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0 pointstyingq6y ago0 comments

The bolted on OO is really just one new function...bless(). The rest is package namespaces, which are also used for non OO purposes.

I'm never sure what people don't like about OO Perl. There's a tiny bit of boilerplate in a constructor, other than that, it doesn't seem different from other OO script languages.

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hnick6y ago

It's not terrible to get working, but for many people a major point of OO is encapsulation and it doesn't work out of the box like that. You have to install another package or use the inside-out object model to prevent direct access to package variables and 'private' functions are usually by naming convention only.

It's just another example of Perl's biggest strength and weakness. Total freedom to build something amazing or shoot yourself in the foot.

jlokier6y ago

Python and Perl have almost exactly the same OO model, yet many people quite like Python's OO, so that can't be it surely...

There's no private data or private methods in Python objects. All the properties are right there for anyone to read, protected only by convention.

JavaScript and Perl have almost exactly the same OO model, yet many people quite like JavaScript's OO, so that can't be it, surely...

There's no private data or private methods in JavaScript objects. All the properties are right there for anyone to read, protected only by convention.

(It's closer than it looks. Perl's "bless" function means almost the same as JavaScript's ".__proto__ =", and inside-out data hiding is possible in JavaScript much the same as Perl, although hardly anyone uses it in either language.)

hnick6y ago

I'm not necessarily a fan of the OO in those either :)

I try to use OO sparingly when possible, and in Perl that generally just means I've been using a hash and decide it'd be more convenient that it keep some functions to itself rather than pass it around to other functions.

I will say in Perl's defense, the bare implementation really made me appreciate what OO actually is under the hood. I felt like I understood it much better, especially since it takes a mixed approach (rather than 'everything must be an object, including Program.cs' which I never really enjoyed).

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tyingqOP6y ago

That's fair, though as mentioned, not much different from other scripting languages with OO. The _private convention seems to work ok in practice, if not in theory.

kbenson6y ago

Agreed. Not to mention, from what I understand they just borrowed the OO system from Python, so it shouldn't be that foreign to most people.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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hnick6y ago

It's just another example of Perl's biggest strength and weakness. Total freedom to build something amazing or shoot yourself in the foot.

jlokier6y ago

Python and Perl have almost exactly the same OO model, yet many people quite like Python's OO, so that can't be it surely...

There's no private data or private methods in Python objects. All the properties are right there for anyone to read, protected only by convention.

JavaScript and Perl have almost exactly the same OO model, yet many people quite like JavaScript's OO, so that can't be it, surely...

There's no private data or private methods in JavaScript objects. All the properties are right there for anyone to read, protected only by convention.

hnick6y ago

I'm not necessarily a fan of the OO in those either :)

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tyingqOP6y ago

That's fair, though as mentioned, not much different from other scripting languages with OO. The _private convention seems to work ok in practice, if not in theory.

kbenson6y ago

Agreed. Not to mention, from what I understand they just borrowed the OO system from Python, so it shouldn't be that foreign to most people.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse