NAME
MooX::Pression - express yourself through moo
SYNOPSIS
MyApp.pm
use v5.18;
use strict;
use warnings;
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
class Person {
has name ( type => Str, required => true );
has gender ( type => Str );
factory new_man (Str $name) {
return $class->new(name => $name, gender => 'male');
}
factory new_woman (Str $name) {
return $class->new(name => $name, gender => 'female');
}
method greet (Person *friend, Str *greeting = "Hello") {
printf("%s, %s!\n", $arg->greeting, $arg->friend->name);
}
coerce from Str via from_string {
return $class->new(name => $_);
}
}
}
my_script.pl
use v5.18;
use strict;
use warnings;
use MyApp;
use MyApp::Types qw( is_Person );
# Create a new MyApp::Person object.
#
my $alice = MyApp->new_woman("Alice");
is_Person($alice) or die;
# The string "Bob" will be coerced to a MyApp::Person.
#
$alice->greet(friend => "Bob", greeting => 'Hi');
DESCRIPTION
MooX::Pression is kind of like Moops; a marrying together of Moo with
Type::Tiny and some keyword declaration magic. Instead of being built on
Kavorka, Parse::Keyword, Keyword::Simple and a whole heap of crack, it is
built on MooX::Press, Keyword::Simple, and PPR. I'm not saying there isn't
some crazy stuff going on under the hood, but it ought to be a little more
maintainable.
Some of the insane features of Moops have been dialled back, and others
have been amped up.
It's more opinionated about API design and usage than Moops is, but in
most cases, it should be fairly easy to port Moops code to MooX::Pression.
MooX::Pression requires Perl 5.18.0 or above. It may work on Perl 5.14.x
and Perl 5.16.x partly, but there are likely to be issues.
MooX::Press is a less magic version of MooX::Pression and only requires
Perl 5.8.8 or above.
Important Concepts
The Factory Package and Prefix
MooX::Pression assumes that all the classes and roles you are building
with it will be defined under the same namespace prefix. For example
"MyApp::Person" and "MyApp::Company" are both defined under the common
prefix of "MyApp".
It also assumes there will be a factory package that can be used to build
new instances of your class. Rather than creating a new person object with
`MyApp::Person->new()`, you should create a new person object with
`MyApp->new_person()`. Calling `MyApp::Person->new()` directly is only
encouraged from within the "MyApp::Person" class itself, and from within
the factory. Everywhere else, you should call `MyApp->new_person()`
instead.
By default, the factory package and the prefix are the same: they are the
caller that you imported MooX::Pression into. But they can be set to
whatever:
use MooX::Pression (
prefix => 'MyApp::Objects',
factory_package => 'MyApp::Makers',
);
MooX::Pression assumes that you are defining all the classes and roles
within this namespace prefix in a single Perl module file. This Perl
module file would normally be named based on the prefix, so in the example
above, it would be "MyApp/Objects.pm" and in the example from the
SYNOPSIS, it would be "MyApp.pm".
But see also the documentation for `include`.
Of course, there is nothing to stop you from having multiple prefixes for
different logical parts of a larger codebase, but MooX::Pression assumes
that if it's been set up for a prefix, it owns that prefix and everything
under it, and it's all defined in the same Perl module.
Each object defined by MooX::Pression will have a `FACTORY` method, so you
can do:
$person_object->FACTORY
And it will return the string "MyApp". This allows for stuff like:
class Person {
method give_birth {
return $self->FACTORY->new_person();
}
}
The Type Library
While building your classes and objects, MooX::Pression will also build
type constraints for each of them. So for the "MyApp::Person" class above,
it also builds a Person type constraint. This can be used in Moo/Moose
attribute definitions like:
use MyApp;
use MyApp::Types qw( Person );
use Moose;
has boss => (is => 'rw', isa => Person);
And just anywhere a type constraint may be used generally. You should know
this stuff by now.
Note that we had to `use MyApp` before we could `use MyApp::Types`. This
is because there isn't a physical "MyApp/Types.pm" file on disk; it is
defined entirely by "MyApp.pm".
Your type library will be the same as your namespace prefix, with
"::Types" added at the end. But you can change that:
use MooX::Pression (
prefix => 'MyApp::Objects',
factory_package => 'MyApp::Makers',
type_library => 'MyApp::TypeLibrary',
);
It can sometimes be helpful to pre-warn MooX::Pression about the types
you're going to define before you define them, just so it is able to allow
them as barewords in some places...
use MooX::Pression (
prefix => 'MyApp::Objects',
factory_package => 'MyApp::Makers',
type_library => 'MyApp::TypeLibrary',
declare => [qw( Person Company )],
);
See also Type::Tiny::Manual.
Keywords
`class`
Define a very basic class:
class Person;
Define a more complicated class:
class Person {
...;
}
Note that for the `class` keyword without a block, it does *not* act like
the `package` keyword by changing the "ambient" package. It just defines a
totally empty class with no methods or attributes.
The prefix will automatically be added to the class name, so if the prefix
is MyApp, the above will create a class called MyApp::Person. It will also
create a factory method `MyApp->new_person`. (The name is generated by
stripping the prefix from the class name, replacing any "::" with an
underscore, lowercasing, and prefixing it with "new_".) And it will create
a type called Person in the type library. (Same rules to generate the name
apart from lowercasing and adding "new_".)
Classes can be given more complex names:
class Person::Neanderthal {
...;
}
Will create "MyApp::Person::Neanderthal" class, a factory method called
`MyApp->new_person_neanderthal`, and a Person_Neanderthal type.
It is possible to create a class without the prefix:
class ::Person {
...;
}
The class name will now be "Person" instead of "MyApp::Person"!
Nested classes
`class` blocks can be nested. This establishes an inheritance heirarchy.
class Animal {
has name;
class Mammal {
class Primate {
class Monkey;
class Gorilla;
class Human {
class Superhuman;
}
}
}
class Bird;
class Fish {
class Shark;
}
}
my $superman = MyApp->new_superhuman( name => 'Kal El' );
See also `extends` as an alternative way of declaring inheritance.
It is possible to prefix a class name with a plus sign:
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
class Person {
has name;
class +Employee {
has job_title;
}
}
}
Now the employee class will be named `MyApp::Person::Employee` instead of
the usual `MyApp::Employee`.
Classes can be declared as abstract:
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
abstract class Animal {
class Cat;
class Dog;
}
}
For abstract classes, there is no constructor or factory, so you cannot
create an Animal instance directly; but you can create instances of the
subclasses. It is usually better to use roles than abstract classes, but
sometimes the abstract class makes more intuitive sense.
`role`
Define a very basic role:
role Person;
Define a more complicated role:
role Person {
...;
}
This is just the same as `class` but defines a role instead of a class.
Roles cannot be nested within each other, nor can roles be nested in
classes, nor classes in roles.
`interface`
An interface is a lightweight role. It cannot define attributes, methods,
multimethods, or method modifiers, but otherwise functions as a role. (It
may have `requires` statements and define constants.)
package MyApp;
use MooX::Pression;
interface Serializer {
requires serialize;
}
interface Deserializer {
requires deserialize;
}
class MyJSON {
with Serializer, Deserialize;
method serialize ($value) { ... }
method deserialize ($value) { ... }
}
my $obj = MyApp->new_myjson;
$obj->does('MyApp::Serializer'); # true
`toolkit`
Use a different toolkit instead of Moo.
# use Mouse
class Foo {
toolkit Mouse;
}
# use Moose
# use MooseX::Aliases
# use MooseX::StrictConstructor
class Bar {
toolkit Moose ( Aliases, StrictConstructor );
}
You can of course specify you want to use Moo:
class Baz {
toolkit Moo;
}
Not all MooseX/MouseX/MooX packages will work, but *X::StrictConstructor
will.
Although it is not possible to use the `toolkit` keyword outside of
`class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and `interface` blocks, it is possible
to specify a default toolkit when you import MooX::Pression.
use MooX::Pression (
...,
toolkit => 'Moose',
);
use MooX::Pression (
...,
toolkit => 'Mouse',
);
`extends`
Defines a parent class. Only for use within `class` and `abstract class`
blocks.
class Person {
extends Animal;
}
This works:
class Person {
extends ::Animal; # no prefix
}
`with`
Composes roles.
class Person {
with Employable, Consumer;
}
role Consumer;
role Worker;
role Payable;
role Employable {
with Worker, Payable;
}
Because roles are processed before classes, you can compose roles into
classes where the role is defined later in the file. But if you compose
one role into another, you must define them in a sensible order.
It is possible to compose a role that does not exist by adding a question
mark to the end of it:
class Person {
with Employable, Consumer?;
}
role Employable {
with Worker?, Payable?;
}
This is equivalent to declaring an empty role.
The `with` keyword cannot be used outside of `class`, `abstract class`,
`role`, and `interface` blocks.
`begin`
This code gets run early on in the definition of a class or role.
class Person {
begin {
say "Defining $package";
}
}
At the time the code gets run, none of the class's attributes or methods
will be defined yet.
The lexical variables $package and $kind are defined within the block.
$kind will be either 'class' or 'role'.
The `begin` keyword cannot be used outside of `class`, `abstract class`,
`role`, and `interface` blocks, though it is possible to define a global
default for it:
use MooX::Pression (
...,
begin => sub {
my ($package, $kind) = @_;
...;
},
);
Per-package `begin` overrides the global `begin`.
Unlike Perl's `BEGIN` keyword, a package can only have one `begin`.
If `class` definitions are nested, `begin` blocks will be inherited by
child classes. If a parent class is specified via `extends`, `begin`
blocks will not be inherited.
`end`
This code gets run late in the definition of a class or role.
class Person {
end {
say "Finished defining $package";
}
}
The lexical variables $package and $kind are defined within the block.
$kind will be either 'class' or 'role'.
The `end` keyword cannot be used outside of `class`, `abstract class`,
`role`, and `interface` blocks, though it is possible to define a global
default for it:
use MooX::Pression (
...,
end => sub {
my ($package, $kind) = @_;
...;
},
);
Per-package `end` overrides the global `end`.
Unlike Perl's `END` keyword, a package can only have one `end`.
If `class` definitions are nested, `end` blocks will be inherited by child
classes. If a parent class is specified via `extends`, `end` blocks will
not be inherited.
`has`
Defines an attribute.
class Person {
has name;
has age;
}
my $bob = MyApp->new_person(name => "Bob", age => 21);
Cannot be used outside of `class`, `abstract class`, and `role` blocks.
Moo-style attribute specifications may be given:
class Person {
has name ( is => rw, type => Str, required => true );
has age ( is => rw, type => Int );
}
Note there is no fat comma after the attribute name! It is a bareword.
Use a plus sign before an attribute name to modify an attribute defined in
a parent class.
class Animal {
has name ( type => Str, required => false );
class Person {
has +name ( required => true );
}
}
`rw`, `rwp`, `ro`, `lazy`, `bare`, `true`, and `false` are allowed as
barewords for readability, but `is` is optional, and defaults to `rw`.
Note `type` instead of `isa`. Any type constraints from Types::Standard,
Types::Common::Numeric, and Types::Common::String will be avaiable as
barewords. Also, any pre-declared types can be used as barewords. It's
possible to quote types as strings, in which case you don't need to have
pre-declared them.
class Person {
has name ( type => Str, required => true );
has age ( type => Int );
has spouse ( type => 'Person' );
has kids (
is => lazy,
type => 'ArrayRef[Person]',
builder => sub { [] },
);
}
Note that when `type` is a string, MooX::Pression will consult your type
library to figure out what it means.
It is also possible to use `isa => 'SomeClass'` or `does => 'SomeRole'` to
force strings to be treated as class names or role names instead of type
names.
class Person {
has name ( type => Str, required => true );
has age ( type => Int );
has spouse ( isa => 'Person' );
has pet ( isa => '::Animal' ); # no prefix
}
For enumerations, you can define them like this:
class Person {
...;
has status ( enum => ['alive', 'dead', 'undead'] );
}
MooX::Pression integrates support for MooX::Enumeration (and
MooseX::Enumeration, but MouseX::Enumeration doesn't exist).
class Person {
...;
has status (
enum => ['alive', 'dead', 'undead'],
default => 'alive',
handles => 1,
);
}
my $bob = MyApp->new_person;
if ( $bob->is_alive ) {
...;
}
`handles => 1` creates methods named `is_alive`, `is_dead`, and
`is_undead`, and `handles => 2` creates methods named `status_is_alive`,
`status_is_dead`, and `status_is_undead`.
Checking `$bob->status eq 'alvie'` is prone to typos, but
`$bob->status_is_alvie` will cause a runtime error because the method is
not defined.
MooX::Pression also integrates support for Sub::HandlesVia allowing you to
delegate certain methods to unblessed references and non-reference values.
For example:
class Person {
has age (
type => 'Int',
default => 0,
handles_via => 'Counter',
handles => {
birthday => 'inc', # increment age
},
);
after birthday {
if ($self->age < 30) {
say "yay!";
}
else {
say "urgh!";
}
}
}
A trailing `!` indicates a required attribute.
class Person {
has name!;
}
It is possible to give a default using an equals sign.
class WidgetCollection {
has name = "Widgets";
has count (type => Num) = 0;
}
Note that the default comes after the spec, so in cases where the spec is
long, it may be clearer to express the default inside the spec:
class WidgetCollection {
has name = "Widgets";
has count (
type => Num,
lazy => true,
required => false,
default => 0,
);
}
Defaults given this way will be eager (non-lazy), but can be made lazy
using the spec:
class WidgetCollection {
has name = "Widgets";
has count (is => lazy) = 0;
}
Defaults *can* use the $self object:
class WidgetCollection {
has name = "Widgets";
has display_name = $self->name;
}
Any default that includes $self will automatically be lazy, but can be
made eager using the spec. (It is almost certainly a bad idea to do so
though.)
class WidgetCollection {
has name = "Widgets";
has display_name ( lazy => false ) = $self->name;
}
Commas may be used to separate multiple attributes:
class WidgetCollection {
has name, display_name ( type => Str );
}
The specification and defaults are applied to every attribute in the list.
If you need to decide an attribute name on-the-fly, you can replace the
name with a block that returns the name as a string.
class Employee {
extends Person;
has {
$ENV{LOCALE} eq 'GB'
? 'national_insurance_no'
: 'social_security_no'
} (type => Str)
}
my $bob = Employee->new(
name => 'Bob',
social_security_no => 1234,
);
You can think of the syntax as being kind of like `print`.
print BAREWORD_FILEHANDLE @strings;
print { block_returning_filehandle(); } @strings;
The block is called in scalar context, so you'll need a loop to define a
list like this:
class Person {
my @attrs = qw( name age );
# this does not work
has {@attrs} ( required => true );
# this works
for my $attr (@attrs) {
has {$attr} ( required => true );
}
}
The names of attributes can start with an asterisk:
has *foo;
This adds no extra meaning, but is supported for consistency with the
syntax of named parameters in method signatures. (Depending on your text
editor, it may also improve syntax highlighting.)
`constant`
Defines a constant.
class Person {
extends Animal;
constant latin_name = 'Homo sapiens';
}
`MyApp::Person->latin_name`, `MyApp::Person::latin_name`, and
`$person_object->latin_name` will return 'Homo sapiens'.
Outside of `class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and `interface` blocks, will
define a constant in the caller package. (That is, usually the factory.)
`method`
Defines a method.
class Person {
has spouse;
method marry {
my ($self, $partner) = @_;
$self->spouse($partner);
$partner->spouse($self);
return $self;
}
}
`sub { ... }` will not work as a way to define methods within the class.
Use `method { ... }` instead.
Outside of `class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and `interface` blocks,
`method` will define a method in the caller package. (Usually the
factory.)
The variables $self and $class will be automatically defined within all
methods. $self is set to $_[0] (though the invocant is not shifted off
@_). $class is set to `ref($self)||$self`. If the method is called as a
class method, both $self and $class will be the same thing: the full class
name as a string. If the method is called as an object method, $self is
the object and $class is its class.
Like with `has`, you may use a block that returns a string instead of a
bareword name for the method.
method {"ma"."rry"} {
...;
}
MooX::Pression supports method signatures for named arguments and
positional arguments. A mixture of named and positional arguments is
allowed, with some limitations. For anything more complicates, you should
define the method with no signature at all, and unpack @_ within the body
of the method.
Signatures for Named Arguments
class Person {
has spouse;
method marry ( Person *partner, Object *date = DateTime->now ) {
$self->spouse( $arg->partner );
$arg->partner->spouse( $self );
return $self;
}
}
The syntax for each named argument is:
Type *name = default
The type is a type name, which will be parsed using Type::Parser. (So it
can include the `~`, `|`, and `&`, operators, and can include parameters
in `[ ]` brackets. Type::Parser can handle whitespace in the type, but not
comments.
Alternatively, you can provide a block which returns a type name as a
string or returns a blessed Type::Tiny object. For very complex types,
where you're expressing additional coercions or value constraints, this is
probably what you want.
The asterisk indicates that the argument is named, not positional.
The name may be followed by a question mark to indicate an optional
argument.
method marry ( Person *partner, Object *date? ) {
...;
}
Or it may be followed by an equals sign to set a default value.
Comments may be included in the signature, but not in the middle of a type
constraint.
method marry (
# comment here is okay
Person
# comment here is fine too
*partner
# and here
) { ... }
method marry (
Person # comment here is not okay!
| Horse
*partner
) { ... }
As with signature-free methods, $self and $class wll be defined for you in
the body of the method. However, when a signature has been used $self *is*
shifted off @_.
Also within the body of the method, a variable called $arg is provided.
This is a hashref of the named arguments. So you can access the partner
argument in the above example like this:
$arg->{partner}
But because $arg is blessed, you can also do:
$arg->partner
The latter style is encouraged as it looks neater, plus it helps catch
typos. (`$ars->{pratner}` for example!) However, accessing it as a plain
hashref is supported and shouldn't be considered to be breaking
encapsulation.
For optional arguments you can check:
exists($arg->{date})
Or:
$arg->has_date
For types which have a coercion defined, the value will be automatically
coerced.
Methods with named arguments can be called with a hash or hashref.
$alice->marry( partner => $bob ); # okay
$alice->marry({ partner => $bob }); # also okay
Signatures for Positional Arguments
method marry ( Person $partner, Object $date? ) {
$self->spouse( $partner );
$partner->spouse( $self );
return $self;
}
The dollar sign is used instead of an asterisk to indicate a positional
argument.
As with named arguments, $self is automatically shifted off @_ and $class
exists. Unlike named arguments, there is no $arg variable, and instead a
scalar variable is defined for each named argument.
Optional arguments and defaults are supported in the same way as named
arguments.
It is possible to include a slurpy hash or array at the end of the list of
positional arguments.
method marry ( $partner, $date, @vows ) {
...;
}
If you need to perform a type check on the slurpy parameter, you should
pretend it is a hashref or arrayref.
method marry ( $partner, $date, ArrayRef[Str] @vows ) {
...;
}
Signatures with Mixed Arguments
Since MooX::Pression 0.200, you may mix named and positional arguments
with the following limitations:
* Positional arguments must appear at the beginning and/or end of the
list. They cannot be surrounded by named arguments.
* Positional arguments cannot be optional and cannot have a default.
They must be required. (Named arguments can be optional and have
defaults.)
* No slurpies!
method print_html ($tag, Str $text, *htmlver?, *xml?, $fh) {
confess "update your HTML" if $arg->htmlver < 5;
if (length $text) {
print $fh "$text";
}
elsif ($arg->xml) {
print $fh "";
}
else {
print $fh "";
}
}
$obj->print_html('h1', 'Hello World', { xml => true }, \*STDOUT);
$obj->print_html('h1', 'Hello World', xml => true , \*STDOUT);
$obj->print_html('h1', 'Hello World', \*STDOUT);
Mixed signatures are basically implemented like named signatures, but
prior to interpreting @_ as a hash, some parameters are spliced off the
head and tail. We need to know how many elements to splice off each end,
so that is why there are restrictions on slurpies and optional parameters.
Empty Signatures
There is a difference between the following two methods:
method foo {
...;
}
method foo () {
...;
}
In the first, you have not provided a signature and are expected to deal
with @_ in the body of the method. In the second, there is a signature,
but it is a signature showing that the method expects no arguments (other
than the invocant of course).
Optimizing Methods
For a slight compiled-time penalty, you can improve the speed which
methods run at using the `:optimize` attribute:
method foo :optimize (...) {
...;
}
Optimized methods must not close over any lexical (`my` or `our`)
variables; they can only access the variables declared in their,
signature, $self, $class, @_, and globals.
Anonymous Methods
It *is* possible to use `method` without a name to return an anonymous
method (coderef):
use MooX::Pression prefix => 'MyApp';
class MyClass {
method get_method ($foo) {
method ($bar) {
return $foo . $bar;
}
}
}
my $obj = MyApp->new_myclass;
my $anon = $obj->get_method("FOO");
say ref($anon); # CODE
say $obj->$anon("BAR"); # FOOBAR
Note that while $anon is a coderef, it is still a method, and still
expects to be passed an object as $self.
Due to limitations with Keyword::Simple, keywords are always complete
statements, so `method ...` has an implicit semicolon before and after it.
This means that this won't work:
my $x = method { ... };
Because it gets treated as:
my $x = ;
method { ... };
A workaround is to wrap it in a `do { ... }` block.
my $x = do { method { ... } };
Multimethods
Multi methods should *Just Work [tm]* if you prefix them with the keyword
`multi`
use MooX::Pression prefix => 'MyApp';
class Widget {
multi method foo :alias(quux) (Any $x) {
say "Buzz";
}
multi method foo (HashRef $h) {
say "Fizz";
}
}
my $thing = MyApp->new_widget;
$thing->foo( {} ); # Fizz
$thing->foo( 42 ); # Buzz
$thing->quux( {} ); # Buzz
This feature requires MooX::Press 0.035 and Sub::MultiMethod to be
installed.
Outside of `class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and `interface` blocks,
`multi method` will define a multi method in the caller package. (That is,
usually the factory.)
`requires`
Indicates that a role requires classes to fulfil certain methods.
role Payable {
requires account;
requires deposit (Num $amount);
}
class Employee {
extends Person;
with Payable;
has account!;
method deposit (Num $amount) {
...;
}
}
Required methods have an optional signature; this is usually ignored, but
if Devel::StrictMode determines that strict behaviour is being used, the
signature will be applied to the method via an `around` modifier.
Or to put it another way, this:
role Payable {
requires account;
requires deposit (Num $amount);
}
Is a shorthand for this:
role Payable {
requires account;
requires deposit;
use Devel::StrictMode 'STRICT';
if (STRICT) {
around deposit (Num $amount) {
$self->$next(@_);
}
}
}
Can only be used in `role` and `interface` blocks.
`before`
before marry {
say "Speak now or forever hold your peace!";
}
As with `method`, $self and $class are defined.
As with `method`, you can provide a signature:
before marry ( Person $partner, Object $date? ) {
say "Speak now or forever hold your peace!";
}
Note that this will result in the argument types being checked/coerced
twice; once by the before method modifier and once by the method itself.
Sometimes this may be desirable, but at other times your before method
modifier might not care about the types of the arguments, so can omit
checking them.
before marry ( $partner, $date? ) {
say "Speak now or forever hold your peace!";
}
Commas may be used to modify multiple methods:
before marry, sky_dive (@args) {
say "wish me luck!";
}
The `:optimize` attribute is supported for `before`.
Method modifiers do work outside of `class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and
`interface` blocks, modifying methods in the caller package, which is
usually the factory package.
`after`
There's not much to say about `after`. It's just like `before`.
after marry {
say "You may kiss the bride!";
}
after marry ( Person $partner, Object $date? ) {
say "You may kiss the bride!";
}
after marry ( $partner, $date? ) {
say "You may kiss the bride!";
}
Commas may be used to modify multiple methods:
after marry, finished_school_year (@args) {
$self->go_on_holiday();
}
The `:optimize` attribute is supported for `after`.
Method modifiers do work outside of `class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and
`interface` blocks, modifying methods in the caller package, which is
usually the factory package.
`around`
The `around` method modifier is somewhat more interesting.
around marry ( Person $partner, Object $date? ) {
say "Speak now or forever hold your peace!";
my $return = $self->$next(@_);
say "You may kiss the bride!";
return $return;
}
The $next variable holds a coderef pointing to the "original" method that
is being modified. This gives your method modifier the ability to munge
the arguments seen by the "original" method, and munge any return values.
(I say "original" in quote marks because it may not really be the original
method but another wrapper!)
$next and $self are both shifted off @_.
If you use the signature-free version then $next and $self are not shifted
off @_ for you, but the variables are still defined.
around marry {
say "Speak now or forever hold your peace!";
my $return = $self->$next($_[2], $_[3]);
say "You may kiss the bride!";
return $return;
}
Commas may be used to modify multiple methods:
around insert, update ($dbh, @args) {
$dbh->begin_transaction;
my $return = $self->$next(@_);
$dbh->commit_transaction;
return $return;
}
The `:optimize` attribute is supported for `around`.
Note that `SUPER::` won't work as expected in MooX::Pression, so `around`
should be used instead.
Method modifiers do work outside of `class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and
`interface` blocks, modifying methods in the caller package, which is
usually the factory package.
`factory`
The `factory` keyword is used to define alternative constructors for your
class.
class Person {
has name ( type => Str, required => true );
has gender ( type => Str );
factory new_man (Str $name) {
return $class->new(name => $name, gender => 'male');
}
factory new_woman (Str $name) {
return $class->new(name => $name, gender => 'female');
}
}
But here's the twist. These methods are defined within the factory
package, not within the class.
So you can call:
MyApp->new_man("Bob") # yes
But not:
MyApp::Person->new_man("Bob") # no
Note that if your class defines *any* factory methods like this, then the
default factory method (in this case `MyApp->new_person` will no longer be
automatically created. But you can create the default one easily:
class Person {
has name ( type => Str, required => true );
has gender ( type => Str );
factory new_man (Str $name) { ... }
factory new_woman (Str $name) { ... }
factory new_person; # no method signature or body!
}
Within a factory method body, the variable $class is defined, just like
normal methods, but $self is not defined. There is also a variable
$factory which is a string containing the factory package name. This is
because you sometimes need to create more than just one object in a
factory method.
class Wheel;
class Car {
has wheels = [];
factory new_three_wheeler () {
return $class->new(
wheels => [
$factory->new_wheel,
$factory->new_wheel,
$factory->new_wheel,
]
);
}
factory new_four_wheeler () {
return $class->new(
wheels => [
$factory->new_wheel,
$factory->new_wheel,
$factory->new_wheel,
$factory->new_wheel,
]
);
}
}
As with `method` and the method modifiers, if you provide a signature,
$factory and $class will be shifted off @_. If you don't provide a
signature, the variables will be defined, but not shifted off @_.
An alternative way to provide additional constructors is with `method` and
then use `factory` to proxy them.
class Person {
has name ( type => Str, required => true );
has gender ( type => Str );
method new_guy (Str $name) { ... }
method new_gal (Str $name) { ... }
factory new_person;
factory new_man via new_guy;
factory new_woman via new_gal;
}
Now `MyApp->new_man` will call `MyApp::Person->new_guy`.
`factory new_person` with no `via` or method body is basically like saying
`via new`.
The `:optimize` attribute is supported for `factory`.
The `factory` keyword can only be used inside `class` blocks.
Implementing a singleton
Factories make it pretty easy to implement a singleton.
class AppConfig {
...;
factory get_appconfig () {
state $config = $class->new();
}
}
Now `MyApp->get_appconfig` will always return the same AppConfig object.
Because any explicit use of the `factory` keyword in a class definition
suppresses the automatic creation of a factory method for the class, there
will be no `MyApp->new_appconfig` method for creating new objects of that
class.
(People can still manually call `MyApp::AppConfig->new` to get a new
AppConfig object, but remember MooX::Pression discourages calling
constructors directly, and encourages you to use the factory package for
instantiating objects!)
`type_name`
class Homo::Sapiens {
type_name Human;
}
The class will still be called MyApp::Homo::Sapiens but the type in the
type library will be called Human instead of Homo_Sapiens.
Can only be used in `class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and `interface`
blocks.
`coerce`
class Person {
has name ( type => Str, required => true );
has gender ( type => Str );
coerce from Str via from_string {
$class->new(name => $_);
}
}
class Company {
has owner ( type => 'Person', required => true );
}
my $acme = MyApp->new_company( owner => "Bob" );
Note that the company owner is supposed to be a person object, not a
string, but the Person class knows how create a person object from a
string.
Coercions are automatically enabled in a lot of places for types that have
a coercion. For example, types in signatures, and types in attribute
definitions.
Note that the coercion body doesn't allow signatures, and the value being
coerced will be found in $_. If you want to have signatures, you can
define a coercion as a normal method first:
class Person {
has name ( type => Str, required => true );
has gender ( type => Str );
method from_string ( Str $name ) {
$class->new(name => $name);
}
coerce from Str via from_string;
}
In both cases, a `MyApp::Person->from_string` method is generated which
can be called to manually coerce a string into a person object.
They keyword `from` is technically optional, but does make the statement
more readable.
coerce Str via from_string { # this works
$class->new(name => $_);
}
The `:optimize` attribute is not currently supported for `coerce`.
Can only be used in `class` blocks.
`overload`
class Collection {
has items = [];
overload '@{}' => sub { shift->list };
}
The list passed to `overload` is passed to overload with no other
processing.
Can only be used in `class` blocks.
`version`
class Person {
version 1.0;
}
This just sets $MyApp::Person::VERSION.
Can only be used in `class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and `interface`
blocks.
You can set a default version for all packages like this:
use MooX::Pression (
...,
version => 1.0,
);
If `class` definitions are nested, `version` will be inherited by child
classes. If a parent class is specified via `extends`, `version` will not
be inherited.
`authority`
class Person {
authority 'cpan:TOBYINK';
}
This just sets $MyApp::Person::AUTHORITY.
It is used to indicate who is the maintainer of the package.
Can only be used in `class`, `abstract class`, `role`, and `interface`
blocks.
use MooX::Pression (
...,
version => 1.0,
authority => 'cpan:TOBYINK',
);
If `class` definitions are nested, `authority` will be inherited by child
classes. If a parent class is specified via `extends`, `authority` will
not be inherited.
`include`
`include` is the MooX::Pression equivalent of Perl's `require`.
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
include Database;
include Classes;
include Roles;
}
It works somewhat more crudely than `require` and `use`, evaluating the
included file pretty much as if it had been copy and pasted into the file
that included it.
The names of the files to load are processsed using the same rules for
prefixes as classes and roles (so MyApp::Database, etc in the example),
and @INC is searched just like `require` and `use` do, but instead of
looking for a file called "MyApp/Database.pm", MooX::Pression will look
for "MyApp/Database.pl" (yes, ".pl"). This naming convention ensures
people won't accidentally load MyApp::Database using `use` or `require`
because it isn't intended to be loaded outside the context of the MyApp
package.
The file "MyApp/Database.pl" might look something like this:
class Database {
has dbh = DBI->connect(...);
factory get_db {
state $instance = $class->new;
}
}
Note that it doesn't start with a `package` statement, nor `use
MooX::Pression`. It's just straight on to the definitions. There's no `1;`
needed at the end.
`use strict` and `use warnings` are safe to put in the file if you need
them to satisfy linters, but they're not necessary because the contents of
the file are evaluated as if they had been copied and pasted into the main
MyApp module.
There are *no* checks to prevent a file from being included more than
once, and there are *no* checks to deal with cyclical inclusions.
Inclusions are currently only supported at the top level, and not within
class and role definitions.
`MooX::Pression::PACKAGE_SPEC()`
This function can be used while a class or role is being compiled to tweak
the specification for the class/role.
class Foo {
has foo;
MooX::Pression::PACKAGE_SPEC->{has}{foo}{type} = Int;
}
It returns a hashref of attributes, methods, etc. MooX::Press should give
you an idea about how the hashref is structured, but MooX::Pression only
supports a subset of what MooX::Press supports. For example, MooX::Press
allows `has` to be an arrayref or a hashref, but MooX::Pression only
supports a hashref. The exact subset that MooX::Pression supports is
subject to change without notice.
This can be used to access MooX::Press features that MooX::Pression
doesn't expose.
Helper Subs
Earlier it was stated that `sub` cannot be used to define methods in
classes and roles. This is true, but that doesn't mean that it has no use.
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
sub helper_function { ... }
class Foo {
method foo {
...;
helper_function(...);
...;
}
}
class Bar {
sub other_helper { ... }
method bar {
...;
helper_function(...);
other_helper(...);
...;
}
}
}
The subs defined by `sub` end up in the "MyApp" package, not "MyApp::Foo"
or "MyApp::Bar". They can be called by any of the classes and roles
defined in MyApp. This makes them suitable for helper subs like logging,
List::Util/Scalar::Util sorts of functions, and so on.
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
use List::Util qw( any all first reduce );
# the above functions are now available within
# all of MyApp's classes and roles, but won't
# pollute any of their namespaces.
use namespace::clean;
# And now they won't even pollute MyApp's namespace.
# Though I'm pretty sure this will also stop them
# from working in any methods that used ":optimize".
class Foo { ... }
role Bar { ... }
role Baz { ... }
}
`sub` is also usually your best option for those tiny little coderefs that
need to be defined here and there:
has foo (
is => lazy,
type => ArrayRef[Str],
builder => sub { [] },
);
Though consider using Sub::Quote if you're using Moo.
Utilities
MooX::Pression also exports constants `true` and `false` into your
namespace. These show clearer boolean intent in code than using 1 and 0.
MooX::Pression exports `rw`, `ro`, `rwp`, and `lazy` constants which make
your attribute specs a little cleaner looking.
MooX::Pression exports `blessed` from Scalar::Util because that can be
handy to have, and `confess` from Carp. MooX::Pression's copy of `confess`
is super-powered and runs its arguments through `sprintf`.
before vote {
if ($self->age < 18) {
confess("Can't vote, only %d", $self->age);
}
}
MooX::Pression turns on strict, warnings, and the following modern Perl
features:
# Perl 5.14 and Perl 5.16
say state unicode_strings
# Perl 5.18 or above
say state unicode_strings unicode_eval evalbytes current_sub fc
If you're wondering why not other features, it's because I didn't want to
enable any that are currently classed as experimental, nor any that
require a version of Perl above 5.18. The `switch` feature is mostly seen
as a failed experiment these days, and `lexical_subs` cannot be called as
methods so are less useful in object-oriented code.
You can, of course, turn on extra features yourself.
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
use feature qw( lexical_subs postderef );
...;
}
(The `current_sub` feature is unlikely to work fully unless you have
`:optimize` switched on for that method, or the method does not include a
signature. For non-optimized methods with a signature, a wrapper is
installed that handles checks, coercions, and defaults. `__SUB__` will
point to the "inner" sub, minus the wrapper.)
MooX::Pression exports Syntax::Keyword::Try for you. Useful to have.
And last but not least, it exports all the types, `is_*` functions, and
`assert_*` functions from Types::Standard, Types::Common::String, and
Types::Common::Numeric.
Anonymous Classes and Roles
Anonymous classes
It is possible to make anonymous classes:
my $class = do { class; };
my $object = $class->new;
The `do { ... }` block is necessary because of a limitation in
Keyword::Simple, where any keywords it defines must be complete
statements.
Anonymous classes can have methods and attributes and so on:
my $class = do { class {
has foo (type => Int);
has bar (type => Int);
}};
my $object = $class->new(foo => 1, bar => 2);
Anonymous classes *do not* implicitly inherit from their parent like named
nested classes do. Named classes nested inside anonymous classes *do not*
implicitly inherit from the anonymous class.
Having one anonymous class inherit from another can be done though:
my $base = do { class; }
my $derived = do { class {
extends {"::$k1"};
}};
This works because `extends` accepts a block which returns a string for
the package name, and the string needs to begin with "::" to avoid the
auto prefix mechanism.
Anonymous roles
Anonymous roles work in much the same way.
Parameterizable Classes and Roles
Parameterizable classes
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
class Animal {
has name;
}
class Species ( Str $common_name, Str $binomial ) {
extends Animal;
constant common_name = $common_name;
constant binomial = $binomial;
}
class Dog {
extends Species('dog', 'Canis familiaris');
method bark () {
say "woof!";
}
}
}
Here, "MyApp::Species" isn't a class in the usual sense; you cannot create
instances of it. It's like a template for generating classes. Then
"MyApp::Dog" generates a class from the template and inherits from that.
my $Cat = MyApp->generate_species('cat', 'Felis catus');
my $mog = $Cat->new(name => 'Mog');
$mog->isa('MyApp::Animal'); # true
$mog->isa('MyApp::Species'); # false!!!
$mog->isa($Cat); # true
Because there are never any instances of "MyApp::Species", it doesn't make
sense to have a Species type constraint. Instead there are SpeciesClass
and SpeciesInstance type constraints.
use MyApp::Types -is;
my $lassie = MyApp->new_dog;
is_Animal( $lassie ); # true
is_Dog( $lassie ); # true
is_SpeciesInstance( $lassie ); # true
is_SpeciesClass( ref($lassie) ); # true
Subclasses cannot be nested inside parameterizable classes, but
parameterizable classes can be nested inside regular classes, in which
case the classes they generate will inherit from the outer class.
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
class Animal {
has name;
class Species ( Str $common_name, Str $binomial ) {
constant common_name = $common_name;
constant binomial = $binomial;
}
}
class Dog {
extends Species('dog', 'Canis familiaris');
method bark () {
say "woof!";
}
}
}
Anonymous parameterizable classes are possible:
my $generator = do { class ($footype, $bartype) {
has foo (type => $footype);
has bar (type => $bartype);
};
my $class = $generator->generate_package(Int, Num);
my $object = $class->new(foo => 42, bar => 4.2);
Parameterizable roles
Often it makes more sense to parameterize roles than classes.
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
class Animal {
has name;
}
role Species ( Str $common_name, Str $binomial ) {
constant common_name = $common_name;
constant binomial = $binomial;
}
class Dog {
extends Animal;
with Species('dog', 'Canis familiaris'), GoodBoi?;
method bark () {
say "woof!";
}
}
}
Anonymous parameterizable roles are possible.
MooX::Pression vs Moops
MooX::Pression has fewer dependencies than Moops, and crucially doesn't
rely on Package::Keyword and Devel::CallParser which have... issues.
MooX::Pression uses Damian Conway's excellent PPR to handle most parsing
needs, so parsing should be more predictable.
Moops is faster though.
Here are a few key syntax and feature differences.
Declaring a class
Moops:
class Foo::Bar 1.0 extends Foo with Bar {
...;
}
MooX::Pression:
class Foo::Bar {
version 1.0;
extends Foo;
with Bar;
}
Moops and MooX::Pression use different logic for determining whether a
class name is "absolute" or "relative". In Moops, classes containing a
"::" are seen as absolute class names; in MooX::Pression, only classes
*starting with* "::" are taken to be absolute; all others are given the
prefix.
Moops:
package MyApp {
use Moops;
class Foo {
class Bar {
class Baz {
# Nesting class blocks establishes a naming
# heirarchy so this is MyApp::Foo::Bar::Baz!
}
}
}
}
MooX::Pression:
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
class Foo {
class Bar {
class Baz {
# This is only MyApp::Baz, but nesting
# establishes an @ISA chain instead.
}
}
}
}
How namespacing works
Moops:
use feature 'say';
package MyApp {
use Moops;
use List::Util qw(uniq);
class Foo {
say __PACKAGE__; # MyApp::Foo
say for uniq(1,2,1,3); # ERROR!
sub foo { ... } # MyApp::Foo::foo()
}
}
MooX::Pression:
use feature 'say';
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
use List::Util qw(uniq);
class Foo {
say __PACKAGE__; # MyApp
say for uniq(1,2,1,3); # this works fine
sub foo { ... } # MyApp::foo()
}
}
This is why you can't use `sub` to define methods in MooX::Pression. You
need to use the `method` keyword. In MooX::Pression, all the code in the
class definition block is still executing in the parent package's
namespace!
Multimethods
Moops/Kavorka multimethods are faster, but MooX::Pression is smarter at
picking the best candidate to dispatch to, and intelligently selecting
candidates across inheritance hierarchies and role compositions.
Other crazy Kavorka features
Kavorka allows you to mark certain parameters as read-only or aliases,
allows you to specify multiple names for named parameters, allows you to
rename the invocant, allows you to give methods and parameters attributes,
allows you to specify a method's return type, etc, etc.
MooX::Pression's `method` keyword is unlikely to ever offer as many
features as that. It is unlikely to offer many more features than it
currently offers.
If you need fine-grained control over how @_ is handled, just don't use a
signature and unpack @_ inside your method body however you need to.
Lexical accessors
Moops automatically imported `lexical_has` from Lexical::Accessor into
each class. MooX::Pression does not, but thanks to how namespacing works,
it only needs to be imported once if you want to use it.
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
use Lexical::Accessor;
class Foo {
my $identifier = lexical_has identifier => (
is => rw,
isa => Int,
default => sub { 0 },
);
method some_method () {
$self->$identifier( 123 ); # set identifier
...;
return $self->$identifier; # get identifier
}
}
}
Lexical accessors give you true private object attributes.
Factories
MooX::Pression puts an emphasis on having a factory package for
instantiating objects. Moops didn't have anything similar.
`augment` and `override`
These are Moose method modifiers that are not implemented by Moo. Moops
allows you to use these in Moose and Mouse classes, but not Moo classes.
MooX::Pression simply doesn't support them.
Type Libraries
Moops allowed you to declare multiple type libraries, define type
constraints in each, and specify for each class and role which type
libraries you want it to use.
MooX::Pression automatically creates a single type library for all your
classes and roles within a module to use, and automatically populates it
with the types it thinks you might want.
If you need to use other type constraints:
package MyApp {
use MooX::Pression;
# Just import types into the factory package!
use Types::Path::Tiny qw( Path );
class DataSource {
has file => ( type => Path );
method set_file ( Path $file ) {
$self->file( $file );
}
}
}
my $ds = MyApp->new_datasource;
$ds->set_file('blah.txt'); # coerce Str to Path
print $ds->file->slurp_utf8;
Constants
Moops:
class Foo {
define PI = 3.2;
}
MooX::Pression:
class Foo {
constant PI = 3.2;
}
Parameterizable classes and roles
These were always on my todo list for Moops; I doubt they'll ever be done.
They work nicely in MooX::Pression though.
BUGS
Please report any bugs to
.
TODO
Plugin system
MooX::Pression can often load MooX/MouseX/MooseX plugins and work fine
with them, but some things won't work, like plugins that rely on being
able to wrap `has`. So it would be nice to have a plugin system that
extensions can hook into.
If you're interested in extending MooX::Pression, file a bug report about
it and let's have a conversation about the best way for that to happen.
SEE ALSO
Less magic version: MooX::Press, portable::loader.
Important underlying technologies: Moo, Type::Tiny::Manual.
Similar modules: Moops, Kavorka, Dios, MooseX::Declare.
AUTHOR
Toby Inkster .
COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE
This software is copyright (c) 2020 by Toby Inkster.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.