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cc0fca54 GS |
1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | ||
53080bb1 | 3 | perldelta - what's new for perl v5.7.0 |
cc0fca54 GS |
4 | |
5 | =head1 DESCRIPTION | |
6 | ||
53080bb1 JH |
7 | This document describes differences between the 5.6.0 release and |
8 | the 5.7.0 release. | |
cc0fca54 | 9 | |
43b92eec | 10 | =head1 Security Vulnerability Closed |
d4ad863d JH |
11 | |
12 | A potential security vulnerability in the optional suidperl component | |
ce72e97c | 13 | of Perl has been identified. suidperl is neither built nor installed |
8456ac52 | 14 | by default. As of September the 2nd, 2000, the only known vulnerable |
ce72e97c JH |
15 | platform is Linux, most likely all Linux distributions. CERT and |
16 | various vendors have been alerted about the vulnerability. | |
d4ad863d JH |
17 | |
18 | The problem was caused by Perl trying to report a suspected security | |
ce72e97c | 19 | exploit attempt using an external program, /bin/mail. On Linux |
8456ac52 JH |
20 | platforms the /bin/mail program had an undocumented feature which |
21 | when combined with suidperl gave access to a root shell, resulting in | |
22 | a serious compromise instead of reporting the exploit attempt. If you | |
23 | don't have /bin/mail, or if you have 'safe setuid scripts', or if | |
24 | suidperl is not installed, you are safe. | |
d4ad863d JH |
25 | |
26 | The exploit attempt reporting feature has been completely removed from | |
27 | the Perl 5.7.0 release, so that particular vulnerability isn't there | |
562628a3 JH |
28 | anymore. However, further security vulnerabilities are, |
29 | unfortunately, always possible. The suidperl code is being reviewed | |
30 | and if deemed too risky to continue to be supported, it may be | |
31 | completely removed from future releases. In any case, suidperl should | |
32 | only be used by security experts who know exactly what they are doing | |
33 | and why they are using suidperl instead of some other solution such as | |
34 | sudo (see http://www.courtesan.com/sudo/). | |
d4ad863d JH |
35 | |
36 | =head1 Incompatible Changes | |
37 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
38 | =over 4 |
39 | ||
40 | =item * | |
d4ad863d | 41 | |
ce72e97c JH |
42 | Arrays now always interpolate into double-quoted strings: |
43 | constructs like "foo@bar" now always assume C<@bar> is an array, | |
44 | whether or not the compiler has seen use of C<@bar>. | |
d4ad863d | 45 | |
ce72e97c | 46 | =item * |
d4ad863d JH |
47 | |
48 | The semantics of bless(REF, REF) were unclear and until someone proves | |
49 | it to make some sense, it is forbidden. | |
50 | ||
ce72e97c | 51 | =item * |
d4ad863d | 52 | |
c9e9bc25 GA |
53 | A reference to a reference now stringify as "REF(0x81485ec)" instead |
54 | of "SCALAR(0x81485ec)" in order to be more consistent with the return | |
55 | value of ref(). | |
56 | ||
57 | =item * | |
58 | ||
d4ad863d JH |
59 | The very dusty examples in the eg/ directory have been removed. |
60 | Suggestions for new shiny examples welcome but the main issue is that | |
ce72e97c JH |
61 | the examples need to be documented, tested and (most importantly) |
62 | maintained. | |
d4ad863d | 63 | |
ce72e97c | 64 | =item * |
d4ad863d JH |
65 | |
66 | The obsolete chat2 library that should never have been allowed | |
67 | to escape the laboratory has been decommissioned. | |
68 | ||
ce72e97c | 69 | =item * |
d4ad863d JH |
70 | |
71 | The unimplemented POSIX regex features [[.cc.]] and [[=c=]] are still | |
43b92eec | 72 | recognised but now cause fatal errors. The previous behaviour of |
d4ad863d JH |
73 | ignoring them by default and warning if requested was unacceptable |
74 | since it, in a way, falsely promised that the features could be used. | |
75 | ||
ce72e97c | 76 | =item * |
d4ad863d JH |
77 | |
78 | lstat(FILEHANDLE) now gives a warning because the operation makes no sense. | |
79 | In future releases this may become a fatal error. | |
80 | ||
ce72e97c | 81 | =item * |
d4ad863d | 82 | |
ce72e97c | 83 | The long deprecated uppercase aliases for the string comparison |
d4ad863d JH |
84 | operators (EQ, NE, LT, LE, GE, GT) have now been removed. |
85 | ||
ce72e97c | 86 | =item * |
d4ad863d JH |
87 | |
88 | The regular expression captured submatches ($1, $2, ...) are now | |
ce72e97c | 89 | more consistently unset if the match fails, instead of leaving false |
d4ad863d JH |
90 | data lying around in them. |
91 | ||
ce72e97c | 92 | =item * |
d4ad863d JH |
93 | |
94 | The tr///C and tr///U features have been removed and will not return; | |
95 | the interface was a mistake. Sorry about that. For similar | |
96 | functionality, see pack('U0', ...) and pack('C0', ...). | |
97 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
98 | =back |
99 | ||
cc0fca54 GS |
100 | =head1 Core Enhancements |
101 | ||
53080bb1 JH |
102 | =over 4 |
103 | ||
104 | =item * | |
105 | ||
106 | C<perl -d:Module=arg,arg,arg> now works (previously one couldn't pass | |
107 | in multiple arguments.) | |
108 | ||
109 | =item * | |
110 | ||
53080bb1 JH |
111 | my __PACKAGE__ now works. |
112 | ||
113 | =item * | |
114 | ||
ce72e97c | 115 | C<no Module;> now works even if there is no "sub unimport" in the Module. |
53080bb1 JH |
116 | |
117 | =item * | |
118 | ||
d4ad863d JH |
119 | The numerical comparison operators return C<undef> if either operand |
120 | is a NaN. Previously the behaviour was unspecified. | |
53080bb1 JH |
121 | |
122 | =item * | |
123 | ||
43b92eec | 124 | C<pack('U0a*', ...)> can now be used to force a string to UTF8. |
53080bb1 JH |
125 | |
126 | =item * | |
127 | ||
128 | prototype(\&) is now available. | |
129 | ||
c835e335 JH |
130 | =item * |
131 | ||
132 | There is now an UNTIE method. | |
133 | ||
53080bb1 JH |
134 | =back |
135 | ||
cc0fca54 GS |
136 | =head1 Modules and Pragmata |
137 | ||
53080bb1 JH |
138 | =head2 New Modules |
139 | ||
d4ad863d JH |
140 | =over 4 |
141 | ||
142 | =item * | |
143 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
144 | File::Temp allows one to create temporary files and directories in an |
145 | easy, portable, and secure way. | |
d4ad863d JH |
146 | |
147 | =item * | |
148 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
149 | Storable gives persistence to Perl data structures by allowing the |
150 | storage and retrieval of Perl data to and from files in a fast and | |
151 | compact binary format. | |
d4ad863d JH |
152 | |
153 | =back | |
53080bb1 JH |
154 | |
155 | =head2 Updated And Improved Modules and Pragmata | |
156 | ||
157 | =over 4 | |
158 | ||
159 | =item * | |
160 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
161 | The following independently supported modules have been updated to |
162 | newer versions from CPAN: CGI, CPAN, DB_File, File::Spec, Getopt::Long, | |
163 | the podlators bundle, Pod::LaTeX, Pod::Parser, Term::ANSIColor, Test. | |
53080bb1 JH |
164 | |
165 | =item * | |
166 | ||
ce72e97c | 167 | Bug fixes and minor enhancements have been applied to B::Deparse, |
9db5a202 | 168 | Data::Dumper, IO::Poll, IO::Socket::INET, Math::BigFloat, |
a1ba9576 JH |
169 | Math::Complex, Math::Trig, Net::protoent, the re pragma, SelfLoader, |
170 | Sys::SysLog, Test::Harness, Text::Wrap, UNIVERSAL, and the warnings | |
171 | pragma. | |
53080bb1 JH |
172 | |
173 | =item * | |
174 | ||
ce72e97c | 175 | The attributes::reftype() now works on tied arguments. |
53080bb1 JH |
176 | |
177 | =item * | |
178 | ||
ce72e97c | 179 | AutoLoader can now be disabled with C<no AutoLoader;>, |
53080bb1 JH |
180 | |
181 | =item * | |
182 | ||
183 | The English module can now be used without the infamous performance | |
184 | hit by saying | |
185 | ||
186 | use English '-no_performance_hit'; | |
187 | ||
188 | (Assuming, of course, that one doesn't need the troublesome variables | |
8456ac52 | 189 | C<$`>, C<$&>, or C<$'>.) Also, introduced C<@LAST_MATCH_START> and |
53080bb1 JH |
190 | C<@LAST_MATCH_END> English aliases for C<@-> and C<@+>. |
191 | ||
192 | =item * | |
193 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
194 | File::Find now has pre- and post-processing callbacks. It also |
195 | correctly changes directories when chasing symbolic links. Callbacks | |
196 | (naughtily) exiting with "next;" instead of "return;" now work. | |
53080bb1 JH |
197 | |
198 | =item * | |
199 | ||
d4ad863d | 200 | File::Glob::glob() renamed to File::Glob::bsd_glob() to avoid |
53080bb1 JH |
201 | prototype mismatch with CORE::glob(). |
202 | ||
203 | =item * | |
204 | ||
ce72e97c | 205 | IPC::Open3 now allows the use of numeric file descriptors. |
53080bb1 JH |
206 | |
207 | =item * | |
208 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
209 | use lib now works identically to @INC. Removing directories |
210 | with 'no lib' now works. | |
53080bb1 JH |
211 | |
212 | =item * | |
213 | ||
ce72e97c | 214 | C<%INC> now localised in a Safe compartment so that use/require work. |
53080bb1 JH |
215 | |
216 | =item * | |
217 | ||
ce72e97c | 218 | The Shell module now has an OO interface. |
53080bb1 | 219 | |
a1ba9576 JH |
220 | =item * |
221 | ||
ce72e97c | 222 | =back |
53080bb1 | 223 | |
ce72e97c | 224 | =head1 Utility Changes |
53080bb1 | 225 | |
ce72e97c | 226 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 JH |
227 | |
228 | =item * | |
229 | ||
8456ac52 JH |
230 | The Emacs perl mode (emacs/cperl-mode.el) has been updated to version |
231 | 4.31. | |
53080bb1 JH |
232 | |
233 | =item * | |
234 | ||
8456ac52 JH |
235 | Perlbug is now much more robust. It also sends the bug report to |
236 | perl.org, not perl.com. | |
53080bb1 JH |
237 | |
238 | =item * | |
239 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
240 | The perlcc utility has been rewritten and its user interface (that is, |
241 | command line) is much more like that of the UNIX C compiler, cc. | |
53080bb1 JH |
242 | |
243 | =item * | |
244 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
245 | The xsubpp utility for extension writers now understands POD |
246 | documentation embedded in the *.xs files. | |
53080bb1 | 247 | |
ce72e97c | 248 | =back |
53080bb1 | 249 | |
ce72e97c | 250 | =head1 New Documentation |
53080bb1 | 251 | |
ce72e97c | 252 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 JH |
253 | |
254 | =item * | |
255 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
256 | perl56delta details the changes between the 5.005 release and the |
257 | 5.6.0 release. | |
53080bb1 JH |
258 | |
259 | =item * | |
260 | ||
ce72e97c | 261 | perldebtut is a Perl debugging tutorial. |
53080bb1 JH |
262 | |
263 | =item * | |
264 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
265 | perlebcdic contains considerations for running Perl on EBCDIC platforms. |
266 | Note that unfortunately EBCDIC platforms that used to supported back in | |
267 | Perl 5.005 are still unsupported by Perl 5.7.0; the plan, however, is to | |
268 | bring them back to the fold. | |
53080bb1 JH |
269 | |
270 | =item * | |
271 | ||
ce72e97c | 272 | perlnewmod tells about writing and submitting a new module. |
53080bb1 JH |
273 | |
274 | =item * | |
275 | ||
ce72e97c | 276 | perlposix-bc explains using Perl on the POSIX-BC platform |
562628a3 | 277 | (an EBCDIC mainframe platform). |
53080bb1 JH |
278 | |
279 | =item * | |
280 | ||
ce72e97c | 281 | perlretut is a regular expression tutorial. |
53080bb1 JH |
282 | |
283 | =item * | |
284 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
285 | perlrequick is a regular expressions quick-start guide. |
286 | Yes, much quicker than perlretut. | |
53080bb1 JH |
287 | |
288 | =item * | |
289 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
290 | perlutil explains the command line utilities packaged with the Perl |
291 | distribution. | |
53080bb1 JH |
292 | |
293 | =back | |
294 | ||
ce72e97c | 295 | =head1 Performance Enhancements |
53080bb1 | 296 | |
562628a3 JH |
297 | =over 4 |
298 | ||
299 | =item * | |
300 | ||
ce72e97c | 301 | map() that changes the size of the list should now work faster. |
53080bb1 | 302 | |
d46b76b3 JH |
303 | =item * |
304 | ||
305 | sort() has been changed to use mergesort internally as opposed to the | |
306 | earlier quicksort. For very small lists this may result in slightly | |
8456ac52 JH |
307 | slower sorting times, but in general the speedup should be at least |
308 | 20%. Additional bonuses are that the worst case behaviour of sort() | |
309 | is now better (in computer science terms it now runs in time O(N log N), | |
310 | as opposed to quicksort's Theta(N**2) worst-case run time behaviour), | |
311 | and that sort() is now stable (meaning that elements with identical | |
312 | keys will stay ordered as they were before the sort). | |
d46b76b3 | 313 | |
562628a3 JH |
314 | =back |
315 | ||
ce72e97c | 316 | =head1 Installation and Configuration Improvements |
53080bb1 | 317 | |
ce72e97c | 318 | =head2 Generic Improvements |
cc0fca54 | 319 | |
53080bb1 JH |
320 | =over 4 |
321 | ||
322 | =item * | |
323 | ||
0aa7271f | 324 | INSTALL now explains how you can configure Perl to use 64-bit |
ce72e97c | 325 | integers even on non-64-bit platforms. |
53080bb1 JH |
326 | |
327 | =item * | |
328 | ||
8456ac52 JH |
329 | Policy.sh policy change: if you are reusing a Policy.sh file |
330 | (see INSTALL) and you use Configure -Dprefix=/foo/bar and in the old | |
ce72e97c JH |
331 | Policy $prefix eq $siteprefix and $prefix eq $vendorprefix, all of |
332 | them will now be changed to the new prefix, /foo/bar. (Previously | |
333 | only $prefix changed.) If you do not like this new behaviour, | |
334 | specify prefix, siteprefix, and vendorprefix explicitly. | |
53080bb1 JH |
335 | |
336 | =item * | |
337 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
338 | A new optional location for Perl libraries, otherlibdirs, is available. |
339 | It can be used for example for vendor add-ons without disturbing Perl's | |
340 | own library directories. | |
53080bb1 JH |
341 | |
342 | =item * | |
343 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
344 | In many platforms the vendor-supplied 'cc' is too stripped-down to |
345 | build Perl (basically, 'cc' doesn't do ANSI C). If this seems | |
346 | to be the case and 'cc' does not seem to be the GNU C compiler | |
347 | 'gcc', an automatic attempt is made to find and use 'gcc' instead. | |
53080bb1 JH |
348 | |
349 | =item * | |
350 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
351 | gcc needs to closely track the operating system release to avoid |
352 | build problems. If Configure finds that gcc was built for a different | |
353 | operating system release than is running, it now gives a clearly visible | |
354 | warning that there may be trouble ahead. | |
53080bb1 JH |
355 | |
356 | =item * | |
357 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
358 | If binary compatibility with the 5.005 release is not wanted, Configure |
359 | no longer suggests including the 5.005 modules in @INC. | |
53080bb1 JH |
360 | |
361 | =item * | |
362 | ||
ce72e97c | 363 | Configure C<-S> can now run non-interactively. |
53080bb1 JH |
364 | |
365 | =item * | |
366 | ||
ce72e97c | 367 | configure.gnu now works with options with whitespace in them. |
53080bb1 JH |
368 | |
369 | =item * | |
370 | ||
ce72e97c | 371 | installperl now outputs everything to STDERR. |
53080bb1 JH |
372 | |
373 | =item * | |
374 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
375 | $Config{byteorder} is now computed dynamically (this is more robust |
376 | with "fat binaries" where an executable image contains binaries for | |
377 | more than one binary platform.) | |
53080bb1 | 378 | |
eedaba54 PM |
379 | =item * |
380 | ||
381 | Configure no longer included the DBM libraries (dbm, gdbm, db, ndbm) | |
382 | when building the Perl binary. The only exception to this is SunOS 4.x, | |
383 | which needs them. | |
384 | ||
ce72e97c | 385 | =back |
53080bb1 | 386 | |
ce72e97c | 387 | =head1 Selected Bug Fixes |
53080bb1 | 388 | |
ce72e97c | 389 | =over 4 |
53080bb1 JH |
390 | |
391 | =item * | |
392 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
393 | Several debugger fixes: exit code now reflects the script exit code, |
394 | condition C<"0"> now treated correctly, the C<d> command now checks | |
395 | line number, the C<$.> no longer gets corrupted, all debugger output now | |
396 | goes correctly to the socket if RemotePort is set. | |
53080bb1 JH |
397 | |
398 | =item * | |
399 | ||
ce72e97c | 400 | C<*foo{FORMAT}> now works. |
53080bb1 JH |
401 | |
402 | =item * | |
403 | ||
ce72e97c | 404 | Lexical warnings now propagating correctly between scopes. |
53080bb1 JH |
405 | |
406 | =item * | |
407 | ||
ce72e97c | 408 | Line renumbering with eval and C<#line> now works. |
53080bb1 JH |
409 | |
410 | =item * | |
411 | ||
ce72e97c | 412 | Fixed numerous memory leaks, especially in eval "". |
53080bb1 JH |
413 | |
414 | =item * | |
415 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
416 | Modulus of unsigned numbers now works (4063328477 % 65535 used to |
417 | return 27406, instead of 27047). | |
53080bb1 JH |
418 | |
419 | =item * | |
420 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
421 | Some "not a number" warnings introduced in 5.6.0 eliminated to be |
422 | more compatible with 5.005. Infinity is now recognised as a number. | |
53080bb1 JH |
423 | |
424 | =item * | |
425 | ||
ce72e97c | 426 | our() variables will not cause "will not stay shared" warnings. |
53080bb1 JH |
427 | |
428 | =item * | |
429 | ||
ce72e97c | 430 | pack "Z" now correctly terminates the string with "\0". |
53080bb1 JH |
431 | |
432 | =item * | |
433 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
434 | Fix password routines which in some shadow password platforms |
435 | (e.g. HP-UX) caused getpwent() to return every other entry. | |
53080bb1 JH |
436 | |
437 | =item * | |
438 | ||
ce72e97c | 439 | printf() no longer resets the numeric locale to "C". |
53080bb1 JH |
440 | |
441 | =item * | |
442 | ||
ce72e97c | 443 | C<q(a\\b)> now parses correctly as C<'a\\b'>. |
53080bb1 JH |
444 | |
445 | =item * | |
446 | ||
ce72e97c | 447 | Printing quads (64-bit integers) with printf/sprintf now works |
562628a3 | 448 | without the q L ll prefixes (assuming you are on a quad-capable platform). |
53080bb1 JH |
449 | |
450 | =item * | |
451 | ||
ce72e97c | 452 | Regular expressions on references and overloaded scalars now work. |
53080bb1 JH |
453 | |
454 | =item * | |
455 | ||
ce72e97c | 456 | scalar() now forces scalar context even when used in void context. |
53080bb1 JH |
457 | |
458 | =item * | |
ce72e97c JH |
459 | |
460 | sort() arguments are now compiled in the right wantarray context | |
461 | (they were accidentally using the context of the sort() itself). | |
53080bb1 JH |
462 | |
463 | =item * | |
464 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
465 | Changed the POSIX character class C<[[:space:]]> to include the (very |
466 | rare) vertical tab character. Added a new POSIX-ish character class | |
467 | C<[[:blank:]]> which stands for horizontal whitespace (currently, | |
468 | the space and the tab). | |
53080bb1 JH |
469 | |
470 | =item * | |
471 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
472 | $AUTOLOAD, sort(), lock(), and spawning subprocesses |
473 | in multiple threads simultaneously are now thread-safe. | |
53080bb1 JH |
474 | |
475 | =item * | |
476 | ||
ce72e97c | 477 | Allow read-only string on left hand side of non-modifying tr///. |
53080bb1 JH |
478 | |
479 | =item * | |
480 | ||
ce72e97c | 481 | Several Unicode fixes (but still not perfect). |
53080bb1 | 482 | |
ce72e97c | 483 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 JH |
484 | |
485 | =item * | |
486 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
487 | BOMs (byte order marks) in the beginning of Perl files |
488 | (scripts, modules) should now be transparently skipped. | |
0aa7271f | 489 | UTF-16 (UCS-2)encoded Perl files should now be read correctly. |
53080bb1 JH |
490 | |
491 | =item * | |
492 | ||
bc723577 | 493 | The character tables have been updated to Unicode 3.0.1. |
53080bb1 | 494 | |
ce72e97c | 495 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 496 | |
ce72e97c JH |
497 | chr() for values greater than 127 now create utf8 when under use |
498 | utf8. | |
53080bb1 | 499 | |
ce72e97c | 500 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 501 | |
ce72e97c JH |
502 | Comparing with utf8 data does not magically upgrade non-utf8 data into |
503 | utf8. | |
53080bb1 JH |
504 | |
505 | =item * | |
506 | ||
ce72e97c | 507 | C<IsAlnum>, C<IsAlpha>, and C<IsWord> now match titlecase. |
53080bb1 JH |
508 | |
509 | =item * | |
510 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
511 | Concatenation with the C<.> operator or via variable interpolation, |
512 | C<eq>, C<substr>, C<reverse>, C<quotemeta>, the C<x> operator, | |
513 | substitution with C<s///>, single-quoted UTF8, should now work--in | |
514 | theory. | |
53080bb1 JH |
515 | |
516 | =item * | |
517 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
518 | The C<tr///> operator now works I<slightly> better but is still rather |
519 | broken. Note that the C<tr///CU> functionality has been removed (but | |
520 | see pack('U0', ...)). | |
53080bb1 JH |
521 | |
522 | =item * | |
523 | ||
33b45480 SB |
524 | vec() now tries to work with characters <= 255 when possible, but it leaves |
525 | higher character values in place. In that case, if vec() was used to modify | |
526 | the string, it is no longer considered to be utf8-encoded. | |
bc723577 JH |
527 | |
528 | =item * | |
529 | ||
ce72e97c | 530 | Zero entries were missing from the Unicode classes like C<IsDigit>. |
53080bb1 JH |
531 | |
532 | =back | |
533 | ||
ce72e97c | 534 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 535 | |
ce72e97c JH |
536 | UNIVERSAL::isa no longer caches methods incorrectly. (This broke |
537 | the Tk extension with 5.6.0.) | |
53080bb1 | 538 | |
ce72e97c | 539 | =back |
53080bb1 | 540 | |
ce72e97c | 541 | =head2 Platform Specific Changes and Fixes |
53080bb1 JH |
542 | |
543 | =over 4 | |
544 | ||
545 | =item * | |
546 | ||
ce72e97c | 547 | BSDI 4.* |
53080bb1 | 548 | |
ce72e97c | 549 | Perl now works on post-4.0 BSD/OSes. |
53080bb1 | 550 | |
ce72e97c | 551 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 552 | |
ce72e97c | 553 | All BSDs |
53080bb1 | 554 | |
ce72e97c | 555 | Setting C<$0> now works (as much as possible; see perlvar for details). |
53080bb1 | 556 | |
ce72e97c | 557 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 558 | |
ce72e97c | 559 | Cygwin |
53080bb1 | 560 | |
ce72e97c | 561 | Numerous updates; currently synchronised with Cygwin 1.1.4. |
53080bb1 JH |
562 | |
563 | =item * | |
564 | ||
ce72e97c | 565 | EPOC |
53080bb1 | 566 | |
ce72e97c | 567 | EPOC update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.epoc. |
53080bb1 | 568 | |
ce72e97c | 569 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 570 | |
ce72e97c | 571 | FreeBSD 3.* |
53080bb1 | 572 | |
ce72e97c | 573 | Perl now works on post-3.0 FreeBSDs. |
53080bb1 JH |
574 | |
575 | =item * | |
576 | ||
ce72e97c | 577 | HP-UX |
53080bb1 | 578 | |
ce72e97c | 579 | README.hpux updated; C<Configure -Duse64bitall> now almost works. |
53080bb1 | 580 | |
ce72e97c | 581 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 582 | |
ce72e97c | 583 | IRIX |
53080bb1 | 584 | |
ce72e97c JH |
585 | Numerous compilation flag and hint enhancements; accidental mixing |
586 | of 32-bit and 64-bit libraries (a doomed attempt) made much harder. | |
53080bb1 JH |
587 | |
588 | =item * | |
589 | ||
ce72e97c | 590 | Linux |
53080bb1 | 591 | |
ce72e97c | 592 | Long doubles should now work (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 JH |
593 | |
594 | =item * | |
595 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
596 | MacOS Classic |
597 | ||
53080bb1 | 598 | Compilation of the standard Perl distribution in MacOS Classic should |
ce72e97c JH |
599 | now work if you have the Metrowerks development environment and |
600 | the missing Mac-specific toolkit bits. Contact the macperl mailing | |
53080bb1 JH |
601 | list for details. |
602 | ||
ce72e97c | 603 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 604 | |
ce72e97c | 605 | MPE/iX |
53080bb1 | 606 | |
ce72e97c | 607 | MPE/iX update after Perl 5.6.0. See README.mpeix. |
53080bb1 | 608 | |
ce72e97c | 609 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 610 | |
ce72e97c | 611 | NetBSD/sparc |
53080bb1 | 612 | |
ce72e97c | 613 | Perl now works on NetBSD/sparc. |
53080bb1 JH |
614 | |
615 | =item * | |
616 | ||
ce72e97c | 617 | OS/2 |
53080bb1 | 618 | |
ce72e97c | 619 | Now works with usethreads (see INSTALL). |
53080bb1 JH |
620 | |
621 | =item * | |
622 | ||
ce72e97c | 623 | Solaris |
53080bb1 | 624 | |
ce72e97c | 625 | 64-bitness using the Sun Workshop compiler now works. |
53080bb1 JH |
626 | |
627 | =item * | |
628 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
629 | Tru64 (aka Digital UNIX, aka DEC OSF/1) |
630 | ||
631 | The operating system version letter now recorded in $Config{osvers}. | |
53080bb1 JH |
632 | Allow compiling with gcc (previously explicitly forbidden). Compiling |
633 | with gcc still not recommended because buggy code results, even with | |
634 | gcc 2.95.2. | |
635 | ||
636 | =item * | |
637 | ||
ce72e97c | 638 | Unicos |
53080bb1 JH |
639 | |
640 | Fixed various alignment problems that lead into core dumps either | |
ce72e97c JH |
641 | during build or later; no longer dies on math errors at runtime; |
642 | now using full quad integers (64 bits), previously was using | |
b84d4f81 | 643 | only 46 bit integers for speed. |
53080bb1 | 644 | |
53080bb1 JH |
645 | =item * |
646 | ||
ce72e97c | 647 | VMS |
53080bb1 | 648 | |
ce72e97c JH |
649 | chdir() now works better despite a CRT bug; now works with MULTIPLICITY |
650 | (see INSTALL); now works with Perl's malloc. | |
53080bb1 JH |
651 | |
652 | =item * | |
653 | ||
ce72e97c | 654 | Windows |
53080bb1 | 655 | |
ce72e97c | 656 | =over 8 |
53080bb1 JH |
657 | |
658 | =item * | |
659 | ||
d4ad863d | 660 | accept() no longer leaks memory. |
53080bb1 JH |
661 | |
662 | =item * | |
663 | ||
664 | Better chdir() return value for a non-existent directory. | |
665 | ||
666 | =item * | |
667 | ||
668 | New %ENV entries now propagate to subprocesses. | |
669 | ||
670 | =item * | |
671 | ||
672 | $ENV{LIB} now used to search for libs under Visual C. | |
673 | ||
674 | =item * | |
675 | ||
676 | A failed (pseudo)fork now returns undef and sets errno to EAGAIN. | |
677 | ||
678 | =item * | |
679 | ||
680 | Allow REG_EXPAND_SZ keys in the registry. | |
681 | ||
682 | =item * | |
683 | ||
684 | Can now send() from all threads, not just the first one. | |
685 | ||
686 | =item * | |
687 | ||
688 | Fake signal handling reenabled, bugs and all. | |
689 | ||
690 | =item * | |
691 | ||
692 | Less stack reserved per thread so that more threads can run | |
0aa7271f | 693 | concurrently. (Still 16M per thread.) |
53080bb1 JH |
694 | |
695 | =item * | |
696 | ||
697 | C<File::Spec->tmpdir()> now prefers C:/temp over /tmp | |
0aa7271f | 698 | (works better when perl is running as service). |
53080bb1 JH |
699 | |
700 | =item * | |
701 | ||
702 | Better UNC path handling under ithreads. | |
703 | ||
704 | =item * | |
705 | ||
706 | wait() and waitpid() now work much better. | |
707 | ||
708 | =item * | |
709 | ||
710 | winsock handle leak fixed. | |
711 | ||
712 | =back | |
713 | ||
cc0fca54 GS |
714 | =head1 New or Changed Diagnostics |
715 | ||
53080bb1 JH |
716 | All regular expression compilation error messages are now hopefully |
717 | easier to understand both because the error message now comes before | |
718 | the failed regex and because the point of failure is now clearly | |
719 | marked. | |
720 | ||
721 | The various "opened only for", "on closed", "never opened" warnings | |
722 | drop the C<main::> prefix for filehandles in the C<main> package, | |
562628a3 | 723 | for example C<STDIN> instead of <main::STDIN>. |
53080bb1 | 724 | |
d4ad863d JH |
725 | The "Unrecognized escape" warning has been extended to include C<\8>, |
726 | C<\9>, and C<\_>. There is no need to escape any of the C<\w> characters. | |
53080bb1 | 727 | |
53080bb1 JH |
728 | =head1 Changed Internals |
729 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
730 | =over 4 |
731 | ||
732 | =item * | |
53080bb1 | 733 | |
d4ad863d JH |
734 | perlapi.pod (a companion to perlguts) now attempts to document the |
735 | internal API. | |
53080bb1 | 736 | |
ce72e97c | 737 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 738 | |
ce72e97c | 739 | You can now build a really minimal perl called microperl. |
d4ad863d JH |
740 | Building microperl does not require even running Configure; |
741 | C<make -f Makefile.micro> should be enough. Beware: microperl makes | |
742 | many assumptions, some of which may be too bold; the resulting | |
0aa7271f JH |
743 | executable may crash or otherwise misbehave in wondrous ways. |
744 | For careful hackers only. | |
53080bb1 | 745 | |
ce72e97c | 746 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 747 | |
43b92eec | 748 | Added rsignal(), whichsig(), do_join() to the publicised API. |
53080bb1 | 749 | |
ce72e97c | 750 | =item * |
53080bb1 | 751 | |
43b92eec | 752 | Made possible to propagate customised exceptions via croak()ing. |
53080bb1 | 753 | |
ce72e97c | 754 | =item * |
53080bb1 JH |
755 | |
756 | Added is_utf8_char(), is_utf8_string(), bytes_to_utf8(), and utf8_to_bytes(). | |
757 | ||
ce72e97c | 758 | =item * |
53080bb1 JH |
759 | |
760 | Now xsubs can have attributes just like subs. | |
761 | ||
ce72e97c JH |
762 | =back |
763 | ||
cc0fca54 GS |
764 | =head1 Known Problems |
765 | ||
53080bb1 JH |
766 | =head2 Unicode Support Still Far From Perfect |
767 | ||
768 | We're working on it. Stay tuned. | |
769 | ||
770 | =head2 EBCDIC Still A Lost Platform | |
771 | ||
772 | The plan is to bring them back. | |
773 | ||
774 | =head2 Building Extensions Can Fail Because Of Largefiles | |
775 | ||
776 | Certain extensions like mod_perl and BSD::Resource are known to have | |
ce72e97c | 777 | issues with `largefiles', a change brought by Perl 5.6.0 in which file |
4b2ec495 | 778 | offsets default to 64 bits wide, where supported. Modules may fail to |
ce72e97c | 779 | compile at all or compile and work incorrectly. Currently there is no |
4b2ec495 JH |
780 | good solution for the problem, but Configure now provides appropriate |
781 | non-largefile ccflags, ldflags, libswanted, and libs in the %Config | |
782 | hash (e.g., $Config{ccflags_nolargefiles}) so the extensions that are | |
783 | having problems can try configuring themselves without the | |
784 | largefileness. This is admittedly not a clean solution, and the | |
785 | solution may not even work at all. One potential failure is whether | |
786 | one can (or, if one can, whether it's a good idea) link together at | |
787 | all binaries with different ideas about file offsets, all this is | |
788 | platform-dependent. | |
53080bb1 | 789 | |
9dc46381 JH |
790 | =head2 ftmp-security tests warn 'system possibly insecure' |
791 | ||
792 | Don't panic. Read INSTALL 'make test' section instead. | |
793 | ||
446288b8 JH |
794 | =head2 Test lib/posix Subtest 9 Fails In LP64-Configured HP-UX |
795 | ||
796 | If perl is configured with -Duse64bitall, the successful result of the | |
797 | subtest 10 of lib/posix may arrive before the successful result of the | |
798 | subtest 9, which confuses the test harness so much that it thinks the | |
799 | subtest 9 failed. | |
800 | ||
9dc46381 JH |
801 | =head2 Long Doubles Still Don't Work In Solaris |
802 | ||
803 | The experimental long double support is still very much so in Solaris. | |
2ff7ee21 CB |
804 | (Other platforms like Linux and Tru64 are beginning to solidify in |
805 | this area.) | |
d184b07b | 806 | |
1047c2b3 JH |
807 | =head2 Linux With Sfio Fails op/misc Test 48 |
808 | ||
809 | No known fix. | |
810 | ||
d184b07b JH |
811 | =head2 Storable tests fail in some platforms |
812 | ||
2ff7ee21 CB |
813 | If any Storable tests fail the use of Storable is not advisable. |
814 | ||
d184b07b JH |
815 | =over 4 |
816 | ||
817 | =item * | |
818 | ||
819 | Many Storable tests fail on AIX configured with 64 bit integers. | |
820 | ||
821 | So far unidentified problems break Storable in AIX if Perl is | |
822 | configured to use 64 bit integers. AIX in 32-bit mode works and | |
823 | other 64-bit platforms work with Storable. | |
824 | ||
825 | =item * | |
826 | ||
827 | DOS DJGPP may hang when testing Storable. | |
828 | ||
829 | =item * | |
830 | ||
831 | st-06compat fails in UNICOS and UNICOS/mk. | |
24e657a8 JH |
832 | |
833 | This means that you cannot read old (pre-Storable-0.7) Storable images | |
834 | made in other platforms. | |
835 | ||
2ff7ee21 CB |
836 | =item * |
837 | ||
838 | st-store.t and st-retrieve may fail with Compaq C 6.2 on OpenVMS Alpha 7.2. | |
839 | ||
33a87e58 JH |
840 | =head2 Threads Are Still Experimental |
841 | ||
842 | Multithreading is still an experimental feature. Some platforms | |
843 | emit the following message for lib/thr5005 | |
844 | ||
845 | # | |
846 | # This is a KNOWN FAILURE, and one of the reasons why threading | |
847 | # is still an experimental feature. It is here to stop people | |
848 | # from deploying threads in production. ;-) | |
849 | # | |
850 | ||
0aa7271f | 851 | and another known thread-related warning is |
33a87e58 JH |
852 | |
853 | pragma/overload......Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores | |
854 | panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction. | |
855 | ok | |
856 | lib/selfloader.......Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores | |
857 | panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction. | |
858 | ok | |
859 | lib/st-dclone........Unbalanced saves: 3 more saves than restores | |
860 | panic: magic_mutexfree during global destruction. | |
861 | ok | |
862 | ||
863 | =head2 The Compiler Suite Is Still Experimental | |
864 | ||
0aa7271f JH |
865 | The compiler suite is slowly getting better but is nowhere near |
866 | working order yet. The backend part that has seen perhaps the most | |
867 | progress is the bytecode compiler. | |
33a87e58 | 868 | |
d184b07b JH |
869 | =back |
870 | ||
cc0fca54 GS |
871 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
872 | ||
d4ad863d JH |
873 | If you find what you think is a bug, you might check the articles |
874 | recently posted to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup and the perl | |
875 | bug database at http://bugs.perl.org. There may also be | |
876 | information at http://www.perl.com/perl/, the Perl Home Page. | |
cc0fca54 GS |
877 | |
878 | If you believe you have an unreported bug, please run the B<perlbug> | |
879 | program included with your release. Be sure to trim your bug down | |
880 | to a tiny but sufficient test case. Your bug report, along with the | |
d4ad863d | 881 | output of C<perl -V>, will be sent off to perlbug@perl.org to be |
cc0fca54 GS |
882 | analysed by the Perl porting team. |
883 | ||
884 | =head1 SEE ALSO | |
885 | ||
886 | The F<Changes> file for exhaustive details on what changed. | |
887 | ||
888 | The F<INSTALL> file for how to build Perl. | |
889 | ||
890 | The F<README> file for general stuff. | |
891 | ||
892 | The F<Artistic> and F<Copying> files for copyright information. | |
893 | ||
894 | =head1 HISTORY | |
895 | ||
53080bb1 JH |
896 | Written by Jarkko Hietaniemi <F<jhi@iki.fi>>, with many contributions |
897 | from The Perl Porters and Perl Users submitting feedback and patches. | |
cc0fca54 | 898 | |
d4ad863d | 899 | Send omissions or corrections to <F<perlbug@perl.org>>. |
cc0fca54 GS |
900 | |
901 | =cut |