NAME

Clownfish::Obj - Base class for all objects.

SYNOPSIS

    package MyObj;
    use base qw( Clownfish::Obj );
    
    # Inside-out member var.
    my %foo;
    
    sub new {
        my ( $class, %args ) = @_;
        my $foo = delete $args{foo};
        my $self = $class->SUPER::new(%args);
        $foo{$$self} = $foo;
        return $self;
    }
    
    sub get_foo {
        my $self = shift;
        return $foo{$$self};
    }
    
    sub DESTROY {
        my $self = shift;
        delete $foo{$$self};
        $self->SUPER::DESTROY;
    }

DESCRIPTION

Clownfish::Obj is the base class of the Clownfish object hierarchy.

From the standpoint of a Perl programmer, all classes are implemented as blessed scalar references, with the scalar storing a pointer to a C struct.

Subclassing

The recommended way to subclass Clownfish::Obj and its descendants is to use the inside-out design pattern. (See Class::InsideOut for an introduction to inside-out techniques.)

Since the blessed scalar stores a C pointer value which is unique per-object, $$self can be used as an inside-out ID.

    # Accessor for 'foo' member variable.
    sub get_foo {
        my $self = shift;
        return $foo{$$self};
    }

Caveats:

• Inside-out aficionados will have noted that the "cached scalar id" stratagem recommended above isn't compatible with ithreads.

• Overridden methods must not return undef unless the API specifies that returning undef is permissible.

CONSTRUCTOR

new

    my $self = $class->SUPER::new;

Abstract constructor -- must be invoked via a subclass. Attempting to instantiate objects of class "Clownfish::Obj" directly causes an error.

Takes no arguments; if any are supplied, an error will be reported.

ABSTRACT METHODS

clone

    my $result = $obj->clone();

Return a clone of the object.

compare_to

    my $int = $obj->compare_to($other);

Indicate whether one object is less than, equal to, or greater than another.

• other - Another Obj.

Returns: 0 if the objects are equal, a negative number if self is less than other, and a positive number if self is greater than other.

METHODS

to_perl

    my $native = $obj->to_perl;

Tries to convert the object to its native Perl representation.

equals

    my $bool = $obj->equals($other);

Indicate whether two objects are the same. By default, compares the memory address.

• other - Another Obj.

DESTROY

All Clownfish classes implement a DESTROY method; if you override it in a subclass, you must call $self->SUPER::DESTROY to avoid leaking memory.

to_string

    my $string = $obj->to_string();

Generic stringification: “ClassName@hex_mem_address”.

cpanm Clownfish

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Clownfish