Questions Regarding Perl 6 Features

Questions Regarding Perl 6 Features

Hi Pierce,

Below are the list of Perl 6 Features:

Subroutines, Parameters, and Typing

• optional static type annotations (gradual typing)
• proper parameter lists
• user-defined operators
• multi dispatch
• named arguments
• generics

OO

• declarative classes with strong encapsulation
• full OO exception handling
• multi-dispatched methods (aka method overloading)
• hierarchical construction and destruction
• distributive method dispatch
• method delegation
• many widely useful objects/types
• custom meta classes, meta object programming

Regexes (now Grammars)

• LL and LR grammars (including a built-in grammar for Perl 6 itself, which is an overridable and reusable grammar)
• named regexes
• overlapping and exhaustive regex matches within a string
• named captures
• parse-tree pruning
• incremental regex matching against input streams

Power Features from Functional Languages and Elsewhere

• hypothetical variables
• hyperoperators (i.e. vector processing)
• function currying
• junctions (i.e. superpositional values, subroutines, and types)
• coroutines
• lazy evaluation (including virtual infinite lists)

• better threading
• better garbage collection
• much better foreign function interface (cross-language support)
• full Unicode processing support
• string processing on various Unicode levels, including grapheme level
• a built-in switch statement

• macros (that are implemented in Perl itself)
• user-definable operators (from the full Unicode set)
• active metadata on values, variables, subroutines, and types
• support for the concurrent use of multiple versions of a module
• extensive and powerful introspection facilities (including of POD)
• chained comparisons
• a universally accessible aliasing mechanism
• lexical exporting (via a cleaner, declarative syntax)
• multimorphic equality tests
• state variables
• invariant sigils, plus twigils (minimalist symbolic "Hungarian")