Provided by: libmoose-perl_2.2009-1_amd64 
NAME
Moose::Manual::Roles - Roles, an alternative to deep hierarchies and base classes
VERSION
version 2.2009
WHAT IS A ROLE?
A role encapsulates some piece of behavior or state that can be shared between classes. It
is something that classes do. It is important to understand that roles are not classes.
You cannot inherit from a role, and a role cannot be instantiated. We sometimes say that
roles are consumed, either by classes or other roles.
Instead, a role is composed into a class. In practical terms, this means that all of the
methods, method modifiers, and attributes defined in a role are added directly to (we
sometimes say "flattened into") the class that consumes the role. These attributes and
methods then appear as if they were defined in the class itself. A subclass of the
consuming class will inherit all of these methods and attributes.
Moose roles are similar to mixins or interfaces in other languages and are based on the
original concept of Traits <http://scg.unibe.ch/research/traits/> for the Smalltalk-80
dialect Squeak.
Besides defining their own methods and attributes, roles can also require that the
consuming class define certain methods of its own. You could have a role that consisted
only of a list of required methods, in which case the role would be very much like a Java
interface.
Note that attribute accessors also count as methods for the purposes of satisfying the
requirements of a role.
A SIMPLE ROLE
Creating a role looks a lot like creating a Moose class:
package Breakable;
use Moose::Role;
has 'is_broken' => (
is => 'rw',
isa => 'Bool',
);
sub break {
my $self = shift;
print "I broke\n";
$self->is_broken(1);
}
Except for our use of Moose::Role, this looks just like a class definition with Moose.
However, this is not a class, and it cannot be instantiated.
Instead, its attributes and methods will be composed into classes which use the role:
package Car;
use Moose;
with 'Breakable';
has 'engine' => (
is => 'ro',
isa => 'Engine',
);
The "with" function composes roles into a class. Once that is done, the "Car" class has an
"is_broken" attribute and a "break" method. The "Car" class also "does('Breakable')":
my $car = Car->new( engine => Engine->new );
print $car->is_broken ? 'Busted' : 'Still working';
$car->break;
print $car->is_broken ? 'Busted' : 'Still working';
$car->does('Breakable'); # true
This prints:
Still working
I broke
Busted
We could use this same role in a "Bone" class:
package Bone;
use Moose;
with 'Breakable';
has 'marrow' => (
is => 'ro',
isa => 'Marrow',
);
See also Moose::Cookbook::Roles::Comparable_CodeReuse for an example.
It's possible to compose existing roles into new roles. For example, we can have a
"HandleWithCare" class which applies both the "Breakable" and "Package" roles to any class
which consumes it:
package HandleWithCare;
use Moose::Role;
with 'Breakable', 'Package';
REQUIRED METHODS
As mentioned previously, a role can require that consuming classes provide one or more
methods. Using our "Breakable" example, let's make it require that consuming classes
implement their own "break" methods:
package Breakable;
use Moose::Role;
requires 'break';
has 'is_broken' => (
is => 'rw',
isa => 'Bool',
);
after 'break' => sub {
my $self = shift;
$self->is_broken(1);
};
If we try to consume this role in a class that does not have a "break" method, we will get
an exception.
You can see that we added a method modifier on "break". We want classes that consume this
role to implement their own logic for breaking, but we make sure that the "is_broken"
attribute is always set to true when "break" is called.
package Car
use Moose;
with 'Breakable';
has 'engine' => (
is => 'ro',
isa => 'Engine',
);
sub break {
my $self = shift;
if ( $self->is_moving ) {
$self->stop;
}
}
Roles Versus Abstract Base Classes
If you are familiar with the concept of abstract base classes in other languages, you may
be tempted to use roles in the same way.
You can define an "interface-only" role, one that contains just a list of required
methods.
However, any class which consumes this role must implement all of the required methods,
either directly or through inheritance from a parent. You cannot delay the method
requirement check so that they can be implemented by future subclasses.
Because the role defines the required methods directly, adding a base class to the mix
would not achieve anything. We recommend that you simply consume the interface role in
each class which implements that interface.
CONSUMING ROLES
Roles are consumed using the "with" function.
Most of the time, you should only use one "with", even if you are consuming multiple
roles. If you consume roles using multiple "with" statements Moose cannot detect method
conflicts between those roles.
Roles can be consumed by classes or by other roles. When a class consumes a role which in
turn consumes other roles, the class gets all of the roles applied at once.
Required Methods Provided by Attributes
As mentioned before, a role's required method may also be satisfied by an attribute
accessor. However, the call to "has" which defines an attribute happens at runtime. This
means that you must define the attribute before consuming the role, or else the role will
not see the generated accessor. These attributes are Moose Attributes.
package Breakable;
use Moose::Role;
requires 'stress';
########
package Car;
use Moose;
has 'stress' => (
is => 'ro',
isa => 'Int',
);
with 'Breakable';
In general, we recommend that you always consume roles after declaring all your
attributes.
It may also be the case that a class wants to consume two roles where one role has an
attribute providing a required method for another. For example:
package Breakable;
use Moose::Role;
requires 'stress';
########
package Stressable;
use Moose::Role;
has 'stress' => (
is => 'ro',
isa => 'Int',
);
########
package Car;
use Moose;
# XXX - this will not work
with 'Breakable', 'Stressable';
However, this won't work. The problem is that the accessor methods created for the
"stress" attribute won't be present in the class when the required method checks are done.
There are two possible workarounds. The recommended one is to use "stub" subroutine(s) in
the role providing the accessor(s):
package Stressable;
use Moose::Role;
sub stress;
has 'stress' => (
is => 'ro',
isa => 'Int',
);
The "sub stress;" line is called a "forward" declaration in the Perl documentation. It
creates what is called a "stub" subroutine, a declaration without a body. This is good
enough to satisfy the required method checks done by Moose. The stub will not interfere
with the creation of a real subroutine later.
The other alternative is to use two separate calls to "with" in the consuming class:
package Car;
use Moose;
# Not recommended
with 'Stressable';
with 'Breakable';
Each "with" is run as it is seen. The first call will consume just the "Stressable" role,
which will add the "stress" attribute to the "Car" package, which in turn will create an
accessor method named "stress". Then when the "Breakable" role is consumed, the method it
requires already exists.
However, as mentioned earlier, multiple "with" declarations are not recommended, because
method conflicts between the roles cannot be seen. In the example above, if both
"Stressable" and "Breakable" contained methods of the same name, what would happen is that
the version in "Stressable" would silently override the one in "Breakable".
USING METHOD MODIFIERS
Method modifiers and roles are a very powerful combination. Often, a role will combine
method modifiers and required methods. We already saw one example with our "Breakable"
example.
Method modifiers increase the complexity of roles, because they make the role application
order relevant. If a class uses multiple roles, each of which modify the same method,
those modifiers will be applied in the same order as the roles are used:
package MovieCar;
use Moose;
extends 'Car';
with 'Breakable', 'ExplodesOnBreakage';
Assuming that the new "ExplodesOnBreakage" role also has an "after" modifier on "break",
the "after" modifiers will run one after the other. The modifier from "Breakable" will run
first, then the one from "ExplodesOnBreakage".
METHOD CONFLICTS
If a class composes multiple roles, and those roles have methods of the same name, we will
have a conflict. In that case, the composing class is required to provide its own method
of the same name.
package Breakdancer;
use Moose::Role;
sub break {
}
If we compose both "Breakable" and "Breakdancer" in a class, we must provide our own
"break" method:
package FragileDancer;
use Moose;
with 'Breakable', 'Breakdancer';
sub break { ... }
A role can be a collection of other roles:
package Break::Bundle;
use Moose::Role;
with ('Breakable', 'Breakdancer');
When a role consumes another a role, the consuming role's methods silently win in any
conflict, and the consumed role's methods are simply ignored.
METHOD EXCLUSION AND ALIASING
If we want our "FragileDancer" class to be able to call the methods from both its roles,
we can alias the methods:
package FragileDancer;
use Moose;
with 'Breakable' => { -alias => { break => 'break_bone' } },
'Breakdancer' => { -alias => { break => 'break_dance' } };
However, aliasing a method simply makes a copy of the method with the new name. We also
need to exclude the original name:
with 'Breakable' => {
-alias => { break => 'break_bone' },
-excludes => 'break',
},
'Breakdancer' => {
-alias => { break => 'break_dance' },
-excludes => 'break',
};
The excludes parameter prevents the "break" method from being composed into the
"FragileDancer" class, so we don't have a conflict. This means that "FragileDancer" does
not need to implement its own "break" method.
This is useful, but it's worth noting that this breaks the contract implicit in consuming
a role. Our "FragileDancer" class does both the "Breakable" and "BreakDancer", but does
not provide a "break" method. If some API expects an object that does one of those roles,
it probably expects it to implement that method.
In some use cases we might alias and exclude methods from roles, but then provide a method
of the same name in the class itself.
Also see Moose::Cookbook::Roles::Restartable_AdvancedComposition for an example.
OVERLOADING
When a Moose role uses overloading, that overloading is composed into any classes that
consume the role. This includes the setting of the "fallback" value for that role's
overloading. Just as with methods and attributes, when a role consumes another role, that
other role's overloading settings are applied to the role.
Just as with methods, there can be conflicts with overloading implementations between
multiple roles when they are all consumed by a class. If two roles both provide different
overloading implementations for a given operator, that is a conflict. If two roles both
implement overloading and have different "fallback" values, that is also considered a
conflict. These conflicts are detected when multiple roles are being composed into a class
together.
When a role consumes another role, the consuming role's overloading fallback and operator
implementations silently "win" the conflict.
ROLE EXCLUSION
A role can say that it cannot be combined with some other role. This should be used with
great caution, since it limits the re-usability of the role.
package Breakable;
use Moose::Role;
excludes 'BreakDancer';
ADDING A ROLE TO AN OBJECT INSTANCE
You may want to add a role to an object instance, rather than to a class. For example, you
may want to add debug tracing to one instance of an object while debugging a particular
bug. Another use case might be to dynamically change objects based on a user's
configuration, as a plugin system.
The best way to do this is to use the "apply_all_roles()" function from Moose::Util:
use Moose::Util qw( apply_all_roles );
my $car = Car->new;
apply_all_roles( $car, 'Breakable' );
This function can apply more than one role at a time, and will do so using the normal
Moose role combination system. We recommend using this function to apply roles to an
object. This is what Moose uses internally when you call "with".
Handling required attributes for roles.
Application of some roles will require additional parameters being specified to satisfy
them, for example:
{
package Car;
use Moose;
}
{
package Breakable;
use Moose::Role;
has 'breakable_parts' => ( is => 'ro', required => 1 );
}
my $car = Car->new;
# next line dies with: Attribute (breakable_parts) is required
apply_all_roles( $car, 'Breakable' );
This will require passing the additional parameters at application time as follows:
apply_all_roles( $car, 'Breakable' => {
rebless_params => {
# Parameters to 'Breakable'
breakable_parts => [qw( tires wheels windscreen )],
}
});
Obviously, this interface is better simplified as a method on "Car":
sub make_breakable {
my ( $self, %params ) = @_;
apply_all_roles($self, 'Breakable', { rebless_params => \%params });
}
my $car = Car->new();
$car->make_breakable( breakable_parts => [qw( tires wheels windscreen )] );
AUTHORS
• Stevan Little <stevan.little@iinteractive.com>
• Dave Rolsky <autarch@urth.org>
• Jesse Luehrs <doy@tozt.net>
• Shawn M Moore <code@sartak.org>
• יובל קוג'מן (Yuval Kogman) <nothingmuch@woobling.org>
• Karen Etheridge <ether@cpan.org>
• Florian Ragwitz <rafl@debian.org>
• Hans Dieter Pearcey <hdp@weftsoar.net>
• Chris Prather <chris@prather.org>
• Matt S Trout <mst@shadowcat.co.uk>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2006 by Infinity Interactive, Inc.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as
the Perl 5 programming language system itself.