=head1 NAME
Class::MakeMethods::Docs::RelatedModules - Survey of Class Builders
=head1 SYNOPSIS
http://search.cpan.org/search?mode=module&query=Class
=head1 DESCRIPTION
There are a variety of modules on CPAN dedicated to the purpose of
generating common constructor and accessor methods. Below, I survey
several of these, summarizing some basic features and technical
approaches, and comparing them to Class::MakeMethods and other
modules.
=head2 Caution
B<Please note that these comments are for basic comparison purposes
only and may be incorrect or out of date.> Please consult the
documentation from a current version of each module for more specific
details. Corrections and clarifications would by welcomed by the author at the email address below.
=head2 Points of Comparison
In general, I compared the following characteristics:
=over 4
=item Distribution
Is it included with Perl, or on CPAN? Is it being actively maintained?
=item Usage
How do you go about declaring your class's methods?
=item Mechanism
How are they generated and delivered?
=item Instance type
Are the objects of your class blessed hashes, or something else?
=item Core Methods
Does the module provide a constructor and basic accessors? Are there specialized methods for hash-ref, array-ref, and object-ref accessors?
=item Extensible
Can you subclass the package to create new types of methods, or is there some other way to extend it?
=item Other Methods
Other types of methods provided.
=item Emulator
Does Class::MakeMethods provide a drop-in replacement for this module?
=item Comments
Other characteristics or features of note.
=back
=head1 RELATED MODULES
=head2 accessors
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Uploaded Sep 2003.
=item Comments
I have not yet reviewed this module in detail.
=item Example
package MyObject;
use accessors qw( foo bar baz );
=back
=head2 Attribute::Property
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN.
=item Comments
I have not yet reviewed this module in detail.
=back
=head2 Class::Accessor
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 4/01.
=item Usage
Inherit and call function with declaration arguments
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures
=item Instance Type
Hash.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Cleanly.
=item Standard Methods
Scalar accessors.
=item Extensible
Yes.
=item Comments
Accessor methods call overwritable C<self-E<lt>get(I<key>)> and
C<self-E<lt>set(I<key>, I<value>)> methods.
Also includes Class::Accessor::Fast, which creates direct hash keys accessors without calling get and set methods.
=item Emulator
Yes, but only for the Fast variation; see Class::MakeMethods::Emulator::AccessorFast.
=item Example
package MyObject;
@ISA = qw(Class::Accessor);
MyObject->mk_accessors(qw( simple ordered mapping obj_ref ));
=back
=head2 Class::Class
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 1/00.
=item Usage
Inherit and fill %MEMBERS hash; methods created when first object is created
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures
=item Instance Type
Hash.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Yes.
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and various accessors.
=item Extensible
No.
=item Example
Usage is similar to Class::Struct:
package MyObject;
use Class::Class;
@ISA = qw(Class::Class);
%MEMBERS = (
simple => '$',
ordered => '@',
mapping => '%',
obj_ref => 'FooObject'
);
=item Other Method Types
Provides a polymorph() method that is similar to Class::Method's "ClassName:class_name -require".
=back
=head2 Class::Constructor
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 11/01.
=item Usage
Inherit and call function with declaration arguments
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures
=item Instance Type
Hash.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Cleanly.
=item Standard Methods
Hash constructor, with bells.
=item Extensible
No.
=item Emulator
No, but possible.
=item Example
package MyObject;
@ISA = qw(Class::Constructor);
MyObject->mk_constructor( Name => 'new' );
=back
=head2 Class::Classgen
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 12/00.
=item Usage
Pre-processor run against declaration files.
=item Mechanism
Assembles and saves code file
=item Instance Type
Hash.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Yes. (I think.)
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and various accessors.
=item Extensible
No. (I think.)
=item Example
header:
package MyObject;
variables:
$simple
@ordered
%mapping
$obj_ref
=back
=head2 Class::Contract
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 5/01.
=item Usage
Call function with declaration arguments
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures
=item Instance Type
Scalar reference with external data storage.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Yes.
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and various accessors.
=item Extensible
Yes. (I think.)
=item Comments
Supports pre- and post-conditions, class invariants, and other
software engineering goodies.
=item Example
package MyObject;
use Class::Contract;
contract {
ctor 'new';
attr 'simple' => SCALAR;
attr 'ordered' => ARRAY;
attr 'mapping' => HASH;
attr 'obj_ref' => 'FooObject';
}
=back
=head2 Class::Data::Inheritable
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 4/00.
=item Usage
Inherit and call function with declaration arguments
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures
=item Instance Type
Class data, with inheritance.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Yes, specifically.
=item Standard Methods
Scalar accessors.
=item Extensible
No.
=item Example
Usage is similar to Class::Accessor:
package MyObject;
@ISA = qw(Class::Data::Inheritable);
MyObject->mk_classdata(qw( simple ordered mapping obj_ref ));
=item Emulator
Yes, Class::MakeMethods::Emulator::Inheritable, passes original test suite.
=back
=head2 Class::Delegate
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Uploaded 12/0.
=item Comments
I have not yet reviewed this module in detail.
=back
=head2 Class::Delegation
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Uploaded 12/01.
=item Comments
I have not yet reviewed this module in detail.
=back
=head2 Class::Generate
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 11/00.
=item Usage
Call function with declaration arguments
=item Mechanism
Assembles and evals code string, or saves code file.
=item Instance Type
Hash.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Yes.
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and accessors (scalar, array, hash, object, object array, etc).
=item Extensible
Unknown.
=item Comments
Handles private/protected limitations, pre and post conditions,
assertions, and more.
=item Example
Usage is similar to Class::Struct:
package MyObject;
use Class::Generate;
class MyObject => [
simple => '$',
ordered => '@',
mapping => '%',
obj_ref => 'FooObject'
];
=back
=head2 Class::Hook
=item Distribution
CPAN. Uploaded 12/01.
=item Comments
I have not yet reviewed this module in detail.
=head2 Class::Holon
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Experimental/Alpha release 07/2001.
=item Instance Type
Hash, array, or flyweight-index.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
No. (I think.)
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and scalar accessors; flywieght objects also get scalar mutator methods.
=item Extensible
No. (I think.)
=item Comments
I'm not sure I understand the intent of this module; perhaps future versions will make this clearer....
=back
=head2 Class::MethodMaker
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 1/01.
=item Usage
Import, or call function, with declaration arguments
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures
=item Instance Type
Hash, Static.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Yes.
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and various accessors.
=item Extensible
Yes.
=item Example
Usage is similar to Class::MakeMethods:
package MyObject;
use Class::MethodMaker (
new => 'new',
get_set => 'simple',
list => 'ordered',
hash => 'mapping',
object => [ 'FooObject' => 'obj_ref' ],
);
=item Emulator
Yes, Class::MakeMethods::Emulator::MethodMaker, passes original test suite.
=back
=head2 Class::MakeMethods
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN.
=item Usage
Import, or call function, with declaration arguments; or if desired, make methods on-demand with Autoload, or declare subroutines with a special Attribute.
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures
=item Instance Type
Hash, Array, Scalar, Static, Class data, others.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Yes.
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and various accessors.
=item Extensible
Yes.
=item Example
Usage is similar to Class::MethodMaker:
package MyObject;
use Class::MakeMethods::Hash (
new => 'new',
scalar => 'simple',
array => 'ordered',
hash => 'mapping',
object => [ 'obj_ref', { class=>'FooObject' } ],
);
=back
=head2 Class::Maker
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 7/02.
=item Usage
Call function with declaration arguments.
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures (I think).
=item Instance Type
Hash (I think).
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Unknown.
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and various scalar and reference accessors.
=item Extensible
Unknown.
=item Comments
I haven't yet reviewed this module closely.
=back
=head2 Class::SelfMethods
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 2/00.
=item Usage
Inherit; methods created via AUTOLOAD
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures (I think)
=item Instance Type
Hash.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Yes.
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and scalar/code accessors (see Comments).
=item Extensible
No.
=item Comments
Individual objects may be assigned a subroutine that will be called as a method on subsequent accesses. If an instance does not have a value for a given accessor, looks for a method defined with a leading underscore.
=back
=head2 Class::Struct
=over 4
=item Distribution
Included in the standard Perl distribution. Replaces Class::Template.
=item Usage
Call function with declaration arguments
=item Mechanism
Assembles and evals code string
=item Instance Type
Hash or Array
=item Subclasses Cleanly
No.
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and various accessors.
=item Extensible
No.
package MyObject;
use Class::Struct;
struct(
simple => '$',
ordered => '@',
mapping => '%',
obj_ref => 'FooObject'
);
=item Emulator
Yes, Class::MakeMethods::Emulator::Struct.
=back
=head2 Class::StructTemplate
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 12/00.
No documentation available.
=item Usage
Unknown.
=item Mechanism
Unknown.
=back
=head2 Class::Template
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Out of date.
=item Usage
Call function with declaration arguments (I think)
=item Mechanism
Assembles and evals code string (I think)
=item Instance Type
Hash.
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Yes. (I think.)
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and various accessors.
=item Extensible
No. (I think.)
=item Example
Usage is similar to Class::Struct:
package MyObject;
use Class::Template;
members MyObject {
simple => '$',
ordered => '@',
mapping => '%',
obj_ref => 'FooObject'
};
=back
=head2 Class::Virtual
Generates methods that fail with a message indicating that they were not implemented by the subclass. (Cf. 'Template::Universal:croak -abstract'.)
Also provides a list of abstract methods that have not been implemented by a subclass.
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN. Last update 3/01.
=item Extensible
Unknown.
=item Mechanism
Uses Class::Data::Inheritable and installs additional closures.
=back
=head2 CodeGen::PerlBean
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN.
=item Usage
Call function with declaration arguments.
=item Mechanism
Generates and writes source code to a file.
=item Instance Type
Hash (I think).
=item Subclasses Cleanly
Unknown.
=item Standard Methods
Constructor and various scalar and reference accessors.
=item Extensible
Unknown.
=item Comments
I haven't yet reviewed this module closely.
=back
=head2 HTML::Mason::MethodMaker
=over 4
=item Distribution
CPAN.
=item Usage
Package import with declaration arguments
=item Mechanism
Generates and installs closures
=item Instance Type
Hash.
=item Standard Methods
Scalar accessors.
=item Extensible
No.
=item Example
use HTML::Mason::MethodMaker (
read_write => [ qw( simple ordered mapping obj_ref ) ]
);
=back
=head1 SEE ALSO
See L<Class::MakeMethods> for general information about this distribution.
=head1 CREDITS AND COPYRIGHT
=head2 Developed By
M. Simon Cavalletto, simonm@cavalletto.org
Evolution Softworks, www.evoscript.org
=head2 Copyright
Copyright 2002 Matthew Simon Cavalletto.
Portions copyright 2000, 2001 Evolution Online Systems, Inc.
=head2 License
You may use, modify, and distribute this document under the same terms as Perl.
=cut