written in the [[Haskell (programming language)|Haskell programming language]], many [[functional programming]] influences were absorbed by the Perl 6 design team.
==Implementations==
Pugs is an implementation of Perl 6 written in [[Haskell (programming language)|Haskell]]. It is currently the closest thing to a full implementation of Perl 6. It will be used for [[Bootstrapping (compilers)|bootstrapping]], providing a platform on which to write the Perl 6 compiler in Perl 6, and the test suite to validate it. This could, for example, involve translating the Pugs Haskell [[source code]] to Perl 6.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pugscode.org/ | title=pugscode: Pugs | author=[[Audrey Tang|Tang, Audrey]] | year=2005 }}</ref> After that, Perl 6 will be [[self-hosting|self-hosted]]—it will be used to [[compiler|compile]] itself. Much of the implementation of Perl will then be exposed to programmers using the language. For example, this would make it possible to extend the parser from within a program or library. Pugs can execute Perl 6 code directly, and has also compiled Perl 6 to [[JavaScript]], [[Perl|Perl 5]] and Parrot [[bytecode]]. Lacking funding, even the key developer [[Audrey Tang]] is only working part time, so progress has not been as rapid as many wish.
[[Parrot virtual machine|Parrot]] is a [[virtual machine]] designed for interpreted languages, primarily for Perl 6. The self-hosting Perl 6 compiler will (according to plan) target and also run on Parrot.<ref name="syn01">{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/syn/S01.html | title=Synopsis 1: Overview | author=Wall, Larry | date=[[2004-08-10]] }}</ref><ref name="selfhost">{{cite web | url=http://www.pugscode.org/talks/yapc/slide71h.html | title=Perl 6 Is Here Today: Self hosting approach | author=[[Autrijus Tang|Tang, Autrijus]] | year=2005 | publisher=pugscode.org}}</ref>
<code>[[v6 (Perl)|v6.pm]]</code> is a pure Perl 5 implementation of Perl 6, making liberal use of existing [[CPAN]] modules, such as <code>Moose</code> and <code>Pugs::Compiler::Rule</code>. It aims to make the existing perl runtime a first-class virtual machine for both Perl 5 and Perl 6.<ref name="v6Release">{{cite web | url=http://use.perl.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/07/1532235&from=rss | title=Pugs 6.2.12 and v6.pm released! | author=audreyt | publisher=use Perl }}</ref>
In [[2007]], v6-MiniPerl6 ("mp6") and its reimplementation, v6-KindaPerl6 ("kp6") were written as a means to bootstrap the Perl-6.0.0 STD, using Perl 5. The STD is a full grammar for Perl 6, and is written in Perl 6. In theory, anything capable of parsing the STD and generating executable code is a suitable bootstrapping system for Perl 6. kp6 is currently compiled by mp6 and can work with multiple backends.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://darcs.pugscode.org/v6/v6-KindaPerl6/docs/FAQ.pod | title=mp6/kp6 FAQ | year=2006 | publisher=Perl 6 development team}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://dev.pugscode.org/browser/src/perl6/Perl-6.0.0-STD.pm | title=Perl 6 STD | author=Wall, Larry, et al. | year=2007}}</ref> mp6 and kp6 are not full Perl 6 implementations, and are designed only to implement the minimum featureset required to bootstrap a full Perl 6 compiler.
== Major changes from Perl 5 ==
Perl 5 and Perl 6 differ fundamentally, though in general the intent has been to "keep Perl 6 Perl". Most of the changes are intended to normalize the language, to make it easier for learning and expert programmers alike to understand, and to make "easy things easier and hard things more possible".
=== A specification ===
A major, but non-technical difference between Perl 5 and Perl 6 is that Perl 6 began as a specification.<ref name="syn01"/> This means that Perl 6 can be re-implemented if needed, and it also means that programmers don't have to read the source code for the ultimate authority on any given feature. Perl 5's documentation was regarded as excellent, even outside of the Perl community where even mixed reviews typically noted its maturity and breadth. However, if the documentation and the source code of the Perl 5 interpreter disagreed, the documentation was not considered authoritative, and would be changed.
=== A type system ===
In Perl 6, the [[Datatype#Static and dynamic typing|dynamic type system]] of Perl 5 has been augmented by the addition of static types.<ref name="syn2">{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/syn/S02.html | title=Synopsis 2: Bits and Pieces | author=Wall, Larry | date=[[2004-08-10]] }}</ref> For example:
my Int $i = 0;
my Num $n = 3.142;
my Str $s = "Hello, world";
However, as with Perl 5, programmers can do most things without any explicit typing at all:
my $i = "25" + 10; # $i is 35
Proponents of [[Type system|static typing]] claim that it is beneficial to compiler optimization, reducing programming errors and increasing maintainability, especially in large software projects.
On the other hand, [[Type system|dynamic typing]] reduces input source code size,{{Fact|date=June 2007}} which is the bottleneck on smaller projects. It is helpful when writing quick [[scripting programming language|script]]s, [[one-liner program|one-liners]] or "one-off" code (i.e., code that is written to achieve some temporary purpose and will be run once).
Perl 6 offers a hybrid typing system whereby the programmer may choose to use Static Typing, Dynamic Typing or mix the two.
=== Formal subroutine parameter lists ===
Perl 5 defined subroutines without [[parameter (computer science)|formal parameter]] lists at all (though simple parameter counting and some very loose type checking can be done using Perl 5's "prototypes"). Subroutine arguments passed in were aliased into the elements of the array <tt>@_</tt>. If <tt>@_</tt> were modified, the changes would be reflected in the original data.
Perl 6 introduces true formal parameters to the language.<ref name="syn6">{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/syn/S06.html | title=Synopsis 6: Subroutines | author=Wall, Larry | date=[[2003-03-21]] }}</ref> In Perl 6, a subroutine declaration looks like this:
sub do_something(Str $thing, Int $other) { ... }
As in Perl 5, the formal parameters (i.e., the variables in the parameter list) are aliases to the actual parameters (the values passed in), but by default, the aliases are [[Variable#Constant|constant]] so they cannot be modified. They may be declared explicitly as read-write aliases for the original value or as copies using the <code>is rw</code> or <code>is copy</code> directives should the programmer require them to be modified locally.
====Parameter passing modes====
Perl 6 provides three basic modes of parameter passing:
* Positional
* Named
* Slurpy
Positional parameters are the typical ordered list of parameters that most programming languages use. All parameters may also be passed by using their name in an unordered way. A named-only parameter can only be passed by specifying its name (that is, it never captures a positional argument), and are indicated with a leading <code>:</code> character. Slurpy parameters (indicated by an <code>*</code> before the parameter name) are Perl 6's tool for creating [[variadic function]]s. A slurpy hash will capture remaining passed-by-name parameters, whereas a slurpy array will capture remaining passed-by-position parameters.
Here is an example of the use of all three parameter-passing modes:
sub somefunction($a, $b, :$c, :$d, *@e) {...}
somefunction(1, 2, :d<3>, 4, 5, 6); # $a=1, $b=2, $d=3, @e=(4,5,6)
somefunction(:b<2>, :a<1>); # $a=1, $b=2
Positional parameters, such as those used above are always required, unless followed by <code>?</code> to indicate that they are optional. Named parameters are optional by default, but may be marked as required by adding <code>!</code> after the variable name. Slurpy parameters are ''always'' optional.
====Blocks and closures====
Parameters can also be passed to arbitrary blocks, which act as [[Closure (computer science)|closures]]. This is how, for example, <code>for</code> and <code>while</code> loop iterators are named. In the following example, a list is traversed, 3 elements at a time, and passed to the loop's block as the variables, <code>$a, $b, $c</code>.
for @list -> ($a, $b, $c) { ... }
This is generally referred to as a "pointy sub" or "pointy block", and the arrow behaves almost exactly like the <code>sub</code> keyword, introducing an anonymous closure (or anonymous subroutine in Perl 5 terminology).<ref name="syn6"/>
=== Sigil invariance ===
In Perl 5, [[Sigil (computer programming)|''sigils'']] — the punctuation characters that precede a variable name — changed depending on how the variable was used:
# Perl 5 code
my <span style="color:red">@</span>array = (1, 2, 3);
my $element = <span style="color:red">$</span>array[1]; # $element equals 2
In Perl 6, sigils are invariant, which mean they do not change based on whether it is the array or the array element that is needed:<ref name="syn2"/>
# Perl 6 code
my <span style="color:red">@</span>array = (1, 2, 3);
my $element = <span style="color:red">@</span>array[1]; # $element equals 2
The variance in Perl 5 was inspired by natural language:
"'''The''' apple". # CORRECT
"'''These''' apples. # CORRECT
"'''The''' third one of the apples". # CORRECT
"'''These''' third one of the apples". # WRONG
The change in Perl 6 is meant to reduce the [[cognitive load]] of recognizing when to use the ''@'' or the ''$''.
=== Object-oriented programming ===
Perl 5 supported [[object-oriented programming]] via a mechanism known as ''blessing''. Any [[reference (computer science)|reference]] could be blessed into being an object of a particular class, a blessed object could have [[method (computer science)|method]]s invoked on it using the "arrow syntax" which would cause Perl to locate or "dispatch" an appropriate [[subroutine]] by name, and call it with the blessed variable as its first argument.
While extremely powerful—virtually any other computer language's [[object model]] could be simulated using this simple facility—it made the most common case of object orientation, a [[struct]]-like object with some associated code, unnecessarily difficult. In addition, because Perl could make no assumptions about the object model in use, method invocation could not be optimized very well.
In the spirit of making the "easy things easy but hard things possible", Perl 6 retains the blessing model but supplies a more robust object model for the common cases.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/syn/S12.html | title=Synopsis 12: Objects | author=Wall, Larry | date=[[2006-08-18]] }}</ref> For example, a class to encapsulate a [[Cartesian coordinate system|Cartesian]] [[point (geometry)|point]] could be defined and used this way:
class Point is rw {
has $.x;
has $.y;
}
my Point $point .= new( :x<1.2>, :y<-3.7> );
# Now change x (note method "x" used as lvalue):
$point.x = 2;
say "Point is at X ___location: ", $point.x;
The dot replaces the arrow in a nod to the many other languages (e.g. [[Java (programming language)|Java]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], etc.) that have coalesced around dot as the syntax for method invocation.
In the terminology of Perl 6, <code>$.x</code> is called an "attribute". Some languages call these fields or members. The method used to access an attribute is called an "accessor". Auto-accessors are methods that are created automatically, as the method <code>x</code> is in the example above. These accessor functions return the value of the attribute. When a class or individual attribute is declared with the <code>is rw</code> modifier (short for "read/write"), the auto-accessor can be passed a new value to set the attribute to, or it can be directly assigned to as an [[lvalue]] (as in the example). Auto-accessors can be replaced by user-defined methods, should the programmer desire a richer interface to an attribute. Attributes can only be accessed directly from within a class definition. All other access must go through the accessor methods.
==== Roles ====
Roles in Perl 6 take on the function of both ''interfaces'' in Java and [[Trait (abstract type)|traits]]<ref>{{cite web | title=Traits | url=http://www.iam.unibe.ch/~scg/Research/Traits/ | author=The Software Composition Group | year=2003}}</ref> in [[Smalltalk]] variant [[Squeak]]. These are much like classes, but are entirely [[Abstraction (computer science)|abstract]]. These are used to perform composition when used with classes rather than adding to their [[Inheritance (computer science)|inheritance]] chain. Roles define nominal types; they provide semantic names for collections of behavior and state.
The fundamental difference between a role and a class is that classes are instantiable; roles are not.<ref>{{cite web | title=Roles: Composable Units of Object Behavior | url=http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2006/08/roles_composable_units_of_obje.html | author=chromatic | year=2006}}</ref>
=== Regular expressions ===
{{main|Perl 6 rules}}
Perl's [[regular expression]] and string-processing support has always been one of its defining features.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://cslibrary.stanford.edu/108/EssentialPerl.html#re | title=Essential Perl: String Processing with Regular Expressions | author=Parlante, Nick | year=2000}}</ref> Since Perl's pattern-matching constructs have exceeded the capabilities of [[Formal language|formal]] regular expressions for some time, Perl 6 documentation will exclusively refer to them as ''regexes'', distancing the term from the formal definition.
Perl 6 provides a superset of Perl 5 features with respect to regexes, folding them into a larger framework called "rules" which provide the capabilities of [[context-sensitive]] [[parsing]] formalisms (such as the [[syntactic predicate]]s of [[parsing expression grammar]]s and [[ANTLR]]), as well as acting as a [[Closure (computer science)|closure]] with respect to their [[Scope (programming)|lexical scope]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/syn/S05.html | title=Synopsis 5: Regexes and Rules | author=Wall, Larry | date=[[2002-06-24]] }}</ref> Rules are introduced with the <code>rule</code> keyword which has a usage quite similar to subroutine definition. Anonymous rules can also be introduced with the <code>regex</code> (or <code>rx</code>) keyword, or they can simply be used inline as regexps were in Perl 5 via the <code>m</code> (matching) or <code>s</code> (search and replace) operators.
In ''Apocalypse 5'', Larry Wall enumerated 20 problems with "current regex culture". Among these were that Perl's regexes were "too compact and 'cute'", had "too much reliance on too few metacharacters", "little support for named captures", "little support for grammars", and "poor integration with [the] 'real' language".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/apo/A05.html | title=Apocalypse 5: Pattern Matching | author=Wall, Larry | date=[[2002-06-04]] }}</ref>
=== Syntactic simplification ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Ellipsis]] -->
Some Perl 5 constructs have been changed in Perl 6, optimized for different syntactic cues for the most common cases. For example, the parentheses (round [[bracket]]s) required in [[control flow]] constructs in Perl 5 are now optional:<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/syn/S04.html | title=Synopsis 4: Blocks and Statements | author=Wall, Larry | date=[[2004-08-19]] }}</ref>
if is_true() {
for @array {
...
}
}
This is a trade-off, because the curly brace following the conditional must now have a space ahead of it, so it's merely a trade of one kind of marker (parens) for another kind of marker
(significant whitespace).
Also, the <code>,</code> (comma) operator is now a list constructor, so enclosing parentheses are no longer required around lists. The code
@array = 1, 2, 3, 4;
now makes @array an array with exactly the elements '1', '2', '3', and '4'.
=== Chained comparisons ===
Perl 6 allows comparisons to "chain". That is, a sequence of comparisons such as the following are allowed:
if C(20) <= $temperature <= C(25) { say "Room temperature!" }
This is treated as if each left-to-right comparison were performed on its own, and the result is logically combined via the <code>and</code> operation.
=== Lazy evaluation ===
Perl 6 uses the technique of [[lazy evaluation]] of lists that has been a feature of some [[functional programming]] languages such as [[Haskell (programming language)|Haskell]]:<ref name="syn9">{{cite web | url=http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/design/syn/S09.html | title=Synopsis 9: Data Structures | author=Wall, Larry | date=[[2004-09-13]] }}</ref>
@integers = 0..Inf; # integers from 0 to infinity
The code above will not crash by attempting to assign a list of infinite size to the array <code>@integers</code>, nor will it hang indefinitely in attempting to expand the list if a limited number of slots are searched.
This simplifies many common tasks in Perl 6 including input/output operations, list transformations and parameter passing.
=== Junctions ===
Perl 6 introduces the concept of ''junctions'': values that are composites of other values.<ref name="syn9"/> In the earliest days of Perl 6's design, these were called "superpositions", by analogy to the concept in [[quantum physics]] of [[quantum superposition]]s — waveforms that can simultaneously occupy several states until observation "collapses" them. A Perl 5 module released in [[2000]] by [[Damian Conway]] called <code>Quantum::Superpositions</code><ref>{{cite web | url=http://search.cpan.org/dist/Quantum-Superpositions/lib/Quantum/Superpositions.pm | title=Quantum::Superpositions - QM-like superpositions in Perl | author=[[Damian Conway|Conway, Damian]] | year=2002 }}</ref> provided an initial [[proof of concept]]. While at first, such superpositional values seemed like merely a programmatic curiosity, over time their utility and intuitiveness became widely recognized, and junctions now occupy a central place in Perl 6's design.
In their simplest form, junctions are created by combining a set of values with junctive [[Operator (programming)|operator]]s:
my $any_even_digit = 0|2|4|6|8; # any(0, 2, 4, 6, 8)
my $all_odd_digits = 1&3&5&7&9; # all(1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
<code>|</code> indicates a value which is equal to either its left ''or'' right-hand arguments. <code>&</code> indicates a value which is equal to both its left ''and'' right-hand arguments. These values can be used in any code that would use a normal value. Operations performed on a junction act on all members of the junction equally, and combine according to the junctive operator. So, <code>("apple"|"banana") ~ "s"</code> would yield <code>"apples"|"bananas"</code>. In comparisons, junctions return a single true or false result for the comparison. <code>|</code> or <code>any</code> junctions return true if the comparison is true for any one of the elements of the junction. <code>&</code> or <code>all</code> junctions return true if the comparison is true for all of the elements of the junction.
Junctions can also be used to more richly augment the type system by introducing a style of [[generic programming]] that is constrained to junctions of types:
sub get_tint ( RGB_Color|CMYK_Color $color, num $opacity) { ... }
sub store_record (Record&Storable $rec) { ... }
====Autothreading====
Junctions are unordered; <code>1|2|3</code> and <code>3|2|1</code> represent the same value. This lack of ordering means that the Perl 6 compiler can choose to evaluate junctive expressions ''in parallel''. For instance, the code:
for all(@array) { ... }
would indicate to the compiler that the <code>for</code> loop should be run in parallel, possibly in separate [[Thread (computer science)|threads]]. This feature is dubbed "autothreading"; its usage and implementation is not finalized and is a matter of debate in the development community.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl6.language/browse_frm/thread/868ab2f20deb00d8/9e7da05315e91e13?tvc=1#9e7da05315e91e13 | title=Junction Values | author=Adams, Rod | date=[[2005-02-15]] }}</ref>
===Macros===
In low-level languages, the concept of [[macro]]s has become synonymous with textual substitution of source-code due to the widespread use of the [[C preprocessor]]. However, high-level languages such as [[Lisp programming language|Lisp]] pre-dated C in their use of macros that were far more powerful.<ref>{{cite book | title=Successful Lisp: How to Understand and Use Common Lisp | author=Lamkins, David B. | date=[[2004-12-08]] | publisher=bookfix.com | url=http://psg.com/~dlamkins/sl/chapter20.html}}</ref> It is this Lisp-like macro concept that Perl 6 will take advantage of.<ref name="syn6"/> The power of this sort of macro stems from the fact that it operates on the program as a high-level [[data structure]], rather than as simple text, and has the full capabilities of the programming language at its disposal.
A Perl 6 macro definition will look like a subroutine or method definition, and can operate on unparsed strings, an [[Abstract syntax tree|AST]] representing pre-parsed code, or a combination of the two. A macro definition would look like this:
macro hello($what) {
q:code { say "Hello { {{{$what}}} }" };
}
In this particular example, the macro is no more complex than a C-style textual substitution, but because parsing of the macro parameter occurs before the macro operates on the calling code, diagnostic messages would be far more informative. However, because the body of a macro is executed at [[compile time]] each time it is used, many techniques of [[Optimization (computer science)|optimization]] can be employed. It is even possible to entirely eliminate complex computations from resulting programs by performing the work at compile-time.
== Hello world ==
The [[hello world program]] is often used in demonstrating a programming language's most routine usage. In Perl 6, hello world can be written:
say "Hello world"
-- though [[there is more than one way to do it]].The <code>say</code> function, which is new in Perl 6, prints its parameters (like the <code>print</code> function), but with a trailing [[newline]].
==References==
<references/>
== External links ==
===Specification===
* [http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/synopsis.html Synopses - The evolving summary of each Apocalypse, updated regularly]. These are considered to be the official language specification.
* [http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/exegesis.html Exegeses - Further explanation of each Apocalypse with code samples]
* [http://dev.perl.org/perl6/doc/apocalypse.html Apocalypses - The first-pass drafts from Larry Wall]
* [http://dev.perl.org/perl6/rfc The original community RFCs]
* [http://feather.perl6.nl/syn/ Official Perl 6 Documentation] These contain code snippets from the [[Pugs]] test suite.
===Implementations===
* [http://dev.perl.org/perl6/ The main site for Perl 6 development]
* [http://www.pugscode.org/ Pugs] - A current implementation of Perl 6, written in [[Haskell (programming language)|Haskell]].
* [http://search.cpan.org/dist/v6-alpha/ v6.pm] - A pure-perl implementation, based on a [http://pugs.blogs.com/pugs/2006/07/diagram_for_per.html Perl 6's CPAN stack].
* [http://www.parrotcode.org/ parrotcode] - The main site for [[Parrot virtual machine|Parrot]] development.
===Other===
* [http://planetsix.perl.org/ Planet Perl 6] - Perl 6's blogs aggregrator.
* [http://wiki.osdc.org.il/index.php/Larry_Wall_-_Present_Continuous%2C_Future_Perfect Present Continuous, Future Perfect] - Larry Wall's talk about Perl 5 and Perl 6 at Open Source Developer Conference 2006 in [[Netanya]], Israel (HTML, with links to slides and audio recording)
* [http://www.programmersheaven.com/2/Perl6-FAQ Perl 6 FAQ] - Answers a wide range of questions about Perl 6.
* [http://www.programmersheaven.com/2/Perl6-QuickStart Perl 6 Quick-Start] - A step-by-step guide to writing and running your first Perl 6 program.
[[Category:Perl]]
[[Category:Upcoming software]]
[[cs:Perl 6]]
[[es:Perl 6]]
[[fr:Perl 6]]
[[fi:Perl 6]]
[[sv:Perl 6]]
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