changelog.md

Changelog

Release history of PerlOnJava. See Roadmap for future plans.

v5.42.3: Unreleased - Next minor version

• Security: added SECURITY.md and CycloneDX SBOM generation (make sbom)

• Tools: added jcpan, jperldoc, and jprove

• Perl debugger with -d command line option

• Add defer feature

• Lexical warnings with use warnings and FATAL support

• Non-local control flow: last/next/redo/goto LABEL/goto $EXPR

• Tail call with trampoline for goto &NAME and goto __SUB__

• Add modules: CPAN, Time::Piece, TOML, DirHandle, Dumpvalue, Sys::Hostname, IO::Socket, IO::Socket::INET, IO::Socket::UNIX, IO::Zlib, Archive::Tar, Archive::Zip, Net::FTP, Net::Cmd, IPC::Open2, IPC::Open3, ExtUtils::MakeMaker, XML::Parser, Net::SSLeay, IO::Socket::SSL.

• Add operators: flock, syscall, fcntl, ioctl.

• Add \&CORE::X subroutine references: built-in functions can be used as first-class code refs (e.g., \&CORE::push, \&CORE::length) with correct prototypes and glob aliasing.

• Support for forking patterns with exec: my $pid = open FH, "-|"; if ($pid) {...} else { exec @cmd } my $pid = open FH, "-|"; unless ($pid) { exec @cmd } ... open FH, "-|" or exec @cmd;

• Bugfix: parser now handles @{${...}} nested dereference in push/unshift.

• Bugfix: regex octal escapes \10-\377 now work correctly.

• Bugfix: \K (keep left) assertion now works in m// and s///.

• Bugfix: operator override in Time::Hires now works.

• Bugfix: internal temp variables are now pre-initialized.

• Optimization: faster list assignment.

• Optimization: faster type resolution in Perl scalars.

• Optimization: make now runs tests in parallel.

• Optimization: A workaround is implemented to Java 64k bytes segment limit.

• New interpreter backend.

  • New command line option: --interpreter to run PerlOnJava as an interpreter instead of JVM compiler.
    • ./jperl --interpreter --disassemble -e 'print "Hello, World!\n"'
  • The interpreter mode excels at dynamic eval STRING operations (46x faster than compilation for unique strings, matching Perl 5 performance). For general code, it runs only 15% slower than Perl 5. It is also useful for implementing debugging, handling "Method too large" errors, and enabling Android and GraalVM compatibility.

• Planned release date: 2026-04-10.

• Add attributes pragma with MODIFY_*_ATTRIBUTES/FETCH_*_ATTRIBUTES callbacks for subroutines and variables.

• Add modules: Filter::Simple with FILTER and FILTER_ONLY support.

• Add DESTROY method support with cooperative reference counting on blessed objects, cascading destruction, closure capture tracking, and global destruction phase.

• Add Scalar::Util functions: weaken, isweak, unweaken.

• Work in Progress

  • Multiplicity — per-runtime isolation for concurrent Perl interpreters: PerlRuntime with ThreadLocal-based isolation; all mutable state (globals, I/O, regex, caller stack, method caches) moved to per-runtime instances; 122/126 concurrent interpreter tests pass; pending closure/method dispatch optimization
  • PerlIO
    • get_layers
  • Term::ReadLine
  • Term::ReadKey
  • FileHandle
  • File::Temp
  • File::Path
  • File::Copy
  • IO::File
  • IO::Handle
    • ungetc
    • Auto-bless filehandle into IO::Handle subclass
  • IO::Seekable
  • Math::BigInt
  • Text::ParseWords
  • Text::Tabs
  • Locale::Maketext::Simple
  • Params::Check
  • SelectSaver
  • locale pragma
  • utf8 pragma
  • bytes pragma
  • threads pragma
  • warnings pragma
  • vmsish pragma
  • Constant folding - in ConstantFoldingVisitor.java
  • method keyword
  • Overload operators: ++, --.
  • String interpolation fixes.
  • Command line option -C

v5.42.2: 250k Tests, Class Features, System V IPC, Sockets, and More

• Add Perl 5.38+ Class Features
  • Class keyword with block syntax fully working
  • Method declarations with automatic $self injection
  • Field declarations supporting all sigils ($, @, %)
  • Constructor parameter fields with :param attribute
  • Reader method generation with :reader attribute
  • Automatic constructor generation with named parameters
  • Default values for fields fully functional
  • ADJUST blocks with field transformation working
  • Field transformation to $self->{field} in methods
  • Lexical method calls using $self->&priv syntax
  • Class inheritance with :isa attribute working
  • Version checking in :isa(Parent version) implemented
  • Parent class field inheritance fully functional
  • Object stringification shows OBJECT not HASH
  • ClassRegistry tracks Perl 5.38+ class instances
  • Context-aware reader methods for arrays/hashes
  • Field transformation in string interpolation works
  • CLASS keyword with compile-time evaluation
• Add System V IPC operators: msgctl, msgget, msgrcv, msgsnd, semctl, semget, semop, shmctl, shmget, shmread, shmwrite.
• Add network enumeration operators: endhostent, endnetent, endprotoent, endservent, gethostent, getnetbyaddr, getnetbyname, getnetent, getprotoent, getservent, sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent.
• Add socket operators: socket, bind, listen, accept, connect, send, recv, shutdown, setsockopt, getsockopt, getsockname, getpeername, socketpair.
• Add Socket.pm module with socket constants and functions.
• Add alarm operator with $SIG{ALRM} signal handling.
• Fix truncate operator.
• Add pipe operator.
• Add do \&subroutine.
• Add formline operator and $^A accumulator variable
• Add file descriptor duplication support in open (<&, >&, <&=, >&=).
• Add statement: format, and write operator
• Add special variables: @{^CAPTURE}, ${^LAST_SUCCESSFUL_PATTERN}.
• Add pack format x.
• Add do filehandle.
• Add module Storable, experimental, Unicode::UCD.
• Add single-quote as package separator.
• Dereferencing using $$var{...} and $$var[...] works.
• Add declared references: my \$x, my(\@arr), my(\%hash).
• Add subroutines declared my, state, or our.
• Bugfix in regex /r.
• Bugfix in transliterate with octal values.
• Bugfix in nested heredocs.

v5.42.1: 150k Tests, Extended Operators, and More Perl 5 Features

• Add operators: getlogin, getpwnam, getpwuid, getgrnam, getgrgid, getpwent, getgrent, setpwent, setgrent, endpwent, endgrent, gethostbyname, gethostbyaddr, getservbyname, getservbyport, getprotobyname, getprotobynumber, reset.
• Add overload operators: <=>, cmp, <, <=, >, >=, ==, !=, lt, le, gt, ge, eq, ne, qr.
• Add command line switches: -s, -f.
• Add __CLASS__ keyword.
• Add modules: mro, version, List::Util.
• Add more sprintf formatters.
• Add readline modes depending on $/ special variable.
• Add PERL5OPT environment variable.
• Add regex extended character classes (?[...])
• Bugfix: fixed vstring with codepoints above 65535.

v5.42.0: 100k Tests Passed, Tie Support, and Total Compatibility

• Add tie, tied, untie operators.
• Add all tie types: scalar, array, hash, and handle.
• Add operators: sysread, syswrite, kill, utime, chown, waitpid, umask, readlink, link, symlink, rename.
• Add modules: XSLoader, Encode,Config, Errno, Tie::Scalar, Tie::Array, Tie::Hash, Tie::Handle, Perl::OSType, Env, MIME::Base64, MIME::QuotedPrint, Digest::SHA, Digest::MD5, Digest.
• Add key-value slices: %c{"1", "3"}.
• Add special variable: $^X.
• Add W, H, F, h, c, u, C0, U0 formats to pack, unpack.
• Add dualvar.
• Add DATA file handle.
• Add Indirect method call.
• Add regex variables: ${^PREMATCH}, ${^MATCH}, ${^POSTMATCH}.
• Add regex operators: \N not-newline, \b{gcb}, \B{gcb} boundary assertions.
• Add regex properties supported by Perl but missing in Java regex.
• Add command line switches: -w, -W, -X.
• Process \L, \U, \l, \u in regex.
• Test::More skip works.
• UTF-16 is accepted in source code.
• Add support for pmc files.
• Bugfix: methods can be called in all blessed reference types.
• Bugfix: more robust sprintf formatting.
• Bugfix: string constants can be larger than 64k.
• Bugfix: fixed foreach loops with global variables.

v3.1.0: Tracks Perl 5.42.0

• Update Perl version to 5.42.0.

• Added features: keyword_all, keyword_any

• Accept input program in several ways:

  1. Piped input: echo 'print "Hello\n"' | ./jperl - reads from pipe and executes immediately
  2. Interactive input: ./jperl - shows a prompt and waits for you to type code, then press Ctrl+D (on Unix/Linux/Mac) or Ctrl+Z (on Windows) to signal end of input
  3. File redirection: ./jperl < script.pl - reads from the file
  4. With arguments: ./jperl -e 'print "Hello\n"' or ./jperl script.pl

• Added overload operators: !, +, -, *, /, %, int, neg, log, sqrt, cos, sin, exp, abs, atan2, **, @{}, %{}. ${}, &{}, *{}.

• Subroutine prototypes are fully implemented. Added or fixed: +, ;, *, \@, \%, \$, \[@%].

• Added double quoted string escapes: \U, \L, \u, \l.

• Added star count (C*) in pack, unpack.

• Added operators: read, tell, seek, system, exec, sysopen, chmod.

• Added operator: select(undef,undef,undef,$time).

• Added operator: ^^=.

• Added operator: delete, exists for array indexes.

• Added open option: in-memory files.

• Syntax: identifiers starting with :: are in main package.

• Added I/O layers support to open, binmode: :raw, :bytes, :crlf, :utf8, :unix, :encoding().

• Add open support for pipe -|, |-, ls|, |sort.

• Added # line preprocessor directive.

• Test::More module: added subtest, use_ok, require_ok.

• CORE:: operators have the same prototypes as in Perl.

• Added modules: Fcntl, Test, Text::CSV.

• Operator $# returns an lvalue.

• Improved autovivification handling: distinguish between contexts where undefined references should automatically create data structures versus where they should throw errors.

• Bugfix: fix a problem with Windows newlines and qw(). Also fixed mkdir in Windows.

• Bugfix: -E switch was setting strict mode.

• BugFix: fix calling context in operators that return list.

• BugFix: fix rules for overriding operators.

• Added Makefile.

• Debian package can be created with make deb.

v3.0.0: Performance Boost, New Modules, and Streamlined Configuration

• Added --upgrade option to Configure.pl to upgrade dependencies.
• Added Dockerfile configuration.
• Added Time::HiRes, Benchmark modules.
• Added /ee regex modifier.
• Added no strict vars, subs.
• Execute the code generation on demand, for faster module loading.
• Use int instead of enum to reduce the memory overhead of scalar variables.

v2.3.0: Modern Perl Features, Expanded Modules, and Developer Tools

• Project description updated in README.md to "A Perl Distribution for the JVM"
• Added module porting guide at docs/PORTING_MODULES.md
• Added wrapper scripts (jperl/jperl.bat) for easier command-line usage
• Added YAML and YAML::PP modules.
• Added Text::Balanced module.
• Added Unicode::Normalize module.
• Added subroutine signatures and signature feature.
• Added chained operators.
• Added stacked file test operators.
• Added module_true feature.
• Added << and <<~ Here documents.
• Added /p, /c, /n regex modifiers.
• Added regex (?^ clear embedded pattern-match modifier.
• Added regex (?'name'...) named capture groups.
• Added regex \k<name> and \g{name} backreferences to named groups.
• Added regex \p{...} and \P{...} for Unicode properties.
• Added regex \g{-n} for relative backreferences.
• Added regex *+, ++, ?+, {n,m}+ possessive quantifiers.
• Added regex (?>...) for atomic groups.
• Added overload: "", 0+, bool, fallback, nomethod.
• Added class feature and class keyword.
• Library upgrades. Maven: mvn versions:use-latest-versions. Gradle: ./gradlew useLatestVersions.

v2.2.0: Core modules

• Perl version is now v5.40.0
• for loop can iterate over multiple values at the same time.
• for loop variables are aliased.
• Added DBI module with JDBC support.
• Added URI::Escape module.
• Added builtin methods: inf nan weaken unweaken is_weak blessed refaddr reftype created_as_string created_as_number stringify ceil floor indexed trim is_tainted.
• Added command line switches: -S.
• Added low-precedence xor ^^ operator.
• Added Configure.pl to set compiler options and add JDBC drivers.
• Added Links to Perl on JVM resources in README - https://github.com/fglock/PerlOnJava/tree/master#additional-information-and-resources
• Added SUPPORT.md

v2.1.0: Core modules and optimization

• Added Getopt::Long, JSON modules.
• Optimized print to STDOUT/STDERR performance by running in a separate thread.
• Added subs pragma.
• Added regex $+ variable.
• Added command line switches: -v, -V .
• Added file test operators: -R, -W, -X, -O, -t.
• Added feature flags: evalbytes.
• Added CORE::GLOBAL and core function overrides.
• Added hexadecimal floating point numbers.

v2.0.0: Towards a Complete Perl Port on the JVM

• Added unmodified core Perl modules File::Basename, File::Find, Data::Dumper, Term::ANSIColor, Time::Local, HTTP::Date, HTTP::CookieJar.
• Added Cwd, File::Spec, File::Spec::Functions, HTTP::Tiny modules.
• "use feature" implemented: fc, say, current_sub, isa, state, try, bitwise, postderef.
• Stash can be accessed as a hash like $namespace::{entry}.
• Added stash constants: $constant::{_CAN_PCS} = \$const;
• Added exists &sub, defined &sub.
• Added builtin pragma: true, false, is_bool.
• Added re pragma: is_regexp.
• Added vars pragma.
• Added SUPER::method method resolution.
• Added AUTOLOAD default subroutine.
• Added stat, lstat operators. Some fields are not available in JVM and return undef.
• Added directory operators.
• Added regex patterns: [[:ascii:]], [[:print:]], (?#comment), and the /xx modifier.

v1.11.0: Compile-time Features

• Added BEGIN, CHECK, UNITCHECK, INIT, END blocks.
• Added subroutine hoisting: Invoking subroutines before their actual declaration in the code.
• Improved Exporter.pm, glob assignment.
• Added modules: constant, if, lib, Internals (SvREADONLY), Carp.
• Added goto &name; not a tail-call.
• Added state variables.
• Added $SIG{ALRM}, ${^GLOBAL_PHASE}.
• Added operators: fileno, getc, prototype.
• Added \N{U+hex} operator in double quoted strings and regex.

v1.10.0: Operators and Special Variables

• Error messages mimic those in Perl for consistency.
• Added $., $], $^V, ${^LAST_FH}, $SIG{__DIE__}, $SIG{__WARN__} special variables.
• Added command line switches -E, -p, -n, -i, -0, -a, -F, -m, -M, -g, -l, -x, -?.
• Added select(filehandle) operator, ARGVOUT filehandle.
• Added ~., &., |., ^. operators.
• Added try catch statement.
• Added Scalar::Util: blessed, reftype.
• Added UNIVERSAL: VERSION.
• Added v-strings.
• Added Infinity, -Infinity, NaN.
• Added \N{name} operator for named characters in double quoted strings and in regex.
• Added lvalue subroutines.
• CI/CD runs in Ubuntu and Windows

v1.9.0: Operators and Special Variables

• Added bitwise string operators.
• Added lvalue substr, lvalue vec
• Fix %b specifier in sprintf
• Emulate Perl behaviour with unsigned integers in bitwise operators.
• Regex m?pat? match-once and the reset() operator are implemented.
• Regex \G and the pos operator are implemented.
• Regex @-, @+, %+, %- special variables are implemented.
• Regex $`, $&, $' special variables are implemented.
• Regex performance comparable to Perl; optimized regex variables.
• Regex matching plain strings: $var =~ "Test".
• Added __SUB__ keyword; readpipe.
• Added &$sub call syntax.
• Added local dynamic variables.
• Tests in src/test/resources are executed automatically.

v1.8.0: Operators

• Added continue blocks and loop operators next, last, redo; a bare-block is a loop
• Added bitwise operators vec, pack, unpack
• Added srand, crypt, exit, ellipsis statement (...)
• Added readdir, opendir, closedir, telldir, seekdir, rewinddir, mkdir, rmdir
• Added file test operators like -d, -f
• Added the variants of diamond operator <> and special cases of while
• Completed chomp operator; fixed qw// operator, defined-or and x=
• Added modules: parent, Test::More

v1.7.0: Performance Improvements

• Focus on optimizing the execution engine for better performance.
• Improve error handling and debugging tools to make development easier. More detailed debugging symbols added to the bytecode. Added Carp module.
• Moved Perl standard library modules into the jar file.
• More tests and various bug fixes

v1.6.0: Module System and Standard Library Enhancements

• Module system for improved code organization and reuse
• Core Perl module operators: do FILE, require, caller, use, no
• Module special subroutines: import, unimport
• Environment and special variables: PERL5LIB, @INC, %INC, @ARGV, %ENV, $0, $
• Additional operators: die, warn, time, times, localtime, gmtime, index, rindex
• Standard library ported modules: Data::Dumper, Symbol, strict
• Expanded documentation and usage examples

v1.5.0: Regex operators

• Added Regular expressions and pattern matching: m//, pos, qr//, quotemeta, s///, split
• More complete set of operations on strings, numbers, arrays, hashes, lists
• More special variables
• More tests and various bug fixes

v1.4.0: I/O operators

• File i/o operators, STDOUT, STDERR, STDIN
• TAP (Perl standard) tests

v1.3.0: Added Objects.

• Objects and object operators, UNIVERSAL class
• Array and List related operators
• More tests and various bug fixes

v1.2.0: Added Namespaces and named subroutines.

• Added typeglobs
• Added more operators

v1.1.0: Established architecture and added key features. The system now supports benchmarks and tests.

• JSR 223 integration
• Support for closures
• Eval-string functionality
• Enhanced statements, data types, and call context

v1.0.0: Initial proof of concept for the parser and execution engine.