Re^7: Portable length() in bytes.

Use utf8 data on 5.6.x (and even 5.8.0) at your peril. In the earlier 5.8.x versions there were steadily decreasing numbers of utf8-related bugs, but 5.6.x's problem is not only bugs but a bad paradigm. If you must use modules which return utf8 data on 5.6.1, I can only suggest that you decontaminate it at once. perlunicode on 5.6.x says

WARNING: As of the 5.6.1 release, the implementation of Unicode support in Perl is incomplete, and continues to be highly experimental.

and really means it.

Comment on Re^7: Portable length() in bytes.

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Re^8: Portable length() in bytes. by William G. Davis (Friar) on Nov 08, 2004 at 08:40 UTC
WARNING: As of the 5.6.1 release, the implementation of Unicode support in Perl is incomplete, and continues to be highly experimental. It may be experimental, but it's still quite usable, and for better or worse, people have been using it for years now. Look, it would be nice if everyone used 5.8 and I could just ignore 5.6.1, but sadly, I can't, and neither should other module writers. This length() replacement is the only portable way I've found to write byte-oriented network code that works with versions of Perl going back to 5.005. (POE uses a similar scheme to accomplish the same thing, and you can see the results here.)	[reply]

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Re^8: Portable length() in bytes.
by William G. Davis (Friar) on Nov 08, 2004 at 08:40 UTC

WARNING: As of the 5.6.1 release, the implementation of Unicode support in Perl is incomplete, and continues to be highly experimental.

It may be experimental, but it's still quite usable, and for better or worse, people have been using it for years now.

Look, it would be nice if everyone used 5.8 and I could just ignore 5.6.1, but sadly, I can't, and neither should other module writers. This length() replacement is the only portable way I've found to write byte-oriented network code that works with versions of Perl going back to 5.005. (POE uses a similar scheme to accomplish the same thing, and you can see the results here.)

[reply]