I've just submitted a short talk to the Scandinavian Conference on Java And
Object Orientation (JAOO.org) [1] entitled "Perl 6, The Good Parts". This
talk will be given to an audience of mostly Java, Python and Ruby
programmers with a smattering of XP & Agile methodology folks and OO and
Pattern gurus. It will try to convince them of two things:
Perl 6 is not a joke (anymore).
The Perl 6 language, design and implementation contains
revolutionary ideas that you should pay attention to.
I've been trying to pick out what parts of Perl 6 would make a Java
programmer sit up and go "I wish I had that" or a Python programmer think
"Hmm, maybe there is more than one way to do it" and, in fine Perl
tradition, a few things which make the whole audience go "what a bunch of
fruitcakes!"
Here's what I've got:
Parrot
Both as our answer to the JVM and .Net and that the language design
and the coding of the internals are going on simultaneously.
Topicalizers
Perl 5 has Do What I Mean, Perl 6 will have Ya Know What I Mean.
A language which understands the concept of "it".
Community Funding
A programming community with employees. $200,000 raised so far.
Community Design
The sometimes rocky process of design by community.
Closures, Continuations, Currying, Everything Is An Object, Multimethod
Dispatch, Slots, Introspection...
Sure, other languages have these features, but all together in one
language?
Attributes
Transcending mere objects and classes, Perl 6 introduces adverbs.
Parrot, Funding and Design are pretty straight forward to explain to an
audience of Java programmers. For the rest, I'm asking for help placing the
proper spin on it. Topicalizers will be particularly tricky to explain
without making it just sound like an opportunity to write more
incomprehensible Perl code.
I'm also trying to think of more bits to throw in. Particularly in terms of
the OO system, this being a conference about OO. From what I've heard so
far, Perl 6's OO system will be largely playing catch up with other
languages. Hopefully the Cabal [2] can debunk that. What will Perl 6's
class system offer that will impress a Java programmer?
[1] I was invited to speak there last year by mistake and liked it so much
I'm trying to weasel my way in again.
[2] Of which there is none.
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