Re: RFC 161 (v2) OO Integration/Migration Path

> Arg! You beat me to it. :-) This was the next RFC on my list.

Nate, if I had known that, I would gladly have let you take the arrows. =^)


> However, nobody should ever have to call something like $n->NUMBER or
> $n->asInt if they don't want to. And they definitely shouldn't have to
> know they exist. You should still be able to write a large Perl script
> without having to even know Perl supports OO at all.

I agree completely.

To clarify: Methods such as 'asInt()' could be ignored at will. If they were
never called, Perl would still Do The Right Thing. So, totally optional, and
(more importantly) invisible.

As I think about this, however, I can imagine that some might want to force
it's use. Perhaps that requirement could be built into a strict pragma, like
'use StrictTypes' ?? I seem to recall an RFC along those lines.


>    print $FILEHANDLE @data;
>
> This would try $FILEHANDLE->print, or CORE::print if it doesn't exist.

Same for seek, read, etc.
Also, Scalars could also have a 'toString()' method (or similar), borrowing
from Java.


>    commit $firstname   # or rollback $firstname
>
> Take your pick.

Surprisingly, I hadn't considered continuing on with the indirect syntax
like that, but it makes total sense. Very cool.


Thanks!

Matt