NAME Lexical::Var - static variables without namespace pollution DESCRIPTION This module implements lexical scoping of static variables and subroutines. Although it can be used directly, it is mainly intended to be infrastructure for modules that manage namespaces. This module influences the meaning of single-part variable names that appear directly in code, such as "$foo". Normally, in the absence of any particular declaration, or under the effect of an "our" declaration, this would refer to the scalar variable of that name located in the current package. A "Lexical::Var" declaration can change this to refer to any particular scalar, bypassing the package system entirely. A variable name that includes an explicit package part, such as "$main::foo", always refers to the variable in the specified package, and is unaffected by this module. A symbolic reference through a string value, such as "${'foo'}", also looks in the package system, and so is unaffected by this module. The types of name that can be influenced are scalar ("$foo"), array ("@foo"), hash ("%foo"), subroutine ("&foo"), and glob ("*foo"). A definition for any of these names also affects code that logically refers to the same entity, even when the name is spelled without its usual sigil. For example, any definition of "@foo" affects element references such as "$foo[0]". Barewords in filehandle context actually refer to the glob variable. Bareword references to subroutines, such as "foo(123)", only work on Perl 5.11.2 and later; on earlier Perls you must use the "&" sigil, as in "&foo(123)". Where a scalar name is defined to refer to a constant (read-only) scalar, references to the constant through the lexical namespace can participate in compile-time constant folding. This can avoid the need to check configuration values (such as whether debugging is enabled) at runtime. A name definition supplied by this module takes effect from the end of the definition statement up to the end of the immediately enclosing block, except where it is shadowed within a nested block. This is the same lexical scoping that the "my", "our", and "state" keywords supply. Definitions from Lexical::Var and from "my"/"our"/"state" can shadow each other. These lexical definitions propagate into string "eval"s, on Perl versions that support it (5.9.3 and later). This module only manages variables of static duration (the kind of duration that "our" and "state" variables have). To get a fresh variable for each invocation of a function, use "my". INSTALLATION perl Build.PL ./Build ./Build test ./Build install AUTHOR Andrew Main (Zefram) <zefram@fysh.org> COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Andrew Main (Zefram) <zefram@fysh.org> LICENSE This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.