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| diff --git a/perl6.html.markdown b/perl6.html.markdown index 13f383fe..2821f0d4 100644 --- a/perl6.html.markdown +++ b/perl6.html.markdown @@ -1,112 +1,159 @@  --- -name: perl6  category: language  language: perl6 -filename: learnperl6.pl +filename: learnperl6.p6  contributors: -    - ["Nami-Doc", "http://github.com/Nami-Doc"] +    - ["vendethiel", "http://github.com/vendethiel"] +    - ["Samantha McVey", "https://cry.nu"]  --- -Perl 6 is a highly capable, feature-rich programming language made for the -upcoming hundred years. +Perl 6 is a highly capable, feature-rich programming language made for at +least the next hundred years. -Perl 6 runs on [the Parrot VM](http://parrot.org/), the JVM -and [the MoarVM](http://moarvm.com). +The primary Perl 6 compiler is called [Rakudo](http://rakudo.org), which runs on +the JVM and [the MoarVM](http://moarvm.com). -Meta-note : the triple pound signs are here to denote headlines, -double paragraphs, and single notes. +Meta-note : double pound signs (##) are used to indicate paragraphs, while  +single pound signs (#) indicate notes.  `#=>` represents the output of a command. -```perl +```perl6  # Single line comment start with a pound  #`(    Multiline comments use #` and a quoting construct.    (), [], {}, 「」, etc, will work.  ) +``` -### Variables +## Variables -# In Perl 6, you declare a lexical variable using `my` +```perl6 +## In Perl 6, you declare a lexical variable using `my`  my $variable; -# Perl 6 has 4 kinds of variables: +## Perl 6 has 3 basic types of variables: scalars, arrays, and hashes. +``` + +### Scalars -## * Scalars. They represent a single value. They start with a `$` +```perl6 +# Scalars represent a single value. They start with a `$`  my $str = 'String';  # double quotes allow for interpolation (which we'll see later):  my $str2 = "String"; -# variable names can contain but not end with simple quotes and dashes, -#  and can contain (and end with) underscores : -# my $weird'variable-name_ = 5; # works ! +## Variable names can contain but not end with simple quotes and dashes, +## and can contain (and end with) underscores : +my $weird'variable-name_ = 5; # works ! -my $bool = True; # `True` and `False` are Perl 6's boolean +my $bool = True; # `True` and `False` are Perl 6's boolean values.  my $inverse = !$bool; # You can invert a bool with the prefix `!` operator  my $forced-bool = so $str; # And you can use the prefix `so` operator                             # which turns its operand into a Bool +``` + +### Arrays and Lists -## * Lists. They represent multiple values. Their name start with `@`. +```perl6 +## Arrays represent multiple values. Their name start with `@`. +## Lists are similar but are an immutable type.  my @array = 'a', 'b', 'c';  # equivalent to :  my @letters = <a b c>; # array of words, delimited by space. -                     # Similar to perl5's qw, or Ruby's %w. +                       # Similar to perl5's qw, or Ruby's %w.  my @array = 1, 2, 3;  say @array[2]; # Array indices start at 0 -- This is the third element -say "Interpolate an array using [] : @array[]"; -#=> Interpolate an array using [] : 1 2 3 +say "Interpolate all elements of an array using [] : @array[]"; +#=> Interpolate all elements of an array using [] : 1 2 3  @array[0] = -1; # Assign a new value to an array index  @array[0, 1] = 5, 6; # Assign multiple values  my @keys = 0, 2; -@array[@keys] = @letters; # Assign using an array +@array[@keys] = @letters; # Assignment using an array containing index values  say @array; #=> a 6 b +``` + +### Hashes, or key-value Pairs. -## * Hashes, or key-value Pairs. -# Hashes are actually arrays of Pairs -# (you can construct a Pair object using the syntax `Key => Value`), -#  except they get "flattened" (hash context), removing duplicated keys. +```perl6 +## Hashes are pairs of keys and values. +## You can construct a Pair object using the syntax `Key => Value`. +## Hash tables are very fast for lookup, and are stored unordered. +## Keep in mind that keys get "flattened" in hash context, and any duplicated +## keys are deduplicated.  my %hash = 1 => 2,             3 => 4; -my %hash = autoquoted => "key", # keys get auto-quoted +my %hash = foo => "bar", # keys get auto-quoted              "some other" => "value", # trailing commas are okay              ; -my %hash = <key1 value1 key2 value2>; # you can also create a hash -                                      # from an even-numbered array -my %hash = key1 => 'value1', key2 => 'value2'; # same as this - -# You can also use the "colon pair" syntax: -# (especially handy for named parameters that you'll see later) -my %hash = :w(1), # equivalent to `w => 1` -           # this is useful for the `True` shortcut: -           :truey, # equivalent to `:truey(True)`, or `truey => True` -           # and for the `False` one: + +## Even though hashes are internally stored differently than arrays, +## Perl 6 allows you to easily create a hash from an even numbered array: +my %hash = <key1 value1 key2 value2>; + +my %hash = key1 => 'value1', key2 => 'value2'; # same result as above + +## You can also use the "colon pair" syntax: +## (especially handy for named parameters that you'll see later) +my %hash = :w(1),    # equivalent to `w => 1` +                     # this is useful for the `True` shortcut: +           :truey,   # equivalent to `:truey(True)`, or `truey => True` +                     # and for the `False` one:             :!falsey, # equivalent to `:falsey(False)`, or `falsey => False`             ;  say %hash{'key1'}; # You can use {} to get the value from a key  say %hash<key2>;   # If it's a string, you can actually use <>                     # (`{key1}` doesn't work, as Perl6 doesn't have barewords) +``` -## * Subs (subroutines, or functions in most other languages). -# Stored in variable, they use `&`. -sub say-hello { say "Hello, world" } +## Subs -sub say-hello-to(Str $name) { # You can provide the type of an argument -                              # and it'll be checked at compile-time. +```perl6 +## Subroutines, or functions as most other languages call them, are +## created with the `sub` keyword. +sub say-hello { say "Hello, world" } +## You can provide (typed) arguments. +## If specified, the type will be checked at compile-time if possible, +## otherwise at runtime. +sub say-hello-to(Str $name) {      say "Hello, $name !";  } -## It can also have optional arguments: +## A sub returns the last value of the block. +sub return-value { +    5; +} +say return-value; # prints 5 +sub return-empty { +} +say return-empty; # prints Nil + +## Some control flow structures produce a value, like if: +sub return-if { +	if True { +		"Truthy"; +	} +} +say return-if; # prints Truthy + +## Some don't, like for: +sub return-for { +    for 1, 2, 3 { } +} +say return-for; # prints Nil + +## A sub can have optional arguments:  sub with-optional($arg?) { # the "?" marks the argument optional -  say "I might return `(Any)` if I don't have an argument passed, -      or I'll return my argument"; +  say "I might return `(Any)` (Perl's 'null'-like value) if I don't have +        an argument passed, or I'll return my argument";    $arg;  }  with-optional; # returns Any @@ -121,34 +168,34 @@ hello-to; #=> Hello, World !  hello-to(); #=> Hello, World !  hello-to('You'); #=> Hello, You ! -## You can also, by using a syntax akin to the one of hashes (yay unified syntax !), -##  pass *named* arguments to a `sub`. -# They're optional, and will default to "Any" (Perl's "null"-like value). +## You can also, by using a syntax akin to the one of hashes +## (yay unified syntax !), pass *named* arguments to a `sub`. +## They're optional, and will default to "Any".  sub with-named($normal-arg, :$named) {    say $normal-arg + $named;  }  with-named(1, named => 6); #=> 7 -# There's one gotcha to be aware of, here: -# If you quote your key, Perl 6 won't be able to see it at compile time, -#  and you'll have a single Pair object as a positional paramater, -#  which means this fails: +## There's one gotcha to be aware of, here: +## If you quote your key, Perl 6 won't be able to see it at compile time, +##  and you'll have a single Pair object as a positional parameter, +##  which means this fails:  with-named(1, 'named' => 6);  with-named(2, :named(5)); #=> 7 -# To make a named argument mandatory, you can use `?`'s inverse, `!` +## To make a named argument mandatory, you can use `?`'s inverse, `!`  sub with-mandatory-named(:$str!)  {    say "$str !";  }  with-mandatory-named(str => "My String"); #=> My String ! -with-mandatory-named; # run time error: "Required named parameter not passed"  -with-mandatory-named(3); # run time error: "Too many positional parameters passed" +with-mandatory-named;   # run time error: "Required named parameter not passed" +with-mandatory-named(3);# run time error:"Too many positional parameters passed"  ## If a sub takes a named boolean argument ...  sub takes-a-bool($name, :$bool) {    say "$name takes $bool";  } -# ... you can use the same "short boolean" hash syntax: +## ... you can use the same "short boolean" hash syntax:  takes-a-bool('config', :bool); # config takes True  takes-a-bool('config', :!bool); # config takes False @@ -157,64 +204,76 @@ sub named-def(:$def = 5) {    say $def;  }  named-def; #=> 5 -named-def(:10def); #=> 10  named-def(def => 15); #=> 15 -# Since you can omit parenthesis to call a function with no arguments, -#  you need "&" in the name to capture `say-hello`. +## Since you can omit parenthesis to call a function with no arguments, +## you need "&" in the name to store `say-hello` in a variable.  my &s = &say-hello;  my &other-s = sub { say "Anonymous function !" } -# A sub can have a "slurpy" parameter, or "doesn't-matter-how-many" -sub as-many($head, *@rest) { # `*@` (slurpy) will basically "take everything else". -                             # Note: you can have parameters *before* (like here) -                             # a slurpy one, but not *after*. +## A sub can have a "slurpy" parameter, or "doesn't-matter-how-many" +sub as-many($head, *@rest) {  #`*@` (slurpy) will "take everything else" +## Note: you can have parameters *before* a slurpy one (like here), +## but not *after*.    say @rest.join(' / ') ~ " !";  }  say as-many('Happy', 'Happy', 'Birthday'); #=> Happy / Birthday ! -                                           # Note that the splat did not consume -                                           #  the parameter before. +                                           # Note that the splat (the *) did not +                                           # consume the parameter before.  ## You can call a function with an array using the -# "argument list flattening" operator `|` -# (it's not actually the only role of this operator, but it's one of them) +## "argument list flattening" operator `|` +## (it's not actually the only role of this operator, but it's one of them)  sub concat3($a, $b, $c) {    say "$a, $b, $c";  }  concat3(|@array); #=> a, b, c                    # `@array` got "flattened" as a part of the argument list +``` + +## Containers -### Containers -# In Perl 6, values are actually stored in "containers". -# The assignment operator asks the container on the left to store the value on -#  its right. When passed around, containers are marked as immutable. -# Which means that, in a function, you'll get an error if you try to -#  mutate one of your arguments. -# If you really need to, you can ask for a mutable container using `is rw`: +```perl6 +## In Perl 6, values are actually stored in "containers". +## The assignment operator asks the container on the left to store the value on +## its right. When passed around, containers are marked as immutable. +## Which means that, in a function, you'll get an error if you try to +## mutate one of your arguments. +## If you really need to, you can ask for a mutable container using `is rw`:  sub mutate($n is rw) {    $n++;    say "\$n is now $n !";  } -# If what you want is a copy instead, use `is copy`. +my $m = 42; +mutate $m; # $n is now 43 ! + +## This works because we are passing the container $m to mutate.  If we try +## to just pass a number instead of passing a variable it won't work because +## there is no container being passed and integers are immutable by themselves: + +mutate 42; # Parameter '$n' expected a writable container, but got Int value -# A sub itself returns a container, which means it can be marked as rw: +## If what you want a copy instead, use `is copy`. + +## A sub itself returns a container, which means it can be marked as rw:  my $x = 42;  sub x-store() is rw { $x }  x-store() = 52; # in this case, the parentheses are mandatory -                # (else Perl 6 thinks `mod` is an identifier) +                # (else Perl 6 thinks `x-store` is an identifier)  say $x; #=> 52 +``` +## Control Flow Structures +### Conditionals -### Control Flow Structures -## Conditionals - -# - `if` -# Before talking about `if`, we need to know which values are "Truthy" -#  (represent True), and which are "Falsey" (or "Falsy") -- represent False. -# Only these values are Falsey: (), 0, "0", "", Nil, A type (like `Str` or `Int`), -#  and of course False itself. -# Every other value is Truthy. +```perl6 +## - `if` +## Before talking about `if`, we need to know which values are "Truthy" +## (represent True), and which are "Falsey" (or "Falsy") -- represent False. +## Only these values are Falsey: 0, (), {}, "", Nil, A type (like `Str` or +## `Int`) and of course False itself. +## Every other value is Truthy.  if True {    say "It's true !";  } @@ -223,52 +282,68 @@ unless False {    say "It's not false !";  } -# As you can see, you don't need parentheses around conditions. -# However, you do need the brackets around the "body" block: +## As you can see, you don't need parentheses around conditions. +## However, you do need the brackets around the "body" block:  # if (true) say; # This doesn't work ! -# You can also use their postfix versions, with the keyword after: +## You can also use their postfix versions, with the keyword after:  say "Quite truthy" if True; -# - Ternary conditional, "?? !!" (like `x ? y : z` in some other languages) -my $a = $condition ?? $value-if-true !! $value-if-false; - -# - `given`-`when` looks like other languages `switch`, but much more -# powerful thanks to smart matching and thanks to Perl 6's "topic variable", $_. -# -# This variable contains the default argument of a block, -#  a loop's current iteration (unless explicitly named), etc. -# -# `given` simply puts its argument into `$_` (like a block would do), -#  and `when` compares it using the "smart matching" (`~~`) operator. -# -# Since other Perl 6 constructs use this variable (as said before, like `for`, -# blocks, etc), this means the powerful `when` is not only applicable along with -# a `given`, but instead anywhere a `$_` exists. +## - Ternary conditional, "?? !!" (like `x ? y : z` in some other languages) +##   returns $value-if-true if the condition is true and $value-if-false +##   if it is false. +##   my $result = $value condition ?? $value-if-true !! $value-if-false; + +my $age = 30; +say $age > 18 ?? "You are an adult" !! "You are under 18"; +``` + +### given/when, or switch + +```perl6 +## - `given`-`when` looks like other languages' `switch`, but is much more +## powerful thanks to smart matching and Perl 6's "topic variable", $_. +## +## This variable contains the default argument of a block, +##  a loop's current iteration (unless explicitly named), etc. +## +## `given` simply puts its argument into `$_` (like a block would do), +##  and `when` compares it using the "smart matching" (`~~`) operator. +## +## Since other Perl 6 constructs use this variable (as said before, like `for`, +## blocks, etc), this means the powerful `when` is not only applicable along  +## with a `given`, but instead anywhere a `$_` exists. +  given "foo bar" {    say $_; #=> foo bar -  when /foo/ { # Don't worry about smart matching yet – just know `when` uses it. +  when /foo/ { # Don't worry about smart matching yet – just know `when` uses it                 # This is equivalent to `if $_ ~~ /foo/`.      say "Yay !";    } -  when $_.chars > 50 { # smart matching anything with True (`$a ~~ True`) is True, +  when $_.chars > 50 { # smart matching anything with True is True, +                       # i.e. (`$a ~~ True`)                          # so you can also put "normal" conditionals. -                       # This when is equivalent to this `if`: -                       #  if ($_.chars > 50) ~~ True {...} +                       # This `when` is equivalent to this `if`: +                       #  if $_ ~~ ($_.chars > 50) {...} +                       # Which means: +                       #  if $_.chars > 50 {...}      say "Quite a long string !";    }    default { # same as `when *` (using the Whatever Star)      say "Something else"    }  } +``` -## Looping constructs +### Looping constructs -# - `loop` is an infinite loop if you don't pass it arguments, -# but can also be a C-style `for` loop: +```perl6 +## - `loop` is an infinite loop if you don't pass it arguments, +## but can also be a C-style `for` loop:  loop {    say "This is an infinite loop !"; -  last; # last breaks out of the loop, like the `break` keyword in other languages +  last; # last breaks out of the loop, like the `break` keyword in other +        # languages  }  loop (my $i = 0; $i < 5; $i++) { @@ -278,16 +353,16 @@ loop (my $i = 0; $i < 5; $i++) {    say "This is a C-style for loop !";  } -# - `for` - Passes through an array +## - `for` - Passes through an array  for @array -> $variable {    say "I've got $variable !";  } -# As we saw with given, for's default "current iteration" variable is `$_`. -# That means you can use `when` in a `for` just like you were in a when. +## As we saw with given, for's default "current iteration" variable is `$_`. +## That means you can use `when` in a `for` just like you were in a `given`.  for @array {    say "I've got $_"; -   +    .say; # This is also allowed.          # A dot call with no "topic" (receiver) is sent to `$_` by default    $_.say; # the above and this are equivalent. @@ -295,218 +370,237 @@ for @array {  for @array {    # You can... -  next if $_ == 3; # Skip to the next iteration (`continue` in C-like languages). -  redo if $_ == 4; # Re-do the iteration, keeping the same topic variable (`$_`). -  last if $_ == 5; # Or break out of a loop (like `break` in C-like languages). +  next if $_ == 3; # Skip to the next iteration (`continue` in C-like languages) +  redo if $_ == 4; # Re-do the iteration, keeping the same topic variable (`$_`) +  last if $_ == 5; # Or break out of a loop (like `break` in C-like languages)  } -# The "pointy block" syntax isn't specific to for. -# It's just a way to express a block in Perl6. +## The "pointy block" syntax isn't specific to for. +## It's just a way to express a block in Perl6.  if long-computation() -> $result {    say "The result is $result";  } +``` -# Now that you've seen how to traverse a list, you need to be aware of something: -# List context (@) flattens. If you traverse nested lists, you'll actually be traversing a -#  shallow list. -for 1, 2, (3, (4, ((5)))) { -  say "Got $_."; -} #=> Got 1. Got 2. Got 3. Got 4. Got 5. - -# ... However: (forcing item context with `$`) -for 1, 2, $(3, 4) { -  say "Got $_."; -} #=> Got 1. Got 2. Got 3 4. - -# Note that the last one actually joined 3 and 4. -# While `$(...)` will apply item to context to just about anything, you can also create -#  an array using `[]`: -for [1, 2, 3, 4] { -  say "Got $_."; -} #=> Got 1 2 3 4. - -# You need to be aware of when flattening happens exactly. -# The general guideline is that argument lists flatten, but not method calls. -# Also note that `.list` and array assignment flatten (`@ary = ...`) flatten. -((1,2), 3, (4,5)).map({...}); # iterates over three elements (method call) -map {...}, ((1,2),3,(4,5));   # iterates over five elements (argument list is flattened) - -(@a, @b, @c).pick(1);         # picks one of three arrays (method call) -pick 1, @a, @b, @c;           # flattens argument list and pick one element - -### Operators +## Operators -## Since Perl languages are very much operator-based languages +```perl6 +## Since Perl languages are very much operator-based languages,  ## Perl 6 operators are actually just funny-looking subroutines, in syntactic -##  categories, like infix:<+> (addition) or prefix:<!> (bool not). +## categories, like infix:<+> (addition) or prefix:<!> (bool not).  ## The categories are: -# - "prefix": before (like `!` in `!True`). -# - "postfix": after (like `++` in `$a++`). -# - "infix": in between (like `*` in `4 * 3`). -# - "circumfix": around (like `[`-`]` in `[1, 2]`). -# - "post-circumfix": around, after another term (like `{`-`}` in `%hash{'key'}`) +## - "prefix": before (like `!` in `!True`). +## - "postfix": after (like `++` in `$a++`). +## - "infix": in between (like `*` in `4 * 3`). +## - "circumfix": around (like `[`-`]` in `[1, 2]`). +## - "post-circumfix": around, after another term (like `{`-`}` in  +##                     `%hash{'key'}`)  ## The associativity and precedence list are explained below. -# Alright, you're set to go ! +## Alright, you're set to go !  ## * Equality Checking -# - `==` is numeric comparison +## - `==` is numeric comparison  3 == 4; # False  3 != 4; # True -# - `eq` is string comparison +## - `eq` is string comparison  'a' eq 'b';  'a' ne 'b'; # not equal  'a' !eq 'b'; # same as above -# - `eqv` is canonical equivalence (or "deep equality") +## - `eqv` is canonical equivalence (or "deep equality")  (1, 2) eqv (1, 3); -# - `~~` is smart matching -# For a complete list of combinations, use this table: -# http://perlcabal.org/syn/S03.html#Smart_matching -'a' ~~ /a/; # true if matches regexp -'key' ~~ %hash; # true if key exists in hash -$arg ~~ &bool-returning-function; # `True` if the function, passed `$arg` -                                  # as an argument, returns `True`. -1 ~~ Int; # "has type" (check superclasses and roles) -1 ~~ True; # smart-matching against a boolean always returns that boolean -           # (and will warn). - -# You also, of course, have `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`. -# Their string equivalent are also avaiable : `lt`, `le`, `gt`, `ge`. +## - Smart Match Operator: `~~` +## Aliases the left hand side to $_ and then evaluates the right hand side. +## Here are some common comparison semantics: + +## String or Numeric Equality + +'Foo' ~~ 'Foo'; # True if strings are equal. +12.5 ~~ 12.50; # True if numbers are equal. + +## Regex - For matching a regular expression against the left side. +## Returns a (Match) object, which evaluates as True if regexp matches. + +my $obj = 'abc' ~~ /a/; +say $obj; # 「a」 +say $obj.WHAT; # (Match) + +## Hashes +'key' ~~ %hash; # True if key exists in hash + +## Type - Checks if left side "has type" (can check superclasses and roles) + +1 ~~ Int; # True + +## Smart-matching against a boolean always returns that boolean (and will warn). + +1 ~~ True; # True +False ~~ True; # True + +## General syntax is $arg ~~ &bool-returning-function; +## For a complete list of combinations, use this table: +## http://perlcabal.org/syn/S03.html#Smart_matching + +## You also, of course, have `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`. +## Their string equivalent are also available : `lt`, `le`, `gt`, `ge`.  3 > 4;  ## * Range constructors  3 .. 7; # 3 to 7, both included -# `^` on either side them exclusive on that side : +## `^` on either side them exclusive on that side :  3 ^..^ 7; # 3 to 7, not included (basically `4 .. 6`) -# This also works as a shortcut for `0..^N`: +## This also works as a shortcut for `0..^N`:  ^10; # means 0..^10 -# This also allows us to demonstrate that Perl 6 has lazy/infinite arrays, -#  using the Whatever Star: +## This also allows us to demonstrate that Perl 6 has lazy/infinite arrays, +## using the Whatever Star:  my @array = 1..*; # 1 to Infinite ! `1..Inf` is the same.  say @array[^10]; # you can pass arrays as subscripts and it'll return                   #  an array of results. This will print                   # "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" (and not run out of memory !) -# Note : when reading an infinite list, Perl 6 will "reify" the elements -# it needs, then keep them in memory. They won't be calculated more than once. -                  -# Warning, though: if you try this example in the REPL and just put `1..*`, -#  Perl 6 will be forced to try and evaluate the whole array (to print it), -#  so you'll end with an infinite loop. - -# You can use that in most places you'd expect, even assigning to an array +## Note : when reading an infinite list, Perl 6 will "reify" the elements +## it needs, then keep them in memory. They won't be calculated more than once. +## It also will never calculate more elements that are needed. +## Trying  + +## An array subscript can also be a closure. +## It'll be called with the length as the argument +say join(' ', @array[15..*]); #=> 15 16 17 18 19 +## which is equivalent to: +say join(' ', @array[-> $n { 15..$n }]); +## Note: if you try to do either of those with an infinite array, +##       you'll trigger an infinite loop (your program won't finish) + +## You can use that in most places you'd expect, even assigning to an array  my @numbers = ^20; -@numbers[5..*] = 3, 9 ... * > 90; # The right hand side could be infinite as well. -                                  # (but not both, as this would be an infinite loop) -say @numbers; #=> 3 9 15 21 27 [...] 81 87 +## Here numbers increase by "6"; more on `...` operator later. +my @seq =  3, 9 ... * > 95; # 3 9 15 21 27 [...] 81 87 93 99; +@numbers[5..*] = 3, 9 ... *; # even though the sequence is infinite, +                             # only the 15 needed values will be calculated. +say @numbers; #=> 0 1 2 3 4 3 9 15 21 [...] 81 87 +              # (only 20 values) -## * And, Or +## * And &&, Or ||  3 && 4; # 4, which is Truthy. Calls `.Bool` on `4` and gets `True`.  0 || False; # False. Calls `.Bool` on `0`  ## * Short-circuit (and tight) versions of the above -$a && $b && $c; # Returns the first argument that evaluates to False, -                # or the last argument. -$a || $b; +#    Returns the first argument that evaluates to False, or the last argument. -# And because you're going to want them, -#  you also have composed assignment operators: -$a *= 2; # multiply and assignment +my ( $a, $b, $c ) = 1, 0, 2; +$a && $b && $c; # Returns 0, the first False value + +## || Returns the first argument that evaluates to True +$b || $a; # 1 + +## And because you're going to want them, +## you also have compound assignment operators: +$a *= 2; # multiply and assignment. Equivalent to $a = $a * 2;  $b %%= 5; # divisible by and assignment  @array .= sort; # calls the `sort` method and assigns the result back +``` + +## More on subs ! -### More on subs ! -# As we said before, Perl 6 has *really* powerful subs. We're going to see -# a few more key concepts that make them better than in any other language :-). +```perl6 +## As we said before, Perl 6 has *really* powerful subs. We're going to see +## a few more key concepts that make them better than in any other language :-). +``` + +### Unpacking ! -## Unpacking ! -# It's the ability to "extract" arrays and keys. -# It'll work in `my`s and in parameter lists. -my ($a, $b) = 1, 2; -say $a; #=> 1 -my ($, $, $c) = 1, 2, 3; # keep the non-interesting anonymous -say $c; #=> 3 +```perl6 +## It's the ability to "extract" arrays and keys (AKA "destructuring"). +## It'll work in `my`s and in parameter lists. +my ($f, $g) = 1, 2; +say $f; #=> 1 +my ($, $, $h) = 1, 2, 3; # keep the non-interesting anonymous +say $h; #=> 3  my ($head, *@tail) = 1, 2, 3; # Yes, it's the same as with "slurpy subs"  my (*@small) = 1; -sub foo(@array [$fst, $snd]) { +sub unpack_array(@array [$fst, $snd]) {    say "My first is $fst, my second is $snd ! All in all, I'm @array[].";    # (^ remember the `[]` to interpolate the array)  } -foo(@tail); #=> My first is 2, my second is 3 ! All in all, I'm 2 3 +unpack_array(@tail); #=> My first is 2, my second is 3 ! All in all, I'm 2 3 -# If you're not using the array itself, you can also keep it anonymous, -#  much like a scalar: +## If you're not using the array itself, you can also keep it anonymous, +## much like a scalar:  sub first-of-array(@ [$fst]) { $fst }  first-of-array(@small); #=> 1  first-of-array(@tail); # Throws an error "Too many positional parameters passed"                         # (which means the array is too big). -# You can also use a slurp ... +## You can also use a slurp ...  sub slurp-in-array(@ [$fst, *@rest]) { # You could keep `*@rest` anonymous    say $fst + @rest.elems; # `.elems` returns a list's length.                            # Here, `@rest` is `(3,)`, since `$fst` holds the `2`.  }  slurp-in-array(@tail); #=> 3 -# You could even extract on a slurpy (but it's pretty useless ;-).) +## You could even extract on a slurpy (but it's pretty useless ;-).)  sub fst(*@ [$fst]) { # or simply : `sub fst($fst) { ... }`    say $fst;  }  fst(1); #=> 1  fst(1, 2); # errors with "Too many positional parameters passed" -# You can also destructure hashes (and classes, which you'll learn about later !) -# The syntax is basically `%hash-name (:key($variable-to-store-value-in))`. -# The hash can stay anonymous if you only need the values you extracted. +## You can also destructure hashes (and classes, which you'll learn about later) +## The syntax is basically `%hash-name (:key($variable-to-store-value-in))`. +## The hash can stay anonymous if you only need the values you extracted.  sub key-of(% (:value($val), :qua($qua))) {    say "Got val $val, $qua times.";  } -# Then call it with a hash: (you need to keep the brackets for it to be a hash) +## Then call it with a hash: (you need to keep the brackets for it to be a hash)  key-of({value => 'foo', qua => 1});  #key-of(%hash); # the same (for an equivalent `%hash`)  ## The last expression of a sub is returned automatically -# (though you may use the `return` keyword, of course): +## (though you may use the `return` keyword, of course):  sub next-index($n) {    $n + 1;  }  my $new-n = next-index(3); # $new-n is now 4 -# This is true for everything, except for the looping constructs -# (due to performance reasons): there's reason to build a list -#  if we're just going to discard all the results. -# If you still want to build one, you can use the `do` statement prefix: -#  (or the `gather` prefix, which we'll see later) +## This is true for everything, except for the looping constructs +## (due to performance reasons): there's reason to build a list +## if we're just going to discard all the results. +## If you still want to build one, you can use the `do` statement prefix: +## (or the `gather` prefix, which we'll see later)  sub list-of($n) {    do for ^$n { # note the use of the range-to prefix operator `^` (`0..^N`)      $_ # current loop iteration    }  }  my @list3 = list-of(3); #=> (0, 1, 2) +``` +### lambdas + +```perl6  ## You can create a lambda with `-> {}` ("pointy block") or `{}` ("block")  my &lambda = -> $argument { "The argument passed to this lambda is $argument" } -# `-> {}` and `{}` are pretty much the same thing, except that the former can -# take arguments, and that the latter can be mistaken as a hash by the parser. +## `-> {}` and `{}` are pretty much the same thing, except that the former can +## take arguments, and that the latter can be mistaken as a hash by the parser. -# We can, for example, add 3 to each value of an array using map: +## We can, for example, add 3 to each value of an array using map:  my @arrayplus3 = map({ $_ + 3 }, @array); # $_ is the implicit argument -# A sub (`sub {}`) has different semantics than a block (`{}` or `-> {}`): -# A block doesn't have a "function context" (though it can have arguments), -#  which means that if you return from it, -#  you're going to return from the parent function. Compare: +## A sub (`sub {}`) has different semantics than a block (`{}` or `-> {}`): +## A block doesn't have a "function context" (though it can have arguments), +## which means that if you return from it, +## you're going to return from the parent function. Compare:  sub is-in(@array, $elem) {    # this will `return` out of the `is-in` sub    # once the condition evaluated to True, the loop won't be run anymore @@ -519,56 +613,62 @@ sub truthy-array(@array) {    # ^ the `return` only returns from the anonymous `sub`  } -# You can also use the "whatever star" to create an anonymous function -# (it'll stop at the furthest operator in the current expression) +## You can also use the "whatever star" to create an anonymous function +## (it'll stop at the furthest operator in the current expression)  my @arrayplus3 = map(*+3, @array); # `*+3` is the same as `{ $_ + 3 }`  my @arrayplus3 = map(*+*+3, @array); # Same as `-> $a, $b { $a + $b + 3 }`                                       # also `sub ($a, $b) { $a + $b + 3 }`  say (*/2)(4); #=> 2 -              # Immediatly execute the function Whatever created. +              # Immediately execute the function Whatever created.  say ((*+3)/5)(5); #=> 1.6                    # works even in parens ! -# But if you need to have more than one argument (`$_`) -#  in a block (without wanting to resort to `-> {}`), -#  you can also use the implicit argument syntax, `$^` : +## But if you need to have more than one argument (`$_`) +## in a block (without wanting to resort to `-> {}`), +## you can also use the implicit argument syntax, `$^` :  map({ $^a + $^b + 3 }, @array); # equivalent to following:  map(sub ($a, $b) { $a + $b + 3 }, @array); # (here with `sub`) -# Note : those are sorted lexicographically. +## Note : those are sorted lexicographically.  # `{ $^b / $^a }` is like `-> $a, $b { $b / $a }` +``` -## About types... -# Perl6 is gradually typed. This means you can specify the type -#  of your variables/arguments/return types, or you can omit them -#  and they'll default to "Any". -# You obviously get access to a few base types, like Int and Str. -# The constructs for declaring types are "class", "role", -#  which you'll see later. - -# For now, let us examinate "subset": -# a "subset" is a "sub-type" with additional checks. -# For example: "a very big integer is an Int that's greater than 500" -# You can specify the type you're subtyping (by default, Any), -#  and add additional checks with the "where" keyword: +### About types... + +```perl6 +## Perl6 is gradually typed. This means you can specify the type +## of your variables/arguments/return types, or you can omit them +## and they'll default to "Any". +## You obviously get access to a few base types, like Int and Str. +## The constructs for declaring types are "class", "role", +## which you'll see later. + +## For now, let us examine "subset": +## a "subset" is a "sub-type" with additional checks. +## For example: "a very big integer is an Int that's greater than 500" +## You can specify the type you're subtyping (by default, Any), +## and add additional checks with the "where" keyword:  subset VeryBigInteger of Int where * > 500; +``` + +### Multiple Dispatch -## Multiple Dispatch -# Perl 6 can decide which variant of a `sub` to call based on the type of the -# arguments, or on arbitrary preconditions, like with a type or a `where`: +```perl6 +## Perl 6 can decide which variant of a `sub` to call based on the type of the +## arguments, or on arbitrary preconditions, like with a type or a `where`: -# with types +## with types  multi sub sayit(Int $n) { # note the `multi` keyword here    say "Number: $n";  } -multi sayit(Str $s) } # a multi is a `sub` by default +multi sayit(Str $s) { # a multi is a `sub` by default    say "String: $s";  }  sayit("foo"); # prints "String: foo"  sayit(True); # fails at *compile time* with               # "calling 'sayit' will never work with arguments of types ..." -# with arbitrary precondition (remember subsets?): +## with arbitrary precondition (remember subsets?):  multi is-big(Int $n where * > 50) { "Yes !" } # using a closure  multi is-big(Int $ where 10..50) { "Quite." } # Using smart-matching                                                # (could use a regexp, etc) @@ -580,7 +680,7 @@ multi odd-or-even(Even) { "Even" } # The main case using the type.                                     # We don't name the argument.  multi odd-or-even($) { "Odd" } # "else" -# You can even dispatch based on a positional's argument presence ! +## You can even dispatch based on a positional's argument presence !  multi with-or-without-you(:$with!) { # You need make it mandatory to                                       # be able to dispatch against it.    say "I can live ! Actually, I can't."; @@ -588,127 +688,174 @@ multi with-or-without-you(:$with!) { # You need make it mandatory to  multi with-or-without-you {    say "Definitely can't live.";  } -# This is very, very useful for many purposes, like `MAIN` subs (covered later), -#  and even the language itself is using it in several places. -# -# - `is`, for example, is actually a `multi sub` named `trait_mod:<is>`, -#  and it works off that. -# - `is rw`, is simply a dispatch to a function with this signature: -# sub trait_mod:<is>(Routine $r, :$rw!) {} -# -# (commented because running this would be a terrible idea !) - - -### Scoping -# In Perl 6, contrarily to many scripting languages (like Python, Ruby, PHP), -#  you are to declare your variables before using them. You know `my`. -# (there are other declarators, `our`, `state`, ..., which we'll see later). -# This is called "lexical scoping", where in inner blocks, -#  you can access variables from outer blocks. -my $foo = 'Foo'; -sub foo { -  my $bar = 'Bar'; -  sub bar { -    say "$foo $bar"; +## This is very, very useful for many purposes, like `MAIN` subs (covered  +## later), and even the language itself is using it in several places. +## +## - `is`, for example, is actually a `multi sub` named `trait_mod:<is>`, +## and it works off that. +## - `is rw`, is simply a dispatch to a function with this signature: +## sub trait_mod:<is>(Routine $r, :$rw!) {} +## +## (commented because running this would be a terrible idea !) +``` + +## Scoping + +```perl6 +## In Perl 6, unlike many scripting languages, (such as Python, Ruby, PHP), +## you must declare your variables before using them. The `my` declarator +## you have learned uses "lexical scoping". There are a few other declarators, +## (`our`, `state`, ..., ) which we'll see later. +## This is called "lexical scoping", where in inner blocks, +## you can access variables from outer blocks. +my $file_scoped = 'Foo'; +sub outer { +  my $outer_scoped = 'Bar'; +  sub inner { +    say "$file_scoped $outer_scoped";    } -  &bar; # return the function +  &inner; # return the function  } -foo()(); #=> 'Foo Bar' +outer()(); #=> 'Foo Bar' -# As you can see, `$foo` and `$bar` were captured. -# But if we were to try and use `$bar` outside of `foo`, -# the variable would be undefined (and you'd get a compile time error). +## As you can see, `$file_scoped` and `$outer_scoped` were captured. +## But if we were to try and use `$bar` outside of `foo`, +## the variable would be undefined (and you'd get a compile time error). +``` -# Perl 6 has another kind of scope : dynamic scope. -# They use the twigil (composed sigil) `*` to mark dynamically-scoped variables: -my $*a = 1; -# Dyamically-scoped variables depend on the current call stack, -#  instead of the current block depth. -sub foo { -  my $*foo = 1; -  bar(); # call `bar` in-place -} -sub bar { -  say $*foo; # `$*a` will be looked in the call stack, and find `foo`'s, -             #  even though the blocks aren't nested (they're call-nested). -             #=> 1 -} +## Twigils -### Object Model +```perl6 +## There are many special `twigils` (composed sigil's) in Perl 6. +## Twigils define the variables' scope. +## The * and ? twigils work on standard variables: +## * Dynamic variable +## ? Compile-time variable +## The ! and the . twigils are used with Perl 6's objects: +## ! Attribute (class member) +## . Method (not really a variable) -## Perl 6 has a quite comprehensive object model -# You declare a class with the keyword `class`, fields with `has`, -# methods with `method`. Every field to private, and is named `$!attr`, -# but you have `$.` to get a public (immutable) accessor along with it. -# (using `$.` is like using `$!` plus a `method` with the same name) +## `*` Twigil: Dynamic Scope +## These variables use the`*` twigil to mark dynamically-scoped variables. +## Dynamically-scoped variables are looked up through the caller, not through +## the outer scope -# (Perl 6's object model ("SixModel") is very flexible, -# and allows you to dynamically add methods, change semantics, etc ... -# (this will not be covered here, and you should refer to the Synopsis). +my $*dyn_scoped_1 = 1; +my $*dyn_scoped_2 = 10; -class A { -  has $.field; # `$.field` is immutable. -               # From inside the class, use `$!field` to modify it. -  has $.other-field is rw; # You can obviously mark a public field `rw`. -  has Int $!private-field = 10; +sub say_dyn { +  say "$*dyn_scoped_1 $*dyn_scoped_2"; +} + +sub call_say_dyn { +  my $*dyn_scoped_1 = 25; # Defines $*dyn_scoped_1 only for this sub. +  $*dyn_scoped_2 = 100; # Will change the value of the file scoped variable. +  say_dyn(); #=> 25 100 $*dyn_scoped 1 and 2 will be looked for in the call. +             # It uses the value of $*dyn_scoped_1 from inside this sub's  +             # lexical scope even though the blocks aren't nested (they're  +             # call-nested). +} +say_dyn(); #=> 1 10 +call_say_dyn(); #=> 25 100 +                # Uses $*dyn_scoped_1 as defined in call_say_dyn even though +                # we are calling it from outside. +say_dyn(); #=> 1 100 We changed the value of $*dyn_scoped_2 in call_say_dyn +           #         so now its value has changed. +``` + +## Object Model + +```perl6 +## To call a method on an object, add a dot followed by the method name: +## => $object.method +## Classes are declared with the `class` keyword. Attributes are declared +## with the `has` keyword, and methods declared with `method`. +## Every attribute that is private uses the ! twigil for example: `$!attr`. +## Immutable public attributes use the `.` twigil. +## (you can make them mutable with `is rw`) +## The easiest way to remember the `$.` twigil is comparing it to how methods +## are called. + +## Perl 6's object model ("SixModel") is very flexible, +## and allows you to dynamically add methods, change semantics, etc ... +## (these will not all be covered here, and you should refer to: +## https://docs.perl6.org/language/objects.html. + +class Attrib-Class { +  has $.attrib; # `$.attrib` is immutable. +               # From inside the class, use `$!attrib` to modify it. +  has $.other-attrib is rw; # You can mark a public attribute `rw`. +  has Int $!private-attrib = 10;    method get-value { -    $.field + $!private-field + $n; +    $.attrib + $!private-attrib;    } -   -  method set-value($n) { -    # $.field = $n; # As stated before, you can't use the `$.` immutable version. -    $!field = $n;   # This works, because `$!` is always mutable. -     -    $.other-field = 5; # This works, because `$.other-field` is `rw`. + +  method set-value($param) { # Methods can take parameters +    $!attrib = $param;   # This works, because `$!` is always mutable. +	# $.attrib = $param; # Wrong: You can't use the `$.` immutable version. + +    $.other-attrib = 5; # This works, because `$.other-attrib` is `rw`.    } -   +    method !private-method {      say "This method is private to the class !";    }  }; -# Create a new instance of A with $.field set to 5 : -# Note: you can't set private-field from here (more later on). -my $a = A.new(field => 5); -$a.get-value; #=> 18 -#$a.field = 5; # This fails, because the `has $.field` is immutable -$a.other-field = 10; # This, however, works, because the public field -                     #  is mutable (`rw`). +## Create a new instance of Attrib-Class with $.attrib set to 5 : +## Note: you can't set private-attribute from here (more later on). +my $class-obj = Attrib-Class.new(attrib => 5); +say $class-obj.get-value; #=> 15 +# $class-obj.attrib = 5; # This fails, because the `has $.attrib` is immutable +$class-obj.other-attrib = 10; # This, however, works, because the public +                              # attribute is mutable (`rw`). +``` -## Perl 6 also has inheritance (along with multiple inheritance) -# (though considered a misfeature by many) +### Object Inheritance -class A { -  has $.val; -   -  submethod not-inherited { -    say "This method won't be available on B."; -    say "This is most useful for BUILD, which we'll see later"; +```perl6 +## Perl 6 also has inheritance (along with multiple inheritance) +## While `method`'s are inherited, `submethod`'s are not. +## Submethods are useful for object construction and destruction tasks, +## such as BUILD, or methods that must be overridden by subtypes. +## We will learn about BUILD later on. + +class Parent { +  has $.age; +  has $.name; +  # This submethod won't be inherited by Child. +  submethod favorite-color { +    say "My favorite color is Blue";    } -   -  method bar { $.val * 5 } +  # This method is inherited +  method talk { say "Hi, my name is $!name" }  } -class B is A { # inheritance uses `is` -  method foo { -    say $.val; -  } -   -  method bar { $.val * 10 } # this shadows A's `bar` +# Inheritance uses the `is` keyword +class Child is Parent { +  method talk { say "Goo goo ga ga" } +  # This shadows Parent's `talk` method, This child hasn't learned to speak yet!  } +my Parent $Richard .= new(age => 40, name => 'Richard'); +$Richard.favorite-color; #=> "My favorite color is Blue" +$Richard.talk; #=> "Hi, my name is Richard" +## $Richard is able to access the submethod, he knows how to say his name. + +my Child $Madison .= new(age => 1, name => 'Madison'); +$Madison.talk; # prints "Goo goo ga ga" due to the overridden method. +# $Madison.favorite-color # does not work since it is not inherited + +## When you use `my T $var`, `$var` starts off with `T` itself in it, +## so you can call `new` on it. +## (`.=` is just the dot-call and the assignment operator: +##  `$a .= b` is the same as `$a = $a.b`) +## Also note that `BUILD` (the method called inside `new`) +## will set parent properties too, so you can pass `val => 5`. +``` -# When you use `my T $var`, `$var` starts off with `T` itself in it, -# so you can call `new` on it. -# (`.=` is just the dot-call and the assignment operator: -#  `$a .= b` is the same as `$a = $a.b`) -# Also note that `BUILD` (the method called inside `new`) -#  will set parent properties too, so you can pass `val => 5`. -my B $b .= new(val => 5); - -# $b.not-inherited; # This won't work, for reasons explained above -$b.foo; # prints 5 -$b.bar; #=> 50, since it calls B's `bar` +### Roles, or Mixins +```perl6  ## Roles are supported too (also called Mixins in other languages)  role PrintableVal {    has $!counter = 0; @@ -717,150 +864,211 @@ role PrintableVal {    }  } -# you "import" a mixin (a "role") with "does": +## you "import" a mixin (a "role") with "does":  class Item does PrintableVal {    has $.val; -   -  # When `does`-ed, a `role` literally "mixes in" the class: -  #  the methods and fields are put together, which means a class can access -  #  the private fields/methods of its roles (but not the inverse !): + +  ## When `does`-ed, a `role` literally "mixes in" the class: +  ## the methods and attributes are put together, which means a class can access +  ## the private attributes/methods of its roles (but not the inverse !):    method access {      say $!counter++;    } -   -  # However, this: -  # method print {} -  # is ONLY valid when `print` isn't a `multi` with the same dispatch. -  # (this means a parent class can shadow a child class's `multi print() {}`, -  #  but it's an error if a role does) -   -  # NOTE: You can use a role as a class (with `is ROLE`). In this case, methods -  # will be shadowed, since the compiler will consider `ROLE` to be a class. -} - -### Exceptions -# Exceptions are built on top of classes, in the package `X` (like `X::IO`). -# Unlike many other languages, in Perl 6, you put the `CATCH` block *within* the -#  block to `try`. By default, a `try` has a `CATCH` block that catches -#  any exception (`CATCH { default {} }`). -# You can redefine it using `when`s (and `default`) -#  to handle the exceptions you want: + +  ## However, this: +  ## method print {} +  ## is ONLY valid when `print` isn't a `multi` with the same dispatch. +  ## (this means a parent class can shadow a child class's `multi print() {}`, +  ##  but it's an error if a role does) + +  ## NOTE: You can use a role as a class (with `is ROLE`). In this case,  +  ##       methods will be shadowed, since the compiler will consider `ROLE` to  +  ##       be a class. +} +``` + +## Exceptions + +```perl6 +## Exceptions are built on top of classes, in the package `X` (like `X::IO`). +## In Perl6 exceptions are automatically 'thrown' +open 'foo'; #> Failed to open file foo: no such file or directory +## It will also print out what line the error was thrown at and other error info + +## You can throw an exception using `die`: +die 'Error!'; #=> Error! + +## Or more explicitly: +die X::AdHoc.new(payload => 'Error!'); + +## In Perl 6, `orelse` is similar to the `or` operator, except it only matches +## undefined variables instead of anything evaluating as false. +## Undefined values include: `Nil`, `Mu` and `Failure` as well as `Int`, `Str` +## and other types that have not been initialized to any value yet. +## You can check if something is defined or not using the defined method: +my $uninitialized; +say $uninitiazilzed.defined; #> False +## When using `orelse` it will disarm the exception and alias $_ to that failure +## This will avoid it being automatically handled and printing lots of scary +## error messages to the screen. +## We can use the exception method on $_ to access the exception +open 'foo' orelse say "Something happened {.exception}"; + +## This also works: +open 'foo' orelse say "Something happened $_"; #> Something happened +              #>  Failed to open file foo: no such file or directory +## Both of those above work but in case we get an object from the left side that +## is not a failure we will probably get a warning.  We see below how we can use +## `try` and `CATCH` to be more specific with the exceptions we catch. +``` + +### Using `try` and `CATCH` + +```perl6 +## By using `try` and `CATCH` you can contain and handle exceptions without +## disrupting the rest of the program. `try` will set the last exception to +## the special variable `$!` Note: This has no relation to $!variables. +try open 'foo'; +say "Well, I tried! $!" if defined $!; #> Well, I tried! Failed to open file +                                       #foo: no such file or directory +## Now, what if we want more control over handling the exception? +## Unlike many other languages, in Perl 6, you put the `CATCH` block *within* +## the block to `try`. Similar to how $_ was set when we 'disarmed' the +## exception with orelse, we also use $_ in the CATCH block. +## Note: ($! is only set *after* the `try` block) +## By default, a `try` has a `CATCH` block that catches +## any exception (`CATCH { default {} }`). + +try { my $a = (0 %% 0);  CATCH { say "Something happened: $_" } } + #=> Something happened: Attempt to divide by zero using infix:<%%> + +## You can redefine it using `when`s (and `default`) +## to handle the exceptions you want:  try {    open 'foo'; -  CATCH { -    when X::AdHoc { say "unable to open file !" } -    # Any other exception will be re-raised, since we don't have a `default` -    # Basically, if a `when` matches (or there's a `default`) marks the exception as -    #  "handled" so that it doesn't get re-thrown from the `CATCH`. -    # You still can re-throw the exception (see below) by hand. +  CATCH {     # In the `CATCH` block, the exception is set to $_ +    when X::AdHoc { say "Error: $_" } +     #=>Error: Failed to open file /dir/foo: no such file or directory + +    ## Any other exception will be re-raised, since we don't have a `default` +    ## Basically, if a `when` matches (or there's a `default`) marks the +	  ## exception as +    ## "handled" so that it doesn't get re-thrown from the `CATCH`. +    ## You still can re-throw the exception (see below) by hand.    }  } -# You can throw an exception using `die`: -die X::AdHoc.new(payload => 'Error !'); - -# You can access the last exception with `$!` (usually used in a `CATCH` block) - -# There are also some subtelties to exceptions. Some Perl 6 subs return a `Failure`, -#  which is a kind of "unthrown exception". They're not thrown until you tried to look -#  at their content, unless you call `.Bool`/`.defined` on them - then they're handled. -#  (the `.handled` method is `rw`, so you can mark it as `False` back yourself) -# -# You can throw a `Failure` using `fail`. Note that if the pragma `use fatal` is on, -#  `fail` will throw an exception (like `die`). +## There are also some subtleties to exceptions. Some Perl 6 subs return a +## `Failure`, which is a kind of "unthrown exception". They're not thrown until +## you tried to look at their content, unless you call `.Bool`/`.defined` on +## them - then they're handled. +## (the `.handled` method is `rw`, so you can mark it as `False` back yourself) +## +## You can throw a `Failure` using `fail`. Note that if the pragma `use fatal` +## is on, `fail` will throw an exception (like `die`).  fail "foo"; # We're not trying to access the value, so no problem.  try {    fail "foo";    CATCH { -    default { say "It threw because we try to get the fail's value!" } +    default { say "It threw because we tried to get the fail's value!" }    }  } -# There is also another kind of exception: Control exceptions. -# Those are "good" exceptions, which happen when you change your program's flow, -#  using operators like `return`, `next` or `last`. -# You can "catch" those with `CONTROL` (not 100% working in Rakudo yet). +## There is also another kind of exception: Control exceptions. +## Those are "good" exceptions, which happen when you change your program's  +## flow, using operators like `return`, `next` or `last`. +## You can "catch" those with `CONTROL` (not 100% working in Rakudo yet). +``` + +## Packages + +```perl6 +## Packages are a way to reuse code. Packages are like "namespaces", and any +## element of the six model (`module`, `role`, `class`, `grammar`, `subset` and +## `enum`) are actually packages. (Packages are the lowest common denominator) +## Packages are important - especially as Perl is well-known for CPAN, +## the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network. + +## You can use a module (bring its declarations into scope) with `use` +use JSON::Tiny; # if you installed Rakudo* or Panda, you'll have this module +say from-json('[1]').perl; #=> [1] + +## You should not declare packages using the `package` keyword (unlike Perl 5). +## Instead, use `class Package::Name::Here;` to declare a class, or if you only +## want to export variables/subs, you can use `module`. -### Packages -# Packages are a way to reuse code. Packages are like "namespaces", and any -#  element of the six model (`module`, `role`, `class`, `grammar`, `subset` -#  and `enum`) are actually packages. (Packages are the lowest common denomitor) -# Packages are important - especially as Perl is well-known for CPAN, -#  the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network. -# You usually don't use packages directly: you use `class Package::Name::Here;`, -# or if you only want to export variables/subs, you can use `module`:  module Hello::World { # Bracketed form                        # If `Hello` doesn't exist yet, it'll just be a "stub",                        #  that can be redeclared as something else later.    # ... declarations here ...  } -module Parse::Text; # file-scoped form +unit module Parse::Text; # file-scoped form +  grammar Parse::Text::Grammar { # A grammar is a package, which you could `use` -} +}                    # You will learn more about grammars in the regex section -# NOTE for Perl 5 users: even though the `package` keyword exists, -#  the braceless form is invalid (to catch a "perl5ism"). This will error out: -# package Foo; # because Perl 6 will think the entire file is Perl 5 -# Just use `module` or the brace version of `package`. +## As said before, any part of the six model is also a package. +## Since `JSON::Tiny` uses its own `JSON::Tiny::Actions` class, you can use it: +my $actions = JSON::Tiny::Actions.new; -# You can use a module (bring its declarations into scope) with `use` -use JSON::Tiny; # if you installed Rakudo* or Panda, you'll have this module -say from-json('[1]').perl; #=> [1] +## We'll see how to export variables and subs in the next part: +``` -# As said before, any part of the six model is also a package. -# Since `JSON::Tiny` uses (its own) `JSON::Tiny::Actions` class, you can use it: -my $actions = JSON::Tiny::Actions.new; +## Declarators -# We'll see how to export variables and subs in the next part: +```perl6 +## In Perl 6, you get different behaviors based on how you declare a variable. +## You've already seen `my` and `has`, we'll now explore the others. -### Declarators -# In Perl 6, you get different behaviors based on how you declare a variable. -# You've already seen `my` and `has`, we'll now explore the others. +## * `our` declarations happen at `INIT` time -- (see "Phasers" below) +## It's like `my`, but it also creates a package variable. +## (All packagish things (`class`, `role`, etc) are `our` by default) +module Var::Increment { +  our $our-var = 1; # Note: you can't put a type constraint like Int on an +  my $my-var = 22;  # `our` variable. +  our sub Inc { -## * `our` (happens at `INIT` time -- see "Phasers" below) -# Along with `my`, there are several others declarators you can use. -# The first one you'll want for the previous part is `our`. -# (All packagish things (`class`, `role`, etc) are `our` by default) -# it's like `my`, but it also creates a package variable: -module Foo::Bar { -  our $n = 1; # note: you can't put a type constraint on an `our` variable -  our sub inc {      our sub available { # If you try to make inner `sub`s `our`...                          # Better know what you're doing (Don't !). -      say "Don't do that. Seriously. You'd get burned."; +      say "Don't do that. Seriously. You'll get burned.";      } +      my sub unavailable { # `my sub` is the default -      say "Can't access me from outside, I'm my !"; +      say "Can't access me from outside, I'm 'my'!";      } +    say ++$our-var; # Increment the package variable and output its value    } -   -  say ++$n; # lexically-scoped variables are still available +  } -say $Foo::Bar::n; #=> 1 -Foo::Bar::inc; #=> 2 -Foo::Bar::inc; #=> 3 +say $Var::Increment::our-var; #=> 1 This works +say $Var::Increment::my-var; #=> (Any) This will not work. + +Var::Increment::Inc; #=> 2 +Var::Increment::Inc; #=> 3 # Notice how the value of $our-var was +                         # retained. +Var::Increment::unavailable; #> Could not find symbol '&unavailable'  ## * `constant` (happens at `BEGIN` time) -# You can use the `constant` keyword to declare a compile-time variable/symbol: +## You can use the `constant` keyword to declare a compile-time variable/symbol:  constant Pi = 3.14;  constant $var = 1; -# And if you're wondering, yes, it can also contain infinite lists. +## And if you're wondering, yes, it can also contain infinite lists.  constant why-not = 5, 15 ... *;  say why-not[^5]; #=> 5 15 25 35 45  ## * `state` (happens at run time, but only once) -# State variables are only executed one time -# (they exist in other langages such as C as `static`) +## State variables are only initialized one time +## (they exist in other languages such as C as `static`)  sub fixed-rand {    state $val = rand; -  say $rand; +  say $val;  }  fixed-rand for ^10; # will print the same number 10 times -# Note, however, that they exist separately in different enclosing contexts. -# If you declare a function with a `state` within a loop, it'll re-create the -#  variable for each iteration of the loop. See: +## Note, however, that they exist separately in different enclosing contexts. +## If you declare a function with a `state` within a loop, it'll re-create the +## variable for each iteration of the loop. See:  for ^5 -> $a {    sub foo {      state $val = rand; # This will be a different value for every value of `$a` @@ -870,20 +1078,23 @@ for ^5 -> $a {               # Next iteration will re-run `rand`.    }  } +``` +## Phasers - -### Phasers -# Phasers in Perl 6 are blocks that happen at determined points of time in your -#  program. When the program is compiled, when a for loop runs, when you leave a -#  block, when an exception gets thrown ... (`CATCH` is actually a phaser !) -# Some of them can be used for their return values, some of them can't -#  (those that can have a "[*]" in the beginning of their explanation text). -# Let's have a look ! +```perl6 +## Phasers in Perl 6 are blocks that happen at determined points of time in your +## program.  They are called phasers because they mark a change in the phase +## of a program.  For example, when the program is compiled, a for loop runs, +## you leave a block, or an exception gets thrown.  +## (`CATCH` is actually a phaser!) +## Some of them can be used for their return values, some of them can't +## (those that can have a "[*]" in the beginning of their explanation text). +## Let's have a look !  ## * Compile-time phasers  BEGIN { say "[*] Runs at compile time, as soon as possible, only once" } -CHECK { say "[*] Runs at compile time, instead as late as possible, only once" } +CHECK { say "[*] Runs at compile time, as late as possible, only once" }  ## * Run-time phasers  INIT { say "[*] Runs at run time, as soon as possible, only once" } @@ -891,15 +1102,37 @@ END { say "Runs at run time, as late as possible, only once" }  ## * Block phasers  ENTER { say "[*] Runs everytime you enter a block, repeats on loop blocks" } -LEAVE { say "Runs everytime you leave a block, even when an exception happened. Repeats on loop blocks." } +LEAVE { say "Runs everytime you leave a block, even when an exception +    happened. Repeats on loop blocks." } + +PRE { +    say "Asserts a precondition at every block entry, +        before ENTER (especially useful for loops)"; +    say "If this block doesn't return a truthy value, +        an exception of type X::Phaser::PrePost is thrown."; +} -PRE { say "Asserts a precondition at every block entry, before ENTER (especially useful for loops)" } -POST { say "Asserts a postcondition at every block exit, after LEAVE (especially useful for loops)" } +## example: +for 0..2 { +    PRE { $_ > 1 } # This is going to blow up with "Precondition failed" +} + +POST { +    say "Asserts a postcondition at every block exit, +        after LEAVE (especially useful for loops)"; +    say "If this block doesn't return a truthy value, +        an exception of type X::Phaser::PrePost is thrown, like PRE."; +} +for 0..2 { +    POST { $_ < 2 } # This is going to blow up with "Postcondition failed" +}  ## * Block/exceptions phasers  sub { -    KEEP { say "Runs when you exit a block successfully (without throwing an exception)" } -    UNDO { say "Runs when you exit a block unsuccessfully (by throwing an exception)" } +    KEEP { say "Runs when you exit a block successfully +                (without throwing an exception)" } +    UNDO { say "Runs when you exit a block unsuccessfully  +                (by throwing an exception)" }  }  ## * Loop phasers @@ -912,40 +1145,43 @@ for ^5 {  ## * Role/class phasers  COMPOSE { "When a role is composed into a class. /!\ NOT YET IMPLEMENTED" } -# They allow for cute trick or clever code ...: -say "This code took " ~ (time - CHECK time) ~ "s to run"; +## They allow for cute tricks or clever code ...: +say "This code took " ~ (time - CHECK time) ~ "s to compile"; -# ... or clever organization: +## ... or clever organization:  sub do-db-stuff { -  ENTER $db.start-transaction; # New transaction everytime we enter the sub +  $db.start-transaction; # start a new transaction    KEEP $db.commit; # commit the transaction if all went well    UNDO $db.rollback; # or rollback if all hell broke loose  } +``` + +## Statement prefixes -### Statement prefixes -# Those act a bit like phasers: they affect the behavior of the following code. -# Though, they run in-line with the executable code, so they're in lowercase. -# (`try` and `start` are theoretically in that list, but explained somewhere else) -# Note: all of these (except start) don't need explicit brackets `{` and `}`. +```perl6 +## Those act a bit like phasers: they affect the behavior of the following code. +## Though, they run in-line with the executable code, so they're in lowercase. +## (`try` and `start` are theoretically in that list, but explained elsewhere) +## Note: all of these (except start) don't need explicit brackets `{` and `}`. -# - `do` (that you already saw) - runs a block or a statement as a term -# You can't normally use a statement as a value (or "term"): -# -#    my $value = if True { 1 } # `if` is a statement - parse error -# -# This works: +## - `do` (that you already saw) - runs a block or a statement as a term +## You can't normally use a statement as a value (or "term"): +## +##    my $value = if True { 1 } # `if` is a statement - parse error +## +## This works:  my $a = do if True { 5 } # with `do`, `if` is now a term. -# - `once` - Makes sure a piece of code only runs once +## - `once` - Makes sure a piece of code only runs once  for ^5 { once say 1 }; #=> 1                         # Only prints ... once. -# Like `state`, they're cloned per-scope +## Like `state`, they're cloned per-scope  for ^5 { sub { once say 1 }() } #=> 1 1 1 1 1                                  # Prints once per lexical scope -# - `gather` - Co-routine thread -# Gather allows you to `take` several values in an array, -#  much like `do`, but allows you to take any expression. +## - `gather` - Co-routine thread +## Gather allows you to `take` several values in an array, +##  much like `do`, but allows you to take any expression.  say gather for ^5 {    take $_ * 3 - 1;    take $_ * 3 + 1; @@ -956,56 +1192,76 @@ say join ',', gather if False {    take 3;  } # Doesn't print anything. -# - `eager` - Evaluate statement eagerly (forces eager context) -# Don't try this at home: -# -#    eager 1..*; # this will probably hang for a while (and might crash ...). -# -# But consider: +## - `eager` - Evaluate statement eagerly (forces eager context) +## Don't try this at home: +## +##    eager 1..*; # this will probably hang for a while (and might crash ...). +## +## But consider:  constant thrice = gather for ^3 { say take $_ }; # Doesn't print anything -# versus: -constant thrice = eager gather for ^3 { say take $_ }; #=> 0 1 2 3 4 -# - `lazy` - Defer actual evaluation until value is fetched (forces lazy context) -# Not yet implemented !! +## versus: +constant thrice = eager gather for ^3 { say take $_ }; #=> 0 1 2 +``` -# - `sink` - An `eager` that discards the results (forces sink context) +## Iterables + +```perl6 +## Iterables are objects that can be iterated similar to the `for` construct +## `flat`, flattens iterables: +say (1, 10, (20, 10) ); #> (1 10 (20 10)) Notice how grouping is maintained +say (1, 10, (20, 10) ).flat; #> (1 10 20 10) Now the iterable is flat + +## - `lazy` - Defer actual evaluation until value is fetched  +## (forces lazy context) +my @lazy-array = (1..100).lazy; +say @lazy-array.is-lazy; #> True # Check for laziness with the `is-lazy` method. +say @lazy-array; #> [...] List has not been iterated on! +my @lazy-array { .print }; # This works and will only do as much work as +                           # is needed. +[//]: # ( TODO explain that gather/take and map are all lazy) +## - `sink` - An `eager` that discards the results (forces sink context)  constant nilthingie = sink for ^3 { .say } #=> 0 1 2  say nilthingie.perl; #=> Nil -# - `quietly` - Supresses warnings -# Not yet implemented ! +## - `quietly` blocks will suppress warnings: +quietly { warn 'This is a warning!' }; #=> No output -# - `contend` - Attempts side effects under STM -# Not yet implemented ! +## - `contend` - Attempts side effects under STM +## Not yet implemented ! +``` -### More operators thingies ! +## More operators thingies ! +```perl6  ## Everybody loves operators ! Let's get more of them -# The precedence list can be found here: -# http://perlcabal.org/syn/S03.html#Operator_precedence -# But first, we need a little explanation about associativity: +## The precedence list can be found here: +## https://docs.perl6.org/language/operators#Operator_Precedence +## But first, we need a little explanation about associativity: -# * Binary operators: +## * Binary operators:  $a ! $b ! $c; # with a left-associative `!`, this is `($a ! $b) ! $c`  $a ! $b ! $c; # with a right-associative `!`, this is `$a ! ($b ! $c)`  $a ! $b ! $c; # with a non-associative `!`, this is illegal  $a ! $b ! $c; # with a chain-associative `!`, this is `($a ! $b) and ($b ! $c)`  $a ! $b ! $c; # with a list-associative `!`, this is `infix:<>` -# * Unary operators: +## * Unary operators:  !$a! # with left-associative `!`, this is `(!$a)!`  !$a! # with right-associative `!`, this is `!($a!)`  !$a! # with non-associative `!`, this is illegal +``` -## Create your own operators ! -# Okay, you've been reading all of that, so I guess I should try -#  to show you something exciting. -# I'll tell you a little secret (or not-so-secret): -# In Perl 6, all operators are actually just funny-looking subroutines. +### Create your own operators ! -# You can declare an operator just like you declare a sub: +```perl6 +## Okay, you've been reading all of that, so I guess I should try +## to show you something exciting. +## I'll tell you a little secret (or not-so-secret): +## In Perl 6, all operators are actually just funny-looking subroutines. + +## You can declare an operator just like you declare a sub:  sub prefix:<win>($winner) { # refer to the operator categories                              # (yes, it's the "words operator" `<>`)    say "$winner Won !"; @@ -1013,7 +1269,7 @@ sub prefix:<win>($winner) { # refer to the operator categories  win "The King"; #=> The King Won !                  # (prefix is before) -# you can still call the sub with its "full name" +## you can still call the sub with its "full name":  say prefix:<!>(True); #=> False  sub postfix:<!>(Int $n) { @@ -1036,102 +1292,106 @@ sub infix:<times>(Int $n, Block $r) { # infix in the middle                              # You're very recommended to put spaces                              # around your infix operator calls. -# For circumfix and post-circumfix ones +## For circumfix and post-circumfix ones  sub circumfix:<[ ]>(Int $n) {    $n ** $n  }  say [5]; #=> 3125 -         # circumfix is around. Again, not whitespace. +         # circumfix is around. Again, no whitespace.  sub postcircumfix:<{ }>(Str $s, Int $idx) { -  # post-circumfix is -  # "after a term, around something" +  ## post-circumfix is +  ## "after a term, around something"    $s.substr($idx, 1);  }  say "abc"{1}; #=> b                # after the term `"abc"`, and around the index (1) -# This really means a lot -- because everything in Perl 6 uses this. -# For example, to delete a key from a hash, you use the `:delete` adverb -#  (a simple named argument underneath): +## This really means a lot -- because everything in Perl 6 uses this. +## For example, to delete a key from a hash, you use the `:delete` adverb +## (a simple named argument underneath):  %h{$key}:delete; -# equivalent to: +## equivalent to:  postcircumfix:<{ }>(%h, $key, :delete); # (you can call operators like that) -# It's *all* using the same building blocks! -# Syntactic categories (prefix infix ...), named arguments (adverbs), ..., -#  - used to build the language - are available to you. -# (you are, obviously, recommended against making an operator out of -# *everything* -- with great power comes great responsibility) +## It's *all* using the same building blocks! +## Syntactic categories (prefix infix ...), named arguments (adverbs), ..., +##  - used to build the language - are available to you. +## (you are, obviously, recommended against making an operator out of +## *everything* -- with great power comes great responsibility) +``` + +### Meta operators ! -## Meta operators ! -# Oh boy, get ready. Get ready, because we're dwelving deep -#  into the rabbit's hole, and you probably won't want to go -#  back to other languages after reading that. -#  (I'm guessing you don't want to already at that point). -# Meta-operators, as their name suggests, are *composed* operators. -# Basically, they're operators that apply another operator. +```perl6 +## Oh boy, get ready. Get ready, because we're delving deep +## into the rabbit's hole, and you probably won't want to go +## back to other languages after reading that. +## (I'm guessing you don't want to already at that point). +## Meta-operators, as their name suggests, are *composed* operators. +## Basically, they're operators that apply another operator.  ## * Reduce meta-operator -# It's a prefix meta-operator that takes a binary functions and -#  one or many lists. If it doesn't get passed any argument, -#  it either return a "default value" for this operator -#  (a meaningless value) or `Any` if there's none (examples below). -# -# Otherwise, it pops an element from the list(s) one at a time, and applies -#  the binary function to the last result (or the list's first element) -#  and the popped element. -# -# To sum a list, you could use the reduce meta-operator with `+`, i.e.: +## It's a prefix meta-operator that takes a binary function and +##  one or many lists. If it doesn't get passed any argument, +##  it either returns a "default value" for this operator +##  (a meaningless value) or `Any` if there's none (examples below). +## +## Otherwise, it pops an element from the list(s) one at a time, and applies +##  the binary function to the last result (or the list's first element) +##  and the popped element. +## +## To sum a list, you could use the reduce meta-operator with `+`, i.e.:  say [+] 1, 2, 3; #=> 6 -# equivalent to `(1+2)+3` +## equivalent to `(1+2)+3` +  say [*] 1..5; #=> 120 -# equivalent to `((((1*2)*3)*4)*5)`. +## equivalent to `((((1*2)*3)*4)*5)`. -# You can reduce with any operator, not just with mathematical ones. -# For example, you could reduce with `//` to get -#  the first defined element of a list: +## You can reduce with any operator, not just with mathematical ones. +## For example, you could reduce with `//` to get +## the first defined element of a list:  say [//] Nil, Any, False, 1, 5; #=> False                                  # (Falsey, but still defined) - -# Default value examples: -say [*] (); #=> 1  -say [+] (); #=> 0  +## Default value examples: +say [*] (); #=> 1 +say [+] (); #=> 0              # meaningless values, since N*1=N and N+0=N.  say [//];   #=> (Any)              # There's no "default value" for `//`. -# You can also call it with a function you made up, using double brackets: +## You can also call it with a function you made up, using double brackets:  sub add($a, $b) { $a + $b }  say [[&add]] 1, 2, 3; #=> 6  ## * Zip meta-operator -# This one is an infix meta-operator than also can be used as a "normal" operator. -# It takes an optional binary function (by default, it just creates a pair), -#  and will pop one value off of each array and call its binary function on these -#  until it runs out of elements. It runs the an array with all these new elements. -(1, 2) Z (3, 4); # ((1, 3), (2, 4)), since by default, the function makes an array +## This one is an infix meta-operator than also can be used as a "normal" +## operator.  It takes an optional binary function (by default, it just creates +## a pair), and will pop one value off of each array and call its binary  +## function on these until it runs out of elements. It returns an array with  +## all of these new elements. +(1, 2) Z (3, 4); # ((1, 3), (2, 4)), since by default, the function  +                 # makes an array.  1..3 Z+ 4..6; # (5, 7, 9), using the custom infix:<+> function -# Since `Z` is list-associative (see the list above), -#  you can use it on more than one list +## Since `Z` is list-associative (see the list above), +## you can use it on more than one list  (True, False) Z|| (False, False) Z|| (False, False); # (True, False) -# And, as it turns out, you can also use the reduce meta-operator with it: +## And, as it turns out, you can also use the reduce meta-operator with it:  [Z||] (True, False), (False, False), (False, False); # (True, False)  ## And to end the operator list:  ## * Sequence operator -# The sequence operator is one of Perl 6's most powerful features: -# it's composed of first, on the left, the list you want Perl 6 to deduce from -#  (and might include a closure), and on the right, a value or the predicate -#  that says when to stop (or Whatever for a lazy infinite list). +## The sequence operator is one of Perl 6's most powerful features: +## it's composed of first, on the left, the list you want Perl 6 to deduce from +## (and might include a closure), and on the right, a value or the predicate +## that says when to stop (or Whatever for a lazy infinite list).  my @list = 1, 2, 3 ... 10; # basic deducing -#my @list = 1, 3, 6 ... 10; # this throws you into an infinite loop, -                            #  because Perl 6 can't figure out the end +#my @list = 1, 3, 6 ... 10; # this dies because Perl 6 can't figure out the end  my @list = 1, 2, 3 ...^ 10; # as with ranges, you can exclude the last element                              # (the iteration when the predicate matches).  my @list = 1, 3, 9 ... * > 30; # you can use a predicate @@ -1142,256 +1402,296 @@ my @fib = 1, 1, *+* ... *; # lazy infinite list of fibonacci series,                             #  computed using a closure!  my @fib = 1, 1, -> $a, $b { $a + $b } ... *; # (equivalent to the above)  my @fib = 1, 1, { $^a + $^b } ... *; #(... also equivalent to the above) -# $a and $b will always take the previous values, meaning here -#  they'll start with $a = 1 and $b = 1 (values we set by hand). -#  then $a = 1 and $b = 2 (result from previous $a+$b), and so on. +## $a and $b will always take the previous values, meaning here +##  they'll start with $a = 1 and $b = 1 (values we set by hand). +##  then $a = 1 and $b = 2 (result from previous $a+$b), and so on.  say @fib[^10]; #=> 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55                 # (using a range as the index) -# Note : as for ranges, once reified, elements aren't re-calculated. -# That's why `@primes[^100]` will take a long time the first time you print -#  it, then be instant. - -### Regular Expressions -# I'm sure a lot of you have been waiting for this one. -# Well, now that you know a good deal of Perl 6 already, we can get started. -# First off, you'll have to forget about "PCRE regexps" (perl-compatible regexps). -# -# IMPORTANT: Don't skip them because you know PCRE. They're different. -# Some things are the same (like `?`, `+`, and `*`), -#  but sometimes the semantics change (`|`). -# Make sure you read carefully, because you might trip over a new behavior. -# -# Perl 6 has many features related to RegExps. After all, Rakudo parses itself. -# We're first going to look at the syntax itself, -#  then talk about grammars (PEG-like), differences between -#  `token`, `regex` and `rule` declarators, and some more. -# Side note: you still have access to PCRE regexps using the `:P5` modifier. -#  (we won't be discussing this in this tutorial, however) -# -# In essence, Perl 6 natively implements PEG ("Parsing Expression Grammars"). -# The pecking order for ambiguous parses is determined by a multi-level -#  tie-breaking test: -#  - Longest token matching. `foo\s+` beats `foo` (by 2 or more positions) -#  - Longest literal prefix. `food\w*` beats `foo\w*` (by 1) -#  - Declaration from most-derived to less derived grammars -#     (grammars are actually classes) -#  - Earliest declaration wins +## Note : as for ranges, once reified, elements aren't re-calculated. +## That's why `@primes[^100]` will take a long time the first time you print +## it, then be instant. +``` + +## Regular Expressions + +```perl6 +## I'm sure a lot of you have been waiting for this one. +## Well, now that you know a good deal of Perl 6 already, we can get started. +## First off, you'll have to forget about "PCRE regexps" (perl-compatible  +## regexps). +## +## IMPORTANT: Don't skip them because you know PCRE. They're different. +## Some things are the same (like `?`, `+`, and `*`), +##  but sometimes the semantics change (`|`). +## Make sure you read carefully, because you might trip over a new behavior. +## +## Perl 6 has many features related to RegExps. After all, Rakudo parses itself. +## We're first going to look at the syntax itself, +##  then talk about grammars (PEG-like), differences between +##  `token`, `regex` and `rule` declarators, and some more. +## Side note: you still have access to PCRE regexps using the `:P5` modifier. +##  (we won't be discussing this in this tutorial, however) +## +## In essence, Perl 6 natively implements PEG ("Parsing Expression Grammars"). +## The pecking order for ambiguous parses is determined by a multi-level +##  tie-breaking test: +##  - Longest token matching. `foo\s+` beats `foo` (by 2 or more positions) +##  - Longest literal prefix. `food\w*` beats `foo\w*` (by 1) +##  - Declaration from most-derived to less derived grammars +##     (grammars are actually classes) +##  - Earliest declaration wins  say so 'a' ~~ /a/; #=> True -say so 'a' ~~ / a /; # More readable with some spaces! - -# In all our examples, we're going to use the smart-matching operator against -#  a regexp. We're converting the result using `so`, but in fact, it's -#  returning a `Match` object. They know how to respond to list indexing, -#  hash indexing, and return the matched string. -# The results of the match are available as `$/` (implicitly lexically-scoped). -# You can also use the capture variables (`$0`, `$1`, ... starting at 0, not 1 !). -# -# You can also note that `~~` does not perform start/end checking -#  (meaning the regexp can be matched with just one char of the string), -#  we're going to explain later how you can do it. - -# In Perl 6, you can have any alphanumeric as a literal, -# everything else has to be escaped, using a backslash or quotes. -say so 'a|b' ~~ / a '|' b /; # `True`. Wouln't mean the same if `|` wasn't escaped -say so 'a|b' ~~ / a \| b /; # `True`. Another way to escape it. - -# The whitespace in a regexp is actually not significant, -#  unless you use the `:s` (`:sigspace`, significant space) modifier. -say so 'a b c' ~~ / a b c /; # `False`. Space is not significant here -say so 'a b c' ~~ /:s a b c /; # `True`. We added the modifier `:s` here. - -# It is, however, important as for how modifiers (that you're gonna see just below) -#  are applied ... +say so 'a' ~~ / a /; #=> True #  More readable with some spaces! + +## In all our examples, we're going to use the smart-matching operator against +##  a regexp. We're converting the result using `so`, but in fact, it's +##  returning a `Match` object. They know how to respond to list indexing, +##  hash indexing, and return the matched string. +## The results of the match are available as `$/` (implicitly lexically-scoped). +## You can also use the capture variables which start at 0: +##    `$0`, `$1', `$2`... +## +## You can also note that `~~` does not perform start/end checking +##  (meaning the regexp can be matched with just one char of the string), +##  we're going to explain later how you can do it. + +## In Perl 6, you can have any alphanumeric as a literal, +## everything else has to be escaped, using a backslash or quotes. +say so 'a|b' ~~ / a '|' b /; # `True`. Wouldn't mean the same if `|` wasn't  +                             # escaped +say so 'a|b' ~~ / a \| b /;  # `True`. Another way to escape it. + +## The whitespace in a regexp is actually not significant, +##  unless you use the `:s` (`:sigspace`, significant space) adverb. +say so 'a b c' ~~ / a  b  c /; #> `False`. Space is not significant here +say so 'a b c' ~~ /:s a b c /; #> `True`. We added the modifier `:s` here. +## If we use only one space between strings in a regex, Perl 6 will warn us: +say so 'a b c' ~~ / a b c /; #> 'False' #> Space is not significant here;  +## please use quotes or :s (:sigspace) modifier (or, to suppress this warning, +## omit the space, or otherwise change the spacing) +## To fix this and make the spaces less ambiguous,  either use at least two +## spaces between strings or use the `:s` adverb. + +## As we saw before, we can embed the `:s` inside the slash delimiters, but we  +## can also put it outside of them if we specify `m` for 'match': +say so 'a b c' ~~ m:s/a  b  c/; #> `True` +## By using `m` to specify 'match', we can also use delimiters other  +## than slashes: +say so 'abc' ~~ m{a  b  c}; #> `True` + +## Use the :i adverb to specify case insensitivity: +say so 'ABC' ~~ m:i{a  b  c}; #> `True` + +## It is, however, important as for how modifiers (that you're gonna see just  +## below) are applied ...  ## Quantifying - `?`, `+`, `*` and `**`. -# - `?` - 0 or 1 -so 'ac' ~~ / a b c /; # `False` -so 'ac' ~~ / a b? c /; # `True`, the "b" matched 0 times. -so 'abc' ~~ / a b? c /; # `True`, the "b" matched 1 time. - -# ... As you read just before, whitespace is important because it determines -#  which part of the regexp is the target of the modifier: -so 'def' ~~ / a b c? /; # `False`. Only the `c` is optional -so 'def' ~~ / ab?c /; # `False`. Whitespace is not significant +## - `?` - 0 or 1 +so 'ac' ~~ / a  b  c /; # `False` +so 'ac' ~~ / a  b?  c /; # `True`, the "b" matched 0 times. +so 'abc' ~~ / a  b?  c /; # `True`, the "b" matched 1 time. + +## ... As you read just before, whitespace is important because it determines +##  which part of the regexp is the target of the modifier: +so 'def' ~~ / a  b  c? /; # `False`. Only the `c` is optional +so 'def' ~~ / a  b?  c /; # `False`. Whitespace is not significant  so 'def' ~~ / 'abc'? /; # `True`. The whole "abc" group is optional. -# Here (and below) the quantifier applies only to the `b` - -# - `+` - 1 or more -so 'ac' ~~ / a b+ c /; # `False`; `+` wants at least one matching -so 'abc' ~~ / a b+ c /; # `True`; one is enough -so 'abbbbc' ~~ / a b+ c /; # `True`, matched 4 "b"s - -# - `*` - 0 or more -so 'ac' ~~ / a b* c /; # `True`, they're all optional. -so 'abc' ~~ / a b* c /; # `True` -so 'abbbbc' ~~ / a b* c /; # `True` -so 'aec' ~~ / a b* c /; # `False`. "b"(s) are optional, not replaceable. - -# - `**` - (Unbound) Quantifier -# If you squint hard enough, you might understand -#  why exponentation is used for quantity. -so 'abc' ~~ / a b ** 1 c /; # `True` (exactly one time) -so 'abc' ~~ / a b ** 1..3 c /; # `True` (one to three times) -so 'abbbc' ~~ / a b ** 1..3 c /; # `True` -so 'abbbbbbc' ~~ / a b ** 1..3 c /; # `False` (too much) -so 'abbbbbbc' ~~ / a b ** 3..* c /; # `True` (infinite ranges are okay) - -# - `<[]>` - Character classes -# Character classes are the equivalent of PCRE's `[]` classes, but -#  they use a more perl6-ish syntax: +## Here (and below) the quantifier applies only to the `b` + +## - `+` - 1 or more +so 'ac' ~~ / a  b+  c /; # `False`; `+` wants at least one matching +so 'abc' ~~ / a  b+  c /; # `True`; one is enough +so 'abbbbc' ~~ / a  b+  c /; # `True`, matched 4 "b"s + +## - `*` - 0 or more +so 'ac' ~~ / a  b*  c /; # `True`, they're all optional. +so 'abc' ~~ / a  b*  c /; # `True` +so 'abbbbc' ~~ / a  b*  c /; # `True` +so 'aec' ~~ / a  b*  c /; # `False`. "b"(s) are optional, not replaceable. + +## - `**` - (Unbound) Quantifier +## If you squint hard enough, you might understand +##  why exponentation is used for quantity. +so 'abc' ~~ / a  b**1  c /; # `True` (exactly one time) +so 'abc' ~~ / a  b**1..3  c /; # `True` (one to three times) +so 'abbbc' ~~ / a  b**1..3  c /; # `True` +so 'abbbbbbc' ~~ / a  b**1..3  c /; # `False` (too much) +so 'abbbbbbc' ~~ / a  b**3..*  c /; # `True` (infinite ranges are okay) + +## - `<[]>` - Character classes +## Character classes are the equivalent of PCRE's `[]` classes, but +##  they use a more perl6-ish syntax:  say 'fooa' ~~ / f <[ o a ]>+ /; #=> 'fooa' -# You can use ranges: -say 'aeiou' ~~ / a <[ e..w ]> /; #=> 'aeiou' -# Just like in normal regexes, if you want to use a special character, escape it -#  (the last one is escaping a space) -say 'he-he !' ~~ / 'he-' <[ a..z \! \  ]> + /; #=> 'he-he !' -# You'll get a warning if you put duplicate names -#  (which has the nice effect of catching the wrote quoting:) -'he he' ~~ / <[ h e ' ' ]> /; # Warns "Repeated characters found in characters class" -# You can also negate them ... (equivalent to `[^]` in PCRE) -so 'foo' ~~ / <-[ f o ]> + /; # False +## You can use ranges: +say 'aeiou' ~~ / a <[ e..w ]> /; #=> 'ae' -# ... and compose them: : -so 'foo' ~~ / <[ a..z ] - [ f o ]> + /; # False (any letter except f and o) -so 'foo' ~~ / <-[ a..z ] + [ f o ]> + /; # True (no letter except f and o) -so 'foo!' ~~ / <-[ a..z ] + [ f o ]> + /; # True (the + doesn't replace the left part) +## Just like in normal regexes, if you want to use a special character,  +## escape it (the last one is escaping a space) +say 'he-he !' ~~ / 'he-' <[ a..z \! \  ]> + /; #=> 'he-he !' -## Grouping and capturing -# Group: you can group parts of your regexp with `[]`. -# These groups are *not* captured (like PCRE's `(?:)`). -so 'abc' ~~ / a [ b ] c /; # `True`. The grouping does pretty much nothing -so 'fooABCABCbar' ~~ / foo [ A B C ] + bar /; -# The previous line returns `True`. -# We match the "abc" 1 or more time (the `+` was applied to the group). +## You'll get a warning if you put duplicate names +## (which has the nice effect of catching the wrote quoting:) +'he he' ~~ / <[ h e ' ' ]> /; # Warns "Repeated characters found in characters +                              # class" + +## You can also negate them ... (equivalent to `[^]` in PCRE) +so 'foo' ~~ / <-[ f o ]> + /; # False -# But this does not go far enough, because we can't actually get back what -#  we matched. -# Capture: We can actually *capture* the results of the regexp, using parentheses. -so 'fooABCABCbar' ~~ / foo ( A B C ) + bar /; # `True`. (using `so` here, `$/` below) +## ... and compose them: : +so 'foo' ~~ / <[ a..z ] - [ f o ]> + /;   # False (any letter except f and o) +so 'foo' ~~ / <-[ a..z ] + [ f o ]> + /;  # True (no letter except f and o) +so 'foo!' ~~ / <-[ a..z ] + [ f o ]> + /; # True (the + doesn't replace the  +                                          # left part) +``` -# So, starting with the grouping explanations. -# As we said before, our `Match` object is available as `$/`: -say $/; # Will print some weird stuff (we'll explain) (or "Nil" if nothing matched). +### Grouping and capturing -# As we also said before, it has array indexing: +```perl6 +## Group: you can group parts of your regexp with `[]`. +## These groups are *not* captured (like PCRE's `(?:)`). +so 'abc' ~~ / a [ b ] c /; # `True`. The grouping does pretty much nothing +so 'foo012012bar' ~~ / foo [ '01' <[0..9]> ] + bar /; +## The previous line returns `True`. +## We match the "012" 1 or more time (the `+` was applied to the group). + +## But this does not go far enough, because we can't actually get back what +## we matched. +## Capture: We can actually *capture* the results of the regexp,  +## using parentheses. +so 'fooABCABCbar' ~~ / foo ( 'A' <[A..Z]> 'C' ) + bar /; # `True`. (using `so` +                                                         #  here, `$/` below) + +## So, starting with the grouping explanations. +## As we said before, our `Match` object is available as `$/`: +say $/; # Will print some weird stuff (we'll explain) (or "Nil" if  +        # nothing matched). + +## As we also said before, it has array indexing:  say $/[0]; #=> 「ABC」 「ABC」             # These weird brackets are `Match` objects.             # Here, we have an array of these.  say $0; # The same as above. -# Our capture is `$0` because it's the first and only one capture in the regexp. -# You might be wondering why it's an array, and the answer is simple: -# Some capture (indexed using `$0`, `$/[0]` or a named one) will be an array -#  IFF it can have more than one element -#  (so, with `*`, `+` and `**` (whatever the operands), but not with `?`). -# Let's use examples to see that: -so 'fooABCbar' ~~ / foo ( A B C )? bar /; # `True` +## Our capture is `$0` because it's the first and only one capture in the  +## regexp. You might be wondering why it's an array, and the answer is simple: +## Some capture (indexed using `$0`, `$/[0]` or a named one) will be an array +## IFF it can have more than one element +## (so, with `*`, `+` and `**` (whatever the operands), but not with `?`). +## Let's use examples to see that: + +## Note: We quoted A B C to demonstrate that the whitespace between them isn't +##       significant. If we want the whitespace to *be* significant there, we  +##       can use the :sigspace modifier. +so 'fooABCbar' ~~ / foo ( "A" "B" "C" )? bar /; # `True`  say $/[0]; #=> 「ABC」  say $0.WHAT; #=> (Match) -             # It can't be more than one, so it's only a single match object. -so 'foobar' ~~ / foo ( A B C )? bar /; #=> True +             # There can't be more than one, so it's only a single match object. +so 'foobar' ~~ / foo ( "A" "B" "C" )? bar /; #=> True  say $0.WHAT; #=> (Any)               # This capture did not match, so it's empty -so 'foobar' ~~ / foo ( A B C ) ** 0..1 bar /; # `True` +so 'foobar' ~~ / foo ( "A" "B" "C" ) ** 0..1 bar /; # `True`  say $0.WHAT; #=> (Array)               # A specific quantifier will always capture an Array,               #  may it be a range or a specific value (even 1). -# The captures are indexed per nesting. This means a group in a group will be nested -#  under its parent group: `$/[0][0]`, for this code: +## The captures are indexed per nesting. This means a group in a group will be  +## nested under its parent group: `$/[0][0]`, for this code:  'hello-~-world' ~~ / ( 'hello' ( <[ \- \~ ]> + ) ) 'world' /;  say $/[0].Str; #=> hello~  say $/[0][0].Str; #=> ~ -# This stems from a very simple fact: `$/` does not contain strings, integers or arrays, -#  it only contains match objects. These contain the `.list`, `.hash` and `.Str` methods. -#  (but you can also just use `match<key>` for hash access and `match[idx]` for array access) +## This stems from a very simple fact: `$/` does not contain strings, integers  +## or arrays, it only contains match objects. These contain the `.list`, `.hash` +## and `.Str` methods. (but you can also just use `match<key>` for hash access +## and `match[idx]` for array access)  say $/[0].list.perl; #=> (Match.new(...),).list -                     # We can see it's a list of Match objects. Those contain a bunch of infos: -                     # where the match started/ended, the "ast" (see actions later), etc. +                     # We can see it's a list of Match objects. Those contain +                     # a bunch of infos: where the match started/ended, +                     #    the "ast" (see actions later), etc.                       # You'll see named capture below with grammars.  ## Alternatives - the `or` of regexps -# WARNING: They are DIFFERENT from PCRE regexps. +## WARNING: They are DIFFERENT from PCRE regexps.  so 'abc' ~~ / a [ b | y ] c /; # `True`. Either "b" or "y".  so 'ayc' ~~ / a [ b | y ] c /; # `True`. Obviously enough ... -# The difference between this `|` and the one you're used to is LTM. -# LTM means "Longest Token Matching". This means that the engine will always -#  try to match as much as possible in the strng +## The difference between this `|` and the one you're used to is LTM. +## LTM means "Longest Token Matching". This means that the engine will always +## try to match as much as possible in the strng  'foo' ~~ / fo | foo /; # `foo`, because it's longer. -# To decide which part is the "longest", it first splits the regex in two parts: -# The "declarative prefix" (the part that can be statically analyzed) -#  and the procedural parts. -# Declarative prefixes include alternations (`|`), conjuctions (`&`), -#  sub-rule calls (not yet introduced), literals, characters classes and quantifiers. -# The latter include everything else: back-references, code assertions, -#  and other things that can't traditionnaly be represented by normal regexps. -# -# Then, all the alternatives are tried at once, and the longest wins. -# Exemples: -# DECLARATIVE | PROCEDURAL +## To decide which part is the "longest", it first splits the regex in  +## two parts: +## The "declarative prefix" (the part that can be statically analyzed) +## and the procedural parts. +## Declarative prefixes include alternations (`|`), conjunctions (`&`), +## sub-rule calls (not yet introduced), literals, characters classes and  +## quantifiers. +## The latter include everything else: back-references, code assertions, +## and other things that can't traditionnaly be represented by normal regexps. +## +## Then, all the alternatives are tried at once, and the longest wins. +## Examples: +## DECLARATIVE | PROCEDURAL  / 'foo' \d+     [ <subrule1> || <subrule2> ] /; -# DECLARATIVE (nested groups are not a problem) +## DECLARATIVE (nested groups are not a problem)  / \s* [ \w & b ] [ c | d ] /; -# However, closures and recursion (of named regexps) are procedural. -# ... There are also more complicated rules, like specificity -#  (literals win over character classes) +## However, closures and recursion (of named regexps) are procedural. +## ... There are also more complicated rules, like specificity +##  (literals win over character classes) -# Note: the first-matching `or` still exists, but is now spelled `||` +## Note: the first-matching `or` still exists, but is now spelled `||`  'foo' ~~ / fo || foo /; # `fo` now. +``` +## Extra: the MAIN subroutine - - -### Extra: the MAIN subroutime -# The `MAIN` subroutine is called when you run a Perl 6 file directly. -# It's very powerful, because Perl 6 actually parses the argument -#  and pass them as such to the sub. It also handles named argument (`--foo`) -#  and will even go as far as to autogenerate a `--help` +```perl6 +## The `MAIN` subroutine is called when you run a Perl 6 file directly. +## It's very powerful, because Perl 6 actually parses the arguments +##  and pass them as such to the sub. It also handles named argument (`--foo`) +##  and will even go as far as to autogenerate a `--help`  sub MAIN($name) { say "Hello, $name !" } -# This produces: -#    $ perl6 cli.pl -#    Usage: -#      t.pl <name>  - -# And since it's a regular Perl 6 sub, you can haz multi-dispatch: -# (using a "Bool" for the named argument so that we can do `--replace` -#  instead of `--replace=1`) +## This produces: +##    $ perl6 cli.pl +##    Usage: +##      t.pl <name> + +## And since it's a regular Perl 6 sub, you can haz multi-dispatch: +## (using a "Bool" for the named argument so that we can do `--replace` +##  instead of `--replace=1`)  subset File of Str where *.IO.d; # convert to IO object to check the file exists  multi MAIN('add', $key, $value, Bool :$replace) { ... }  multi MAIN('remove', $key) { ... }  multi MAIN('import', File, Str :$as) { ... } # omitting parameter name -# This produces: -#    $ perl 6 cli.pl -#    Usage: -#      t.pl [--replace] add <key> <value>  -#      t.pl remove <key> -#      t.pl [--as=<Str>] import (File) -# As you can see, this is *very* powerful. -# It even went as far as to show inline the constants. -# (the type is only displayed if the argument is `$`/is named) - -### -### APPENDIX A: -### +## This produces: +##    $ perl6 cli.pl +##    Usage: +##      t.pl [--replace] add <key> <value> +##      t.pl remove <key> +##      t.pl [--as=<Str>] import (File) +## As you can see, this is *very* powerful. +## It even went as far as to show inline the constants. +## (the type is only displayed if the argument is `$`/is named) +``` + +## APPENDIX A:  ### List of things -### -# It's considered by now you know the Perl6 basics. -# This section is just here to list some common operations, -#  but which are not in the "main part" of the tutorial to bloat it up +```perl6 +## It's considered by now you know the Perl6 basics. +## This section is just here to list some common operations, +##  but which are not in the "main part" of the tutorial to bloat it up  ## Operators  ## * Sort comparison -# They return one value of the `Order` enum : `Less`, `Same` and `More` -#  (which numerify to -1, 0 or +1). +## They return one value of the `Order` enum : `Less`, `Same` and `More` +##  (which numerify to -1, 0 or +1).  1 <=> 4; # sort comparison for numerics  'a' leg 'b'; # sort comparison for string  $obj eqv $obj2; # sort comparison using eqv semantics @@ -1401,60 +1701,61 @@ $obj eqv $obj2; # sort comparison using eqv semantics  'b' after 'a'; # True  ## * Short-circuit default operator -# Like `or` and `||`, but instead returns the first *defined* value : +## Like `or` and `||`, but instead returns the first *defined* value :  say Any // Nil // 0 // 5; #=> 0  ## * Short-circuit exclusive or (XOR) -# Returns `True` if one (and only one) of its arguments is true +## Returns `True` if one (and only one) of its arguments is true  say True ^^ False; #=> True  ## * Flip Flop -# The flip flop operators (`ff` and `fff`, equivalent to P5's `..`/`...`). -#  are operators that take two predicates to test: -# They are `False` until their left side returns `True`, then are `True` until -#  their right side returns `True`. -# Like for ranges, you can exclude the iteration when it became `True`/`False` -#  by using `^` on either side. -# Let's start with an example : +## The flip flop operators (`ff` and `fff`, equivalent to P5's `..`/`...`). +##  are operators that take two predicates to test: +## They are `False` until their left side returns `True`, then are `True` until +##  their right side returns `True`. +## Like for ranges, you can exclude the iteration when it became `True`/`False` +##  by using `^` on either side. +## Let's start with an example :  for <well met young hero we shall meet later> {    # by default, `ff`/`fff` smart-match (`~~`) against `$_`:    if 'met' ^ff 'meet' { # Won't enter the if for "met"                          #  (explained in details below).      .say    } -   +    if rand == 0 ff rand == 1 { # compare variables other than `$_`      say "This ... probably will never run ...";    }  } -# This will print "young hero we shall meet" (excluding "met"): -#  the flip-flop will start returning `True` when it first encounters "met" -#  (but will still return `False` for "met" itself, due to the leading `^` -#   on `ff`), until it sees "meet", which is when it'll start returning `False`. - -# The difference between `ff` (awk-style) and `fff` (sed-style) is that -#  `ff` will test its right side right when its left side changes to `True`, -#  and can get back to `False` right away -#  (*except* it'll be `True` for the iteration that matched) - -# While `fff` will wait for the next iteration to -#  try its right side, once its left side changed: +## This will print "young hero we shall meet" (excluding "met"): +## the flip-flop will start returning `True` when it first encounters "met" +## (but will still return `False` for "met" itself, due to the leading `^` +##  on `ff`), until it sees "meet", which is when it'll start returning `False`. + +## The difference between `ff` (awk-style) and `fff` (sed-style) is that +##  `ff` will test its right side right when its left side changes to `True`, +##  and can get back to `False` right away +##  (*except* it'll be `True` for the iteration that matched) - +## While `fff` will wait for the next iteration to +##  try its right side, once its left side changed:  .say if 'B' ff 'B' for <A B C B A>; #=> B B                                      # because the right-hand-side was tested                                      # directly (and returned `True`). -                                    # "B"s are printed since it matched that time -                                    #  (it just went back to `False` right away). +                                    # "B"s are printed since it matched that  +                                    # time (it just went back to `False`  +                                    # right away).  .say if 'B' fff 'B' for <A B C B A>; #=> B C B                                      # The right-hand-side wasn't tested until                                      #  `$_` became "C"                                      # (and thus did not match instantly). -# A flip-flop can change state as many times as needed: +## A flip-flop can change state as many times as needed:  for <test start print it stop not printing start print again stop not anymore> {    .say if $_ eq 'start' ^ff^ $_ eq 'stop'; # exclude both "start" and "stop", -                                           #=> "print this printing again" +                                           #=> "print it print again"  } -# you might also use a Whatever Star, -# which is equivalent to `True` for the left side or `False` for the right: +## You might also use a Whatever Star, +## which is equivalent to `True` for the left side or `False` for the right:  for (1, 3, 60, 3, 40, 60) { # Note: the parenthesis are superfluous here                              # (sometimes called "superstitious parentheses")   .say if $_ > 50 ff *; # Once the flip-flop reaches a number greater than 50, @@ -1462,8 +1763,8 @@ for (1, 3, 60, 3, 40, 60) { # Note: the parenthesis are superfluous here                         #=> 60 3 40 60  } -# You can also use this property to create an `If` -#  that'll not go through the first time : +## You can also use this property to create an `If` +## that'll not go through the first time :  for <a b c> {    .say if * ^ff *; # the flip-flop is `True` and never goes back to `False`,                     #  but the `^` makes it *not run* on the first iteration @@ -1471,15 +1772,28 @@ for <a b c> {  } -# - `===` is value identity and uses `.WHICH` on the objects to compare them -# - `=:=` is container identity and uses `VAR()` on the objects to compare them +## - `===` is value identity and uses `.WHICH` on the objects to compare them +## - `=:=` is container identity and uses `VAR()` on the objects to compare them  ```  If you want to go further, you can: - - Read the [Perl 6 Advent Calendar](http://perl6advent.wordpress.com/). This is probably the greatest source of Perl 6 information, snippets and such. - - Come along on `#perl6` at `irc.freenode.net`. The folks here are always helpful. - - Check the [source of Perl 6's functions and classes](https://github.com/rakudo/rakudo/tree/nom/src/core). Rakudo is mainly written in Perl 6 (with a lot of NQP, "Not Quite Perl", a Perl 6 subset easier to implement and optimize). - - Read [the language design documents](http://design.perl6.org). They explain P6 from an implementor point-of-view, but it's still very interesting. - + - Read the [Perl 6 Docs](https://docs.perl6.org/). This is a great + resource on Perl6.  If you are looking for something, use the search bar. + This will give you a dropdown menu of all the pages referencing your search + term (Much better than using Google to find Perl 6 documents!) + - Read the [Perl 6 Advent Calendar](http://perl6advent.wordpress.com/). This + is a great source of Perl 6 snippets and explanations.  If the docs don't + describe something well enough, you may find more detailed information here. + This information may be a bit older but there are many great examples and + explanations.  Posts stopped at the end of 2015 when the language was declared + stable and Perl 6.c was released. + - Come along on `#perl6` at `irc.freenode.net`. The folks here are  + always helpful. + - Check the [source of Perl 6's functions and  + classes](https://github.com/rakudo/rakudo/tree/nom/src/core). Rakudo is  + mainly written in Perl 6 (with a lot of NQP, "Not Quite Perl", a Perl 6 subset + easier to implement and optimize). + - Read [the language design documents](http://design.perl6.org). They explain  + P6 from an implementor point-of-view, but it's still very interesting. | 
