= Pugs Apocryphon 1 -- Overview of the Pugs project
== What is this document about?
The [Pugs Apocrypha|http://svn.perl.org/perl6/pugs/trunk/docs/] are a
series of documents, written in question/answer format, to explain the
design and implementation of Pugs. This document (PA01) is a higher-
level overview of the project.
== What is Pugs?
Started in February 2005, [Pugs|http://pugscode.org/] is an
implementation of the Perl 6 language. [Autrijus
Tang|http://use.perl.org/%7Eautrijus/journal/] is responsible for the
design and development of Pugs with help from a group of committers and
contributors.
== What is Perl 6?
[Perl 6|http://dev.perl.org/perl6/] is the next major revision of Perl,
a context-sensitive, multi-paradigmatic, /practical/ programming
language, designed by a team led by Larry Wall. The Pugs project has been
[enthusiastically welcomed|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl6.language/19263]
by the Perl 6 team.
== Has Perl 6 been specified?
By December 2004, most of Perl 6 has been specified as a series of
[Synopses|http://dev.perl.org/perl6/synopsis/]. Although not considered
final, it is now stable enough to be implemented. Many of the Synopses
are based on Larry's [Apocalypses|http://dev.perl.org/perl6/apocalypse/].
Sometimes the design team releases
[Exegeses|http://dev.perl.org/perl6/exegesis/], which explain the
meaning of Apocalypses. Pugs adheres to the Synopses, referring to
Apocalypses or Exegeses when a Synopsis is unclear or imprecise.
== What does "Apocrypha" mean?
The word [Apocrypha|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocrypha], from the
Greek απκρυφος,
"hidden", refers to religious works that are not considered
canonical, or part of officially accepted scripture. The proper singular
form in Greek is /Apocryphon/.
== What is the relationship between Apocrypha and the Perl 6 design
documents?
Apocalypses and Synopses cover the Perl 6 language in general; Apocrypha
are specific to the Pugs implementation. Like [Parrot Design
Documents|http://www.parrotcode.org/docs/pdd/], Apocrypha will be
constantly updated according to the status of Pugs.
== Will Pugs implement the full Perl 6 specification?
Yes. Pugs always targets the latest revision of Perl 6 Synopses. As soon
as a new revision or a new Synopsis is published, incompatibilities
between Pugs and the new version will be considered bugs in Pugs.
== Is Pugs free software?
Yes. It is available under both
[GPL version 2|http://svn.openfoundry.org/pugs/LICENSE/GPL-2] and
[Artistic License version 2.0b5|http://svn.openfoundry.org/pugs/LICENSE/Artistic-2]
Once the final version of Artistic 2.0 is released, Pugs will adopt it.
== Is Pugs funded by the Perl Foundation?
No. After receiving three [Perl Foundation
grants|http://www.perlfoundation.org/gc/grants/2003_autrijus.html] on
various projects, Autrijus decides it would be more helpful to donate
time to the Perl 6 project by hacking Pugs, rather than asking TPF for
money to do the same thing.
== Where can I download Pugs?
For the very latest version of Pugs, check out the source from
[Subversion|http://svn.openfoundry.org/pugs/] or
[darcs|http://wagner.elixus.org/%7Eautrijus/darcs/pugs] repositories.
Periodic releases are available on CPAN under the
[Perl6-Pugs|http://search.cpan.org/dist/Perl6-Pugs/] namespace.
(By the way, if you'd like offline working with the Subversion
repository, the [svk|http://svk.elixus.org/] client may be of interest.
But using vanilla svn is fine.)
== How do I build Pugs?
Pugs uses the standard Makefile.PL build system, as detailed in the
`[README|http://svn.openfoundry.org/pugs/README]` file. Since Pugs is
written in Haskell, you will need [Glasgow Haskell
Compiler|http://haskell.org/ghc/] (GHC) 6.2 or above. Please download a
[binary build|http://haskell.org/ghc/] for your platform; compiling GHC
from source code can take a very long time.
== What is Haskell?
[Haskell|http://haskell.org/] is a standardized, purely
functional programming language with built-in [lazy
evaluation|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazy_evaluation]
capabilities. While there are several different implementations
available, currently Pugs needs to be built with GHC, because it uses
several GHC-specific features.
== What is GHC?
GHC is a state-of-the-art compiler and interactive environment,
available under a [BSD-style license|http://haskell.org/ghc/license.html].
Itself written in Haskell, GHC can compile Haskell to bytecode, C code,
and machine code on some platforms. GHC has an extensive library,
numerous language extensions, and a very capable optimizer (with some
help from a
[Perl 5 program|http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/%7Echak/haskell/ghc/comm/the-beast/mangler.html]).
As such, it provides an excellent platform to solve Perl 6's
/bootstrapping problem/.
== What is the Perl 6 bootstrapping problem?
The goal of the Perl 6 project is to be /self-hosting/: The Perl 6
compiler needs to be written in Perl 6 itself, and must parse Perl 6
source code with Perl 6 Rules, which is a subset of the Perl 6 language.
The generated code must also contain an evaluator that can execute Perl
6 code on the fly. The only way to break this cycle of dependency is by
first implementing some parts in other languages, then rewrite those
parts in Perl 6.
== What was the initial bootstrapping plan?
According to the
[Parrot FAQ|http://search.cpan.org/dist/parrot/docs/faq.pod#Isn%27t_there_a_bootstrapping_problem?],
the initial plan was to bootstrap via Perl 5: First we extend Perl 5 to
run on the Parrot virtual machine (via `B::Parrot` or
[Ponie|http://www.poniecode.org/]), and then implement the Perl 6
compiler in Perl 5, which will be translated to Perl 6 via a p5-to-p6
translator. However, although part of the Rule system was prototyped in
Perl 5 as [Perl6::Rules|http://search.cpan.org/dist/Perl6-Rules/], it
was not mature enough to build a compiler on. As such, the plan was
revised to bootstrap via C instead.
== What was the revised bootstrapping plan?
According to an early 2005
[proposal|http://www.perlfoundation.org/gc/grants/2005-p6-proposal.html],
the plan is to first implement the Rule engine in C (i.e.
[PGE|http://cvs.perl.org/viewcvs/cvs-public/parrot/compilers/pge/]),
use it to parse Perl 6 into Parrot as an [abstract syntax
tree|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_syntax_tree] (AST), and then
implement an AST evaluator as part of Parrot. Ponie and p5-to-p6 are
still in progress, but they are no longer critical dependencies in the
bootstrapping process.
== How can Pugs help Perl 6 to bootstrap?
In a bootstrapping process, there are often many bottlenecks, which
prevent people from working on things that depend on them. For example,
one cannot easily write unit tests and standard libraries for Perl 6
without a working Perl 6 implementation, or work on an AST evaluator
without an AST interface. Pugs solves such deadlocks by providing ready
substitutes at various levels of the process.
== How can Pugs help the Perl 6 language design?
Without a working implementation, it is very hard to spot
inconsistencies and corner cases in the specification. However, if a
design problem is found late into the implementation, it may require
costly re-architecture for everything else. By providing a working Perl
6 implementation, Pugs can serve as a proving ground to resolve problems
as early as possible, as well as encourage more people to exercise Perl
6's features.
== Why did you choose Haskell?
Many Perl 6 features have similar counterparts in Haskell: Perl 6 Rules
corresponds closely to
[Parsec|http://www.cs.uu.nl/%7Edaan/download/parsec/parsec.html]; lazy
list evaluation is common in both languages; continuation support can be
modeled with the [ContT|http://www.nomaware.com/monads/html/contmonad.html]
monad transformer, and so on. This greatly simplified the prototyping
effort: the first working interpreter was released within the
[first week|http://use.perl.org/%7Eautrijus/journal/23051], and
by the [third week|http://use.perl.org/%7Eautrijus/journal/23335] we have a
full-fledged `[Test.pm|http://svn.openfoundry.org/pugs/lib/Perl6/lib/Test.pm]`
module for unit testing.
== Is Pugs a compiler or an interpreter?
Similar to Perl 5, Pugs first compiles Perl 6 program to an AST, then
executes it using the built-in evaluator. However, in the future Pugs
may also provide a compiler interface that supports different compiler
backends.
== Which compiler backends do you have in mind?
If implemented, the first compiler backend will likely generate Perl 6
code, similar to the
`[B::Deparse|http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl/ext/B/B/Deparse.pm]`
module. The next one may generate Haskell code, which can then be
compiled to C by GHC. At that point, it may make sense to target the
[Parrot AST|http://cvs.perl.org/viewcvs/cvs-public/parrot/ast/]
interface. We can also add other backends (such as Perl 5 bytecode) if
people are willing to work on them.
== Do you have a roadmap for Pugs development?
The major/minor version numbers of Pugs converges to 2*π; each
significant digit in the minor version represents a milestone. The
third digit is incremented for each release. The current milestones
are:
* 6.0: Initial release.
* 6.2: Basic IO and control flow elements; mutable variables; assignment.
* 6.28: Classes and traits.
* 6.283: Rules and Grammars.
* 6.2831: Role composition and other runtime features.
* 6.28318: Macros.
* 6.283185: Port Pugs to Perl 6, if needed.
== How portable is Pugs?
Pugs runs on Win32, Linux and many flavors of Unix systems. See GHC's
[porters list|http://haskell.org/ghc/contributors.html] and [download
page|http://haskell.org/ghc/download_ghc_622.html] for details.
Starting from 6.2.0, the Pugs team will also provide binary builds on
selected platforms.
== How fast is Pugs?
The parser part of Pugs is very fast, due to its robust underpinning in
Parsec. However, the Pugs evaluator is currently not optimized at all:
dispatching is around 1000 operators per second on a typical PC, which
is nearly 100 times slower than Perl 5. Still, it is fast enough for
prototyping language features; if you need fast operations in Pugs,
please consider helping out the Compiler backend.
== Is there a CPAN for Perl 6 modules?
No. The current preferred method for submitting Perl 6/Pugs modules is
to ask for a committer bit at openfoundry.org and to add your module to
the Pugs source tree under the modules/ directory. It is also helpful to
include test suites with your modules as well, so we can know when they
work.
However, all is not lost. If you are patient you can wait for
`Pugs::MakeMaker` and `Module::Install::Pugs` to come out on CPAN. Once
they are available individually on CPAN, you can begin submitting things
to CPAN, because that means we've figured out the distribution problem.
Of course, suggestions are always welcome.
== Can Pugs work with Perl 5 libraries?
Not yet. However, we may write a `Inline::GHC` module in the future,
allowing interaction between Perl 5 modules and Haskell modules, similar
to Autrijus' previous work on
`[Inline::MzScheme|http://search.cpan.org/dist/Inline-MzScheme/]`; if that
happens, then it is trivial to build `Inline::Pugs` on top of it.
Alternatively, we may implement a Perl 5 source code parser that emits
Pugs AST code, which will make pure Perl modules work on Pugs. Finally,
it is also conceivable to compile Pugs AST into Perl 5 AST, but that is
even more speculative.
== Can Pugs work with Haskell libraries?
Currently, you can statically link Haskell libraries into Pugs
primitives, by modifying a few lines in
`[Prim.hs|http://svn.openfoundry.org/pugs/src/Prim.hs]`. We are
considering writing a simple interface to
[hs-plugins|http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/%7Edons/hs-plugins/],
which will let Pugs dynamically load Haskell libraries, even
inline Haskell code directly within Perl 6.
== Can Pugs work with C libraries?
Not yet. However, [HaskellDirect|http://www.haskell.org/hdirect/] seems
to provide an easy way to interface with C, CORBA and COM libraries,
especially when combined with hs-plugins described above.
== I know Perl 5, but not Haskell. Can I develop Pugs?
Sure! The standard libraries and unit tests that come with Pugs are
coded in Perl 6, and there is always a need for more tests and
libraries. All you need is basic familiarity of Perl 5, and a few
minutes to get acquainted with some small syntax changes. You will
likely pick up some Haskell knowledge along the way, too.
== I know Haskell, but not Perl 5. Can I develop Pugs?
Sure! Perl 6 and Haskell have many things in common, such as type-based
function dispatch, first class functions and currying, so picking up the
syntax is relatively easy. Since there are always some TODO tests for
features in need of implementation, it is never hard to find something
to do.
== I have learned some Perl 6. What can I do with Pugs?
Look at the `examples/` directory to see some sample programs. Some people
are already writing web applications and report systems with Pugs. If
you run into a missing feature in Pugs, please let us know so we can
implement it.
== Where can I learn more about Haskell?
The [Haskell homepage|http://www.haskell.org/] and the
[Wiki|http://haskell.org/hawiki/] are good entry points. Of the
many online tutorials, [Yet Another Haskell
Tutorial|http://www.isi.edu/%7Ehdaume/htut/]
is perhaps the most accessible. Due to the ubiquitous use of Monad
transformers in Pugs, [All About
Monads|http://www.nomaware.com/monads/html/] is also recommended.
For books, [Algorithms: A Functional Programming
Approach|http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/%7Elapalme/Algorithms-functional.html],
[Haskell: The Craft of Functional Programming|http://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/people/staff/sjt/craft2e/]
and [The Haskell School of Expression|http://haskell.org/soe/]
are fine introductory materials. Finally, the `#haskell` channel
on [freenode|http://freenode.net] is full of helpful and
interesting people.
== Where can I learn more about Perl 6?
The [Perl 6 homepage|http://dev.perl.org/perl6/] provides
many online documents. Every week or two, a new Perl 6 list summary will
appear on [Perl.com|http://www.perl.com/]; it is a must-read
for people who wish to follow Perl 6's progress. For books, [Perl 6 and
Parrot Essentials|http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/059600737X/] and [Perl 6
Now|http://www.apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=355] are both helpful.
== Where can I learn more about implementing programming languages?
[Types and Programming Languages|http://www.cis.upenn.edu/%7Ebcpierce/tapl/]
is an essential read; Pugs started out as a self-initiated study of the
text, and it continues to be an important guide during the
implementation. Its sequel, [Advanced Topics in Types and Programming
Languages|http://www.cis.upenn.edu/%7Ebcpierce/attapl/], is also
invaluable. It may also help to get acquainted with other multi-
paradigmatic languages, such as [Mozart/Oz|http://www.mozart-oz.org/],
[Curry|http://www.informatik.unikiel.de/%7Emh/curry/] and
[O'Caml|http://www.ocaml.org/]. Finally, the detailed [GHC
commentary|http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/%7Echak/haskell/ghc/comm/]
describes how GHC itself was implemented.
== I'd like to help. What should I do?
First, subscribe to the
[perl6-compiler|http://nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl6.compiler]
mailing list by sending an empty mail to
[perl6-compiler-subscribe@perl.org|mailto:perl6-compiler-subscribe@perl.org].
Next, join the `#perl6` IRC channel on [irc.freenode.net|http://freenode.net/]
to find out what needs to be done. Commit access is handed out
liberally; contact the Pugs team on `#perl6` for details. See you on IRC!