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Class::C3(3)	      User Contributed Perl Documentation	  Class::C3(3)

NAME
       Class::C3 - A pragma to use the C3 method resolution order algortihm

SYNOPSIS
	   # NOTE - DO NOT USE Class::C3 directly as a user, use MRO::Compat instead!
	   package A;
	   use Class::C3;
	   sub hello { 'A::hello' }

	   package B;
	   use base 'A';
	   use Class::C3;

	   package C;
	   use base 'A';
	   use Class::C3;

	   sub hello { 'C::hello' }

	   package D;
	   use base ('B', 'C');
	   use Class::C3;

	   # Classic Diamond MI pattern
	   #	<A>
	   #   /   \
	   # <B>   <C>
	   #   \   /
	   #	<D>

	   package main;

	   # initializez the C3 module
	   # (formerly called in INIT)
	   Class::C3::initialize();

	   print join ', ' => Class::C3::calculateMRO('Diamond_D') # prints D, B, C, A

	   print D->hello() # prints 'C::hello' instead of the standard p5 'A::hello'

	   D->can('hello')->();		 # can() also works correctly
	   UNIVERSAL::can('D', 'hello'); # as does UNIVERSAL::can()

DESCRIPTION
       This is pragma to change Perl 5's standard method resolution order from
       depth-first left-to-right (a.k.a - pre-order) to the more sophisticated
       C3 method resolution order.

       NOTE: YOU SHOULD NOT USE THIS MODULE DIRECTLY - The feature provided is
       integrated into perl version >= 5.9.5, and you should use MRO::Compat
       instead, which will use the core implementation in newer perls, but
       fallback to using this implementation on older perls.

   What is C3?
       C3 is the name of an algorithm which aims to provide a sane method
       resolution order under multiple inheritance. It was first introduced in
       the langauge Dylan (see links in the "SEE ALSO" section), and then
       later adopted as the prefered MRO (Method Resolution Order) for the
       new-style classes in Python 2.3. Most recently it has been adopted as
       the 'canonical' MRO for Perl 6 classes, and the default MRO for Parrot
       objects as well.

   How does C3 work.
       C3 works by always preserving local precendence ordering. This
       essentially means that no class will appear before any of its
       subclasses. Take the classic diamond inheritance pattern for instance:

	    <A>
	   /   \
	 <B>   <C>
	   \   /
	    <D>

       The standard Perl 5 MRO would be (D, B, A, C). The result being that A
       appears before C, even though C is the subclass of A. The C3 MRO
       algorithm however, produces the following MRO (D, B, C, A), which does
       not have this same issue.

       This example is fairly trival, for more complex examples and a deeper
       explaination, see the links in the "SEE ALSO" section.

   How does this module work?
       This module uses a technique similar to Perl 5's method caching. When
       "Class::C3::initialize" is called, this module calculates the MRO of
       all the classes which called "use Class::C3". It then gathers
       information from the symbol tables of each of those classes, and builds
       a set of method aliases for the correct dispatch ordering. Once all
       these C3-based method tables are created, it then adds the method
       aliases into the local classes symbol table.

       The end result is actually classes with pre-cached method dispatch.
       However, this caching does not do well if you start changing your @ISA
       or messing with class symbol tables, so you should consider your
       classes to be effectively closed. See the CAVEATS section for more
       details.

OPTIONAL LOWERCASE PRAGMA
       This release also includes an optional module c3 in the opt/ folder. I
       did not include this in the regular install since lowercase module
       names are considered "bad" by some people. However I think that code
       looks much nicer like this:

	 package MyClass;
	 use c3;

       The the more clunky:

	 package MyClass;
	 use Class::C3;

       But hey, it's your choice, thats why it is optional.

FUNCTIONS
       calculateMRO ($class)
	   Given a $class this will return an array of class names in the
	   proper C3 method resolution order.

       initialize
	   This must be called to initalize the C3 method dispatch tables,
	   this module will not work if you do not do this. It is advised to
	   do this as soon as possible after loading any classes which use C3.
	   Here is a quick code example:

	     package Foo;
	     use Class::C3;
	     # ... Foo methods here

	     package Bar;
	     use Class::C3;
	     use base 'Foo';
	     # ... Bar methods here

	     package main;

	     Class::C3::initialize(); # now it is safe to use Foo and Bar

	   This function used to be called automatically for you in the INIT
	   phase of the perl compiler, but that lead to warnings if this
	   module was required at runtime. After discussion with my user base
	   (the DBIx::Class folks), we decided that calling this in INIT was
	   more of an annoyance than a convience. I apologize to anyone this
	   causes problems for (although i would very suprised if I had any
	   other users other than the DBIx::Class folks). The simplest
	   solution of course is to define your own INIT method which calls
	   this function.

	   NOTE:

	   If "initialize" detects that "initialize" has already been
	   executed, it will "uninitialize" and clear the MRO cache first.

       uninitialize
	   Calling this function results in the removal of all cached methods,
	   and the restoration of the old Perl 5 style dispatch order (depth-
	   first, left-to-right).

       reinitialize
	   This is an alias for "initialize" above.

METHOD REDISPATCHING
       It is always useful to be able to re-dispatch your method call to the
       "next most applicable method". This module provides a pseudo package
       along the lines of "SUPER::" or "NEXT::" which will re-dispatch the
       method along the C3 linearization. This is best shown with an example.

	 # a classic diamond MI pattern ...
	 #    <A>
	 #   /	 \
	 # <B>	 <C>
	 #   \	 /
	 #    <D>

	 package A;
	 use c3;
	 sub foo { 'A::foo' }

	 package B;
	 use base 'A';
	 use c3;
	 sub foo { 'B::foo => ' . (shift)->next::method() }

	 package C;
	 use base 'A';
	 use c3;
	 sub foo { 'C::foo => ' . (shift)->next::method() }

	 package D;
	 use base ('B', 'C');
	 use c3;
	 sub foo { 'D::foo => ' . (shift)->next::method() }

	 print D->foo; # prints out "D::foo => B::foo => C::foo => A::foo"

       A few things to note. First, we do not require you to add on the method
       name to the "next::method" call (this is unlike "NEXT::" and "SUPER::"
       which do require that). This helps to enforce the rule that you cannot
       dispatch to a method of a different name (this is how "NEXT::" behaves
       as well).

       The next thing to keep in mind is that you will need to pass all
       arguments to "next::method".  It can not automatically use the current
       @_.

       If "next::method" cannot find a next method to re-dispatch the call to,
       it will throw an exception.  You can use "next::can" to see if
       "next::method" will succeed before you call it like so:

	 $self->next::method(@_) if $self->next::can;

       Additionally, you can use "maybe::next::method" as a shortcut to only
       call the next method if it exists.  The previous example could be
       simply written as:

	 $self->maybe::next::method(@_);

       There are some caveats about using "next::method", see below for those.

CAVEATS
       This module used to be labeled as experimental, however it has now been
       pretty heavily tested by the good folks over at DBIx::Class and I am
       confident this module is perfectly usable for whatever your needs might
       be.

       But there are still caveats, so here goes ...

       Use of "SUPER::".
	   The idea of "SUPER::" under multiple inheritance is ambigious, and
	   generally not recomended anyway.  However, its use in conjuntion
	   with this module is very much not recommended, and in fact very
	   discouraged. The recommended approach is to instead use the
	   supplied "next::method" feature, see more details on its usage
	   above.

       Changing @ISA.
	   It is the author's opinion that changing @ISA at runtime is pure
	   insanity anyway. However, people do it, so I must caveat. Any
	   changes to the @ISA will not be reflected in the MRO calculated by
	   this module, and therefore probably won't even show up. If you do
	   this, you will need to call "reinitialize" in order to recalulate
	   all method dispatch tables. See the "reinitialize" documentation
	   and an example in t/20_reinitialize.t for more information.

       Adding/deleting methods from class symbol tables.
	   This module calculates the MRO for each requested class by
	   interogating the symbol tables of said classes.  So any symbol
	   table manipulation which takes place after our INIT phase is run
	   will not be reflected in the calculated MRO. Just as with changing
	   the @ISA, you will need to call "reinitialize" for any changes you
	   make to take effect.

       Calling "next::method" from methods defined outside the class
	   There is an edge case when using "next::method" from within a
	   subroutine which was created in a different module than the one it
	   is called from. It sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Here is
	   an example which will not work correctly:

	     *Foo::foo = sub { (shift)->next::method(@_) };

	   The problem exists because the anonymous subroutine being assigned
	   to the glob *Foo::foo will show up in the call stack as being
	   called "__ANON__" and not "foo" as you might expect. Since
	   "next::method" uses "caller" to find the name of the method it was
	   called in, it will fail in this case.

	   But fear not, there is a simple solution. The module "Sub::Name"
	   will reach into the perl internals and assign a name to an
	   anonymous subroutine for you. Simply do this:

	     use Sub::Name 'subname';
	     *Foo::foo = subname 'Foo::foo' => sub { (shift)->next::method(@_) };

	   and things will Just Work. Of course this is not always possible to
	   do, but to be honest, I just can't manage to find a workaround for
	   it, so until someone gives me a working patch this will be a known
	   limitation of this module.

COMPATIBILITY
       If your software requires Perl 5.9.5 or higher, you do not need
       Class::C3, you can simply "use mro 'c3'", and not worry about
       "initialize()", avoid some of the above caveats, and get the best
       possible performance.  See mro for more details.

       If your software is meant to work on earlier Perls, use Class::C3 as
       documented here.	 Class::C3 will detect Perl 5.9.5+ and take advantage
       of the core support when available.

Class::C3::XS
       This module will load Class::C3::XS if it's installed and you are
       running on a Perl version older than 5.9.5.  The optional module will
       be automatically installed for you if a C compiler is available, as it
       results in significant performance improvements (but unlike the 5.9.5+
       core support, it still has all of the same caveats as Class::C3).

CODE COVERAGE
       Devel::Cover was reporting 94.4% overall test coverage earlier in this
       module's life.  Currently, the test suite does things that break under
       coverage testing, but it is fair to assume the coverage is still close
       to that value.

SEE ALSO
   The original Dylan paper
       http://www.webcom.com/haahr/dylan/linearization-oopsla96.html
       <http://www.webcom.com/haahr/dylan/linearization-oopsla96.html>

   The prototype Perl 6 Object Model uses C3
       http://svn.openfoundry.org/pugs/perl5/Perl6-MetaModel/
       <http://svn.openfoundry.org/pugs/perl5/Perl6-MetaModel/>

   Parrot now uses C3
       http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/perl6-internals/2746631
       <http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/perl6-internals/2746631>
       <http://use.perl.org/~autrijus/journal/25768>

   Python 2.3 MRO related links
       <http://www.python.org/2.3/mro.html>
       <http://www.python.org/2.2.2/descrintro.html#mro>

   C3 for TinyCLOS
       http://www.call-with-current-continuation.org/eggs/c3.html
       <http://www.call-with-current-continuation.org/eggs/c3.html>

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
       Thanks to Matt S. Trout for using this module in his module DBIx::Class
       and finding many bugs and providing fixes.
       Thanks to Justin Guenther for making "next::method" more robust by
       handling calls inside "eval" and anon-subs.
       Thanks to Robert Norris for adding support for "next::can" and
       "maybe::next::method".

AUTHOR
       Stevan Little, <stevan@iinteractive.com>

       Brandon L. Black, <blblack@gmail.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
       Copyright 2005, 2006 by Infinity Interactive, Inc.

       <http://www.iinteractive.com>

       This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
       under the same terms as Perl itself.

perl v5.16.2			  2012-05-12			  Class::C3(3)
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