By Michael Schwern (‎Schwern‎) from PDX.pm
Date: Tuesday, 22 June 2010 14:00
Duration: 40 minutes
Target audience: Any
Language: English
Tags: autobox design language perl5 perl5i

perl5i: Perl 5 Improved

perl5i is a single module bringing together the best magic Perl programmers have to offer catapulting the basic language forward. Suddenly everything is an object! Functions return objects and throw exceptions! You don't have to load six modules to work with files! Perl 5 is fun again!

Perl 5 was designed in 1995, and because of its devotion to backwards compatibility, its largely stuck there. But Perl programmers have long since moved on advancing the state of the art in the form of CPAN modules. When you write a Perl 5 program you either have to use the outdated core language, or you have to find, install and use two dozen CPAN modules. This turns off newbies, they don’t know which CPAN modules to use, and annoys experienced programmers who are tired of having to DIY over and over again.

perl5i is a single Perl module to bring the best of CPAN together under one roof, working together under a sensible language design. Unlike Perl 6, perl5i is an evolutionary development, remaining compatible with Perl 5. Yet it can selectively and safely break compatibility… even with itself! Its released, well tested and intended for production use.

perl5i makes Perl fun again. It fixes the default behaviors. It makes references pleasant to work with. It embraces techniques like exceptions, autoboxing and objects in a way Perl 5 really never did. It solves the problem of backwards compatibility slowly strangling a language.

If you used to program Perl, come take another look.
http://search.cpan.org/perldoc?perl5ifaq

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