MooseX::ArrayRef(3) blessed arrayrefs with Moose

SYNOPSIS


{
package Local::Person;
use Moose;
has name => (
is => 'ro',
isa => 'Str',
);
__PACKAGE__->meta->make_immutable;
}

{
package Local::Marriage;
use MooseX::ArrayRef;
has husband => (
is => 'ro',
isa => 'Local::Person',
);
has wife => (
is => 'ro',
isa => 'Local::Person',
);
__PACKAGE__->meta->make_immutable;
}

my $marriage = Local::Marriage->new(
wife => Local::Person->new(name => 'Alex'),
husband => Local::Person->new(name => 'Sam'),
);

use Data::Dumper;
use Scalar::Util qw(reftype);
print reftype($marriage), "\n"; # 'ARRAY'
print Dumper($marriage);

DESCRIPTION

Objects implemented with arrayrefs rather than hashrefs are often faster than those implemented with hashrefs. Moose's default object implementation is hashref based. Can we go faster?

Simply "use MooseX::ArrayRef" instead of "use Moose", but note the limitations in the section below.

The current implementation is mostly a proof of concept, but it does mostly seem to work.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

Limitations on Speed

The accessors for mutable classes not significantly faster than Moose's traditional hashref-based objects. For immutable classes, the speed up is bigger 

               Rate  HashRef_M ArrayRef_M  HashRef_I ArrayRef_I
  HashRef_M  1016/s         --        -1%       -48%       -55%
  ArrayRef_M 1031/s         1%         --       -47%       -54%
  HashRef_I  1953/s        92%        89%         --       -13%
  ArrayRef_I 2257/s       122%       119%        16%         --

Limitations on Mutability

Things will probably break if you try to modify classes, add roles, etc ``on the fly''. Make your classes immutable before instantiating even a single object.

Limitations on Inheritance

Inheritance isn't easy to implement with arrayrefs. The current implementation suffers from the following limitations:
  • Single inheritance only.

    You cannot extend multiple parent classes.

  • Inherit from other MooseX::ArrayRef classes only.

    A MooseX::ArrayRef class cannot extend a non-MooseX::ArrayRef class. Even non-Moose classes which are implemented using arrayrefs. (Of course, all Moose classes inherit from Moose::Object too, which is just fine.)

Note that delegation (via Moose's "handles") is often a good alternative to inheritance.

Issue Tracker

Please report any bugs to <http://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Queue=MooseX-ArrayRef>.

AUTHOR

Toby Inkster <[email protected]>.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE

This software is copyright (c) 2012 by Toby Inkster.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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