Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials, Second Edition

The Community's Rewrite of Perl

By Allison Randal, Dan Sugalski, Leopold Tötsch
June 2004
Pages: 294
ISBN 10: 0-596-00737-X | ISBN 13: 9780596007379
(4) (Average of 1 Customer Reviews)

Description

This book is an unparalleled sneak-peek of what's coming in the widely-anticipated Perl 6. It uncovers groundbreaking new developments in Parrot--the interpreter engine that will execute code written in the new Perl 6 language and the most revolutionary change in the language itself--Apocalypse 12 on objects. It also includes expanded coverage of Apocalypse 5 (regular expressions) and Apocalypse 6 (subroutines).
Full Description

Distilling many years of Perl experience--including an insiders look at Perl development (the authors are members of the Perl 6 core development team)--Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials, 2nd Edition is an unparalleled preview of major changes in the widely-anticipated Perl 6. This sneak peek of what's coming in Perl includes succinct but thorough coverage of groundbreaking new developments in Parrot--the language-independent interpreter engine that will execute code written in the new Perl 6 language. Designed to be language independent, Parrot can be used to interpret other dynamic languages such as Python, Tcl, Ruby, and even Java. Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials also uncovers the most revolutionary change in the language itself--Apocalypse 12 on objects. The Apocalypse design documents (in the sense of "revealing", not "end-of-the-world") explain significant changes in new Perl 6 features, numbered according to the chapters in O'Reilly's landmark Camel book , Programming Perl. Apocalypse 12 is the result of cutting-edge research in object-oriented languages and is guaranteed to grab the attention of any serious Perl programmer. Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials also includes expanded coverage of Apocalypse 5 (regular expressions) and Apocalypse 6 (subroutines). Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials is the only book available to chart the course of the long but fruitful voyage of Perl 6. It reveals all the ingenious developments that will make Perl 6 more powerful and easier to use. Perl gurus and programmers alike will rely on this slim but essential book for both a clear view of the Perl horizon and to ensure they hit the ground running once this important new version of Perl is released.

Featured customer reviews

Review of Perl 6 Essentials Book, August 25 2004

Rating:

Submitted by George Woolley of Camelot.pm and Oakland.pm [Respond | View]

Perl 6 is not here yet.
Even the definition of the language is still in flux.
But many things are reasonably clear,
and certainly much clearer than a little over a year ago
when the first edition of this book came out.

From my perspective, the highlights of Perl 6 are:
(1) Perl 6 is the Perl community's rewrite of Perl.
(2) In Perl 6 there are rules which are way clearer
and more powerful than regular expressions.
(3) In Perl 6 object orientation
is pervasive but not intrusive.
(4) Perl 6 depends on the Parrot engine
for both compiling and running.
(5) Other languages will also run on the Parrot engine,
e.g. Perl 5, Ruby, Python.
And there's much more.
I've only included what seems
most important from my limited perspective.

This book:
(a) describes the structure and functioning
of the projects to develop Perl 6 and Parrot
(b) gives the design philosophy underlying the Perl 6 language
and briefly describes the syntax and semantics
of some key features of the language.
(c) gives an overview of the Parrot engine
and provides Parrot language information
including reference material for assembler codes, etc.

If you are big into Perl
or for some other reason wish
to explore this developing technology,
this is the book for you.
It's an exciting, well conceived book.
You'll be exposed to the major aspects of Perl 6
and the Parrot engine that underlies it;
and you'll also learn what you need to know
to follow the on-going development and
to get involved (if you want to).

If you wish, see my somewhat longer review.

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