Official Perl 6 Documentation

The Synopsis documents are to be taken as the formal specification for Perl 6 implementations, while still being reference documentation for Perl 6, like Programming Perl is for Perl 5. Note that while these documents are considered ``formal specifications'', they are still being subjected to the rigors of cross-examination through implementation. In other words, they may change slightly or radically. But the expectation is that they are ``very close'' to the final shape of Perl 6.

However, this HTML version of Synopses is slightly different in that it contains code snippets from the Pugs test suite. In other words, We have divided the .t files in the test suite into pieces and inserted every resulting snippet after the corresponding paragraph of the Synopses. Furthermore, the embedded tests are also marked by √ and × according to the results of daily auto-smoking on feather. The job is done by the Perl 5 script util/smartlinks.pl living in the Pugs source tree.

All the web pages for Synopses listed below are updated every one hour from the Pugs SVN repository with the latest Synopses and Pugs test suite.

When we say ``S05'', we mean ``spec'' as well as ``synopsis''.

Note that documents marked DRAFT are really just that. They are often written by random people, and have not been approved of as part of the official spec.

The documents here mostly correspond with the chapters in the Camel Book, that is, "Programming Perl, 3rd Edition". However, a few chapters of that book will no longer be relevant, and those numbers will be resused for other things. At the moment, this refers to section 7, whose synopsis is "Iterators", but whose Exegesis is about the module Form.pm. Apocalypses and Exegeses were only written for some of the early sections; the later sections have no corresponding apocalypse/exegesis.

Most changes to these specifications have been discussed on the perl6-language mailing list or the #perl6 FreeNode channel on IRC. Additionally, Larry Wall has created an implementation of the parser for Perl 6 (but it doesn't do any of the backend stuff), and that is usually regarded as authoritative.

While the Apocalypses and Exegeses are linked here for reference, note that they are historical documents, whereas the Synopses are kept more up-to-date and are the primary recommended reference.

Indexes

S32 Key

* = Document related types as well

+ = Not a type name, but documents a group of types

DRAFT specifications

The few draft PODs here should probably be cleaned up into Spec-like formats and moved to Perl6::Spec space.

• Debugging
• Perl Culture

Frequently Asked Questions

• General Questions about Perl6
• Pugs FAQ
• Fears, Uncertainties and Doubts about Perl6
• Capture Objects

Differences from Perl 5

• Differences Between Perl 5 and Perl 6

The Differences document is stored in docs/Perl6/Perl5/Differences.pod in the pugs repository, if you'd like to make updates to it. Your changes will automatically appear on feather in less than 1 hour.

Perl6 Cookbooks

• Perl6 Cookbook Currently a work in progress, this cookbook is part of the PLEAC project, following the example of the Perl 5 cookbook.
• Perl6 OO Cookbook (parts may not be current)

Example Code

Many more examples of Perl6 code are available.

• Examples of Perl6 from the Pugs repository
• Complete distributions from the Pugs repository

About this page

The page you're currently looking at lives in the Pugs repo as docs/feather/syn_index.html, and is resync'd every 1 hour.