use Perl

It's time for another social meeting of the Bristol and Bath Perl Mongers group [1] in Bath. There will be lightning talks (optional), good conversation, beer and pies! What more could a Perl monger want? Everyone is welcome and you don't even need to know anything about Perl.

When

7pm, Tue 16th of February

Where

The Raven Pub [2]
Queen St
Bath

The pub is a little tricky to find but if you print out this map[3] - you should be fine.

See you there,

Nige

[1] http://perl.bristolbath.org/
[2] http://www.theravenofbath.co.uk/
[3] http://www.theravenofbath.co.uk/how_to_find_us.html

When

7pm, Tue 21st of April

Where

The Raven Pub [2]
Queen St
Bath

The pub is a little tricky to find but if you print out this map[3] - you should be fine.

See you there,

Nige

[1] http://perl.bristolbath.org/
[2] http://www.theravenofbath.co.uk/
[3] http://www.theravenofbath.co.uk/how_to_find_us.html

Opa Bar (a relaxed bar by the Avon river - not too far from the train station)
14 North Parade
Bath BA2 4AJ
http://www.opabath.com/

when: 7pm Tue 24th of June
how: From Bath Spa Station follow Manvers St Pierrpont St then turn right at the intersection with North Parade.
Opa looks over the river and is below street level - look out for the sign to the right of the bridge.

• read the Parrot section of "Perl6 Essentials"
  • - noted Dan Sugalski's suggestion of writing tests as a good place to start
• browsed around http://dev.perl.org/perl6
• doing background reading on CVS (Nutshell)
• planning to install CVS and Parrot when I get time

Lately I've also been interested to read about the plans for traits and roles etc on Usenet in perl.perl6.language.

I must confess to employing a slightly warped form of OO patterns for a while involving the 'personification' of objects.

I've been bundling up chunks of complexity into roles/people, for example 'DatabaseManager', 'AdapterManager' and a menagerie of email robots (Amy, Penny, Daisy etc).

Personification of interfaces has traditionally been a CS no-no and I think this has spilt over into the OO modelling world.

But having 'people' in your system really is a natural pattern especially where your objects have responsibility, functions, duties and roles.

I've always thought tangibility is the enemy of complexity and 'personification' is one way to help make things more tangible. The vocabulary relating to people is much more accessible than abstract patterns. What is a 'singleton' anyway?

WWW::Mechanize is an example of a module that employs a slightly 'personified' interface because it models what a real web user does when they encounter a page - and makes these functions tangible in the mind of the coder.

But I think personifying the OO interfaces can be taken much further and I think 'roles' and 'traits' fit into this well.

I hope Perl6 can push the OO boat out even further ... one way maybe to sacrifice the CS sacred cow of no personification? ;-)

[ Gwass Hopper stops staring into the sky and returns to the Pilgrimage ... ]

Not a big patch, I hasten to add. But a small contribution that I hope will bring Perl 6 a little closer to reality.

I, like lots of other Perl devotees, have seen the promise of Perl 6 and can't wait for the day they can download - perl6.tar.gz.

But, being a pilgrimage, it's as much about the journey as it is the destination.

And this 'gwass hopper' has quite a long way to go. With no CPAN ID, no CVS experience, and too much work to do at the day job (http://turbo10.com) my journal entries over the coming months will highlight the technical twists and turns, hassles and hurdles, I needed to overcome on the way to my first Perl 6 Patch.

So if you’re thinking of embarking on a similar journey, or just like the idea of applying a vicarious patch, then pack your bags … we’re about to start.

If you’re a seasoned traveller, who has walked the route before, think back to the route you took and give us your best directions on the way.

OK … Let’s Go!