The Perl Journal January 2003
Along with the final version of ActivePerl 5.8, ActiveState has released version 5.0 of its Perl Dev Kit. Designed to "provide essential tools for Perl programmers," the dev kit now features a PerlTray tool for writing Windows system tray applications. PerlSvc (a tool for converting Perl programs into Windows services) has been extended, and the visual package manager has been replaced with a new version. Also included in the kit are a visual debugger and tools for using Perl to write ActiveX components, create Microsoft MSI installation files, and build .NET components. The Perl Dev Kit is available at http://www.activestate.com/Products/ Perl_Dev_Kit/.
YAPC::Israel::2003 is scheduled to take place on May 12, 2003, at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot; the event will be the first Perl conference held in Israel. Mark Jason Dominus is scheduled to speak, and the organizers are now considering proposals for other presentations. Ideas for talks, lightning talks, or posters ("the printed equivalent of lightning talks") can be sent to proposals@ perl.org.il until January 5, 2003. Presentations may be in either Hebrew or English, and should focus on practical tips and techniques, including code samples: "This is not a conference about marketing; this is a conference about helping your fellow Perl programmers to improve their skills," the organizers write.
The conference fee, which is waived for presenters, is currently set at 250 NIS (about $48), but may drop if sponsors are found. The YAPC::Israel web site is at http://www.perl.org.il/YAPC/.
brian d foy's Mac::iTunes module lets users create new iTunes interfaces and controls by wrapping AppleScripts in Perl functions. Web-based controls can be added through Apache::iTunes. In an article posted at http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2002/ 11/22/itunes_perl.html, brian explains that "Once everything is set up, I access the CGI script from any computer in my home network, Mac or not, and I can control my central iTunes." Both the Mac::iTunes and Apache::iTunes modules are available from CPAN.
Speaking of CPAN, Jarkko Hietaniemi, the CPAN Master Librarian, wrote a long and thoughtful missive to use.perl, titled "The Zen of Comprehensive Archive Networks." In the post, he articulates his opposition to "piggybacking" languages other than Perl on CPAN. The directory structure and submission machinery, he points out, is specifically designed for Perl; and he also feels that CPAN has entered into unwritten contracts with the Perl community (especially with administrators of the mirror sites).
However, Hietaniemi does believe that archives tailored for other languages are a good idea, and says he's willing to share the scripts that maintain the archive—though he concludes that "I really don't have anything to give away, no magic bags full of powerful CPAN spells."
Hietaniemi also touches on the possibility of adding PKI security features to CPAN, and discusses license issues, the importance of a clear naming scheme, and the intricacies of hierarchy design.
The full post is at http://use.perl.org/article.pl?sid=02/11/12/ 1616209.
Michael Collins asked on the Perl 6 mailing list about the structure of Parrot development. Dan Sugalski confirmed the project is largely unfunded (though the Perl Foundation has provided individual grants), and that the structure is loose, "with folks mostly deferring to whoever's done the core work on whatever piece of the infrastructure you're looking at...I delude myself into thinking I'm more or less in charge." Collins also asked how the principal coders are chosen and Sugalski answered that "they did stuff that didn't suck. It's pretty much a meritocracy."
Version 0.24 of POE, a framework for building multitasking programs in Perl has been released. Version 0.24 provides a number of bug fixes and new features—most notably a change in the way signals are handled and a restructuring to facilitate upcoming scalability enhancements A complete list of 0.24 changes is available at http://poe.perl.org/?Poe_changes. POE has been in active development since 1996, with its first open release in 1998. POE is compatible with Perl 5.005_03 and up. POE includes components and libraries for making quick work of network clients, servers, and peers. A simple standalone web application takes about 30 lines of code, most of which is your own custom logic. For more information, see http://poe.perl.org/.
ActiveState has announced new releases of its Perl Dev Kit (PDK) 5.0, Visual Perl 1.7, and ActivePerl 5.8. Updates to the PDK include: support for ActivePerl 5.8, the addition of PerlASPX 1.0 (which lets you run Perl apps from the Windows System Tray), and upgrades to Visual Package Manager (which now supports HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, and Windows). Features added to Visual Perl include support for: full debugging of PDK objects; PDK 5.0 and ActivePerl 5.8; and large files. New ActivePerl features include: Perl 5.8 enhancements (improved Unicode support, I/O layers, Perl-level threads, and reliable signals); large file access support; and the inclusion of PPM3 as the default ppm executable. For more information, see http://www.ActiveState.com/.