NAME
   autobox::Core - Provide core functions to autoboxed scalars, arrays and
   hashes.

SYNOPSIS
     use autobox::Core;

     "Hello, World\n"->uc->print;

     my @list = (1, 5, 9, 2, 0, 4, 2, 1);
     @list->sort->reverse->print;

     # works with references too!
     my $list = [1, 5, 9, 2, 0, 4, 2, 1];
     $list->sort->reverse->print;

     my %hash = (
         grass => 'green',
         apple => 'red',
         sky   => 'blue',
     );

     [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]->pop->say;
     [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]->shift->say;

     my $lala = "Lalalalala\n";
     "chomp: "->concat($lala->chomp, " ", $lala)->say;

     my $hashref = { foo => 10, bar => 20, baz => 30, qux => 40 };

     print "hash keys: ", $hashref->keys->join(' '), "\n"; # or if you prefer...
     print "hash keys: ", join ' ', $hashref->keys(), "\n"; # or
     print "hash keys: "; $hashref->keys->say;

DESCRIPTION
   The autobox module promotes Perl's primitive types (literals (strings
   and numbers), scalars, arrays and hashes) into first-class objects.
   However, autobox does not provide any methods for these new classes.

   autobox::CORE provides a set of methods for these new classes. It
   includes almost everything in perlfunc, some things from Scalar::Util
   and List::Util, and some Perl 5 versions of methods taken from Perl 6.

   With autobox::Core one is able to change this:

           print join(" ", reverse(split(" ", $string)));

   to this:

           use autobox::Core;

           $string->split(" ")->reverse->print;

   Likewise you can change this:

           my $array_ref = [qw(fish dog cat elephant bird)];

           push @$array_ref, qw(snake lizard giraffe mouse);

   to this:

           use autobox::Core;
           my $array_ref = [qw(fish dog cat elephant bird)];

           $array_ref->push( qw(snake lizard giraffe mouse));

   autobox::Core makes it easier to avoid parentheses pile ups and messy
   dereferencing syntaxes.

   autobox::Core is mostly glue. It presents existing functions with a new
   interface, while adding few extra. Most of the methods read like "sub
   hex { CORE::hex($_[0]) }". In addition to built-ins from perlfunc that
   operate on hashes, arrays, scalars, and code references, some Perl 6-ish
   things have been included, and some keywords like "foreach" are
   represented too.

 What's Implemented?
   *   Many of the functions listed in perlfunc under the headings:

       *   "Functions for real @ARRAYs",

       *   "Functions for real %HASHes",

       *   "Functions for list data",

       *   "Functions for SCALARs or strings"

       plus a few taken from other sections and documented below.

   *   Some methods from Scalar::Util and List::Util.

   *   Some things expected in Perl 6, such as "last" ("last_idx"),
       "elems", and "curry".

   *   "flatten" explicitly flattens an array.

  String Methods
   String methods are of the form "my $return = $string->method(@args)".
   Some will act on the $string and some will return a new string.

   Many string methods are simply wrappers around core functions, but there
   are additional operations and modifications to core behavior.

   Anything which takes a regular expression, such as split and m, usually
   take it in the form of a compiled regex ("qr//"). Any modifiers can be
   attached to the "qr" normally. Bare strings may be used in place of
   regular expressions, and Perl will compile it to a regex, as usual.

   These built in functions are implemented for scalars, they work just
   like normal: chomp, chop,chr crypt, index, lc lcfirst, length, ord,
   pack, reverse (always in scalar context), rindex, sprintf, substr, uc
   ucfirst, unpack, quotemeta, vec, undef, split, system, eval.

   In addition, so are each of the following:

  concat
      $string1->concat($string2);

   Concatenates $string2 to $string1. This corresponds to the "." operator
   used to join two strings. Returns the joined strings.

  strip
   Removes whitespace from the beginning and end of a string.

      " \t  \n  \t  foo  \t  \n  \t  "->strip;    # foo

   This is redundant and subtly different from "trim" which allows for the
   removal of specific characters from the beginning and end of a string.

  trim
   Removes whitespace from the beginning and end of a string. "trim" can
   also remove specific characters from the beginning and the end of
   string.

      '    hello'->trim;                   # 'hello'
      '*+* hello *+*'->trim("*+");         # ' hello '
      ' *+* hello *+*'->trim("*+");        # ' *+* hello'

  ltrim
   Just like trim but it only trims the left side (start) of the string.

      '    hello'->ltrim;                  # 'hello'
      '*+* hello *+*'->ltrim("*+");        # ' hello *+*'

  rtrim
   Just like trim but it only trims the right side (end) of the string.

      'hello   '->rtrim;                   # 'hello'
      '*+* hello *+*'->rtrim("*+");        # '*+* hello '

  split
       my @split_string = $string->split(qr/.../);
       my @split_string = $string->split(' ');

   A wrapper around split. It takes the regular expression as a compiled
   regex, or a string which Perl parses as a regex.

      print "10, 20, 30, 40"->split(qr{, ?})->elements, "\n";
      "hi there"->split(qr/ */);           # h i t h e r e

   The limit argument is not implemented.

  title_case
   "title_case" converts the first character of each word in the string to
   upper case.

      "this is a test"->title_case;        # This Is A Test

  center
       my $centered_string = $string->center($length);
       my $centered_string = $string->center($length, $character);

   Centers $string between $character. $centered_string will be of length
   $length, or the length of $string, whichever is greater.

   $character defaults to " ".

       say "Hello"->center(10);        # "   Hello  ";
       say "Hello"->center(10, '-');   # "---Hello--";

   "center()" will never truncate $string. If $length is less than
   "$string->length" it will just return $string.

       say "Hello"->center(4);        # "Hello";

  qx
       my $output = $string->qx;

   Runs $string as a command just enclosing it backticks, as in `$string`.

  nm
       if( $foo->nm(qr/bar/) ) {
           say "$foo did not match 'bar'";
       }

   "Negative match". Corresponds to "!~". Otherwise works in the same way
   as "m()".

  m
       if( $foo->m(qr/bar/) ) {
           say "$foo matched 'bar'";
       }

       my $matches = $foo->m( qr/(\d*) (\w+)/ );
       say $matches->[0];
       say $matches->[1];

   Works the same as "m//", but the regex must be passed in as a "qr//".

   "m" returns an array reference so that list functions such as "map" and
   "grep" may be called on the result. Use "elements" to turn this into a
   list of values.

     my ($street_number, $street_name, $apartment_number) =
         "1234 Robin Drive #101"->m( qr{(\d+) (.*)(?: #(\d+))?} )->elements;

     print "$street_number $street_name $apartment_number\n";

  s
     my $string = "the cat sat on the mat";
     $string->s( qr/cat/, "dog" );
     $string->say;                 # the dog sat on the mat

   String substitution. Works similarly to "s///". In boolean context, it
   returns true/false to indicate whether the substitution succeeded. "if",
   "?:", "!", and so on, all provide boolean context. It either fails or
   succeeds, having replaced only one occurrence on success -- it doesn't
   replace globally. In scalar context other than boolean context, it
   returns the modified string (incompatible change, new as of v 1.31).

  undef
       $string->undef;

   Assigns "undef" to the $string.

  defined
       my $is_defined = $string->defined;

       if( not $string->defined ) {
           # give $string a value...
       }

   "defined" tests whether a value is defined (not "undef").

  repeat
       my $repeated_string = $string->repeat($n);

   Like the "x" operator, repeats a string $n times.

       print 1->repeat(5);     # 11111
       print "\n"->repeat(10); # ten newlines

  I/O Methods
   These are methods having to do with input and ouptut, not filehandles.

  print
       $string->print;

   Prints a string or a list of strings. Returns true if successful.

  say
   Like print, but implicitly appends a newline to the end.

        $string->say;

  Boolean Methods
   Methods related to boolean operations.

  and
   "and" corresponds to "&&". Returns true if both operands are true.

           if( $a->and($b) ) {
               ...
           }

  not
   "not" corresponds to "!". Returns true if the subject is false.

           if( $a->not ) {
               ...
           }

  or
   "or" corresponds to "||". Returns true if at least one of the operands
   is true.

           if( $a->or($b) ) {
               ...
           }

  xor
   "xor" corresponds to "xor". Returns true if only one of the operands is
   true.

           if( $a->xor($b) ) {
               ...
           }

  Number Related Methods
   Methods related to numbers.

   The basic built in functions which operate as normal : abs, atan2, cos,
   exp, int, log, oct, hex, sin, and sqrt.

   The following operators were also included:

  dec
       $number->dec();
       # $number is smaller by 1.

   "dec" corresponds to "++". Decrements subject, will decrement character
   strings too: 'b' decrements to 'a'.

  inc
   "inc" corresponds to "++". Increments subject, will increment character
   strings too. 'a' increments to 'b'.

  mod
   "mod" corresponds to "%".

           $number->mod(5);

  pow
   "pow" returns $number raised to the power of the $exponent.

       my $result = $number->pow($expontent);
       print 2->pow(8);  # 256

  is_number
       $is_a_number = $thing->is_number;

   Returns true if $thing is a number as understood by Perl.

       12.34->is_number;           # true
       "12.34"->is_number;         # also true

  is_positive
       $is_positive = $thing->is_positive;

   Returns true if $thing is a positive number.

   0 is not positive.

  is_negative
       $is_negative = $thing->is_negative;

   Returns true if $thing is a negative number.

   0 is not negative.

  is_integer
       $is_an_integer = $thing->is_integer;

   Returns true if $thing is an integer.

       12->is_integer;             # true
       12.34->is_integer;          # false

  is_int
   A synonym for is_integer.

  is_decimal
       $is_a_decimal_number = $thing->is_decimal;

   Returns true if $thing is a decimal number.

       12->is_decimal;             # false
       12.34->is_decimal;          # true
       ".34"->is_decimal;          # true

  Reference Related Methods
   The following core functions are implemented.

   tie, tied, ref, vec.

   "tie", "tied", and "undef" don't work on code references.

  Array Methods
   Array methods work on both arrays and array references:

     my $arr = [ 1 .. 10 ];
     $arr->undef;

   Or:

     my @arr = ( 1 .. 10 );
     @arr->undef;

   List context forces methods to return a list:

     my @arr = ( 1 .. 10 );
     print join ' -- ', @arr->grep(sub { $_ > 3 }), "\n";

   Likewise, scalar context forces methods to return an array reference.

   As scalar context forces methods to return a reference, methods may be
   chained

     my @arr = ( 1 .. 10 );
     @arr->grep(sub { $_ > 3 })->min->say;  # "4\n";

   These built-in functions are defined as methods:

   pop, push, shift, unshift, delete, undef, exists, bless, tie, tied, ref,
   grep, map, join, reverse, and sort, each.

   As well as:

  vdelete
   Deletes a specified value from the array.

     $a = 1->to(10);
     $a->vdelete(3);         # deletes 3
     $a->vdelete(2)->say;    # "1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10\n"

  uniq
   Removes all duplicate elements from an array and returns the new array
   with no duplicates.

      my @array = qw( 1 1 2 3 3 6 6 );
      @return = @array->uniq;    # @return : 1 2 3 6

  first
   Returns the first element of an array for which a callback returns true:

     $arr->first(sub { qr/5/ });

  max
   Returns the largest numerical value in the array.

      $a = 1->to(10);
      $a->max;           # 10

  min
   Returns the smallest numerical value in the array.

      $a = 1->to(10);
      $a->min;           # 1

  mean
   Returns the mean of elements of an array.

      $a = 1->to(10);
      $a->mean;          # 55/10

  var
   Returns the variance of the elements of an array.

      $a = 1->to(10);
      $a->var;           # 33/4

  svar
   Returns the standard variance.

     $a = 1->to(10);
     $a->svar;                     # 55/6

  at
   Returns the element at a specified index. This function does not modify
   the original array.

      $a = 1->to(10);
      $a->at(2);                   # 3

  size, elems, length
   "size", "elems" and "length" all return the number of elements in an
   array.

      my @array = qw(foo bar baz);
      @array->size;   # 3

  elements, flatten
       my @copy_of_array = $array->flatten;

   Returns the elements of an array ref as an array. This is the same as
   "@{$array}".

   Arrays can be iterated on using "for" and "foreach". Both take a code
   reference as the body of the for statement.

  foreach
       @array->foreach(\&code);

   Calls &code on each element of the @array in order. &code gets the
   element as its argument.

       @array->foreach(sub { print $_[0] });  # print each element of the array

  for
       @array->for(\&code);

   Like foreach, but &code is called with the index, the value and the
   array itself.

       my $arr = [ 1 .. 10 ];
       $arr->for(sub {
           my($idx, $value) = @_;
           print "Value #$idx is $value\n";
       });

  sum
       my $sum = @array->sum;

   Adds together all the elements of the array.

  count
   Returns the number of elements in array that are "eq" to a specified
   value:

     my @array = qw/one two two three three three/;
     my $num = @array->count('three');  # returns 3

  to, upto, downto
   "to", "upto", and "downto" create array references:

      1->to(5);      # creates [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
      1->upto(5);    # creates [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
      5->downto(5);  # creates [5, 4, 3, 2, 1]

   Those wrap the ".." operator.

   Note while working with negative numbers you need to use () so as to
   avoid the wrong evaluation.

     my $range = 10->to(1);        # this works
     my $range = -10->to(10);      # wrong, interpreted as -( 10->to(10) )
     my $range = (-10)->to(10);    # this works

  head
   Returns the first element from @list. This differs from shift in that it
   does not change the array.

       my $first = @list->head;

  tail
   Returns all but the first element from @list.

       my @list = qw(foo bar baz quux);
       my @rest = @list->tail;  # [ 'bar', 'baz', 'quux' ]

   Optionally, you can pass a number as argument to ask for the last $n
   elements:

       @rest = @list->tail(2); # [ 'baz', 'quux' ]

  slice
   Returns a list containing the elements from @list at the indices
   @indices. In scalar context, returns an array reference.

       # Return $list[1], $list[2], $list[4] and $list[8].
       my @sublist = @list->slice(1,2,4,8);

  range
   "range" returns a list containing the elements from @list with indices
   ranging from $lower_idx to $upper_idx. It returns an array reference in
   scalar context.

       my @sublist = @list->range( $lower_idx, $upper_idx );

  last_index
       my $index = @array->last_index(qr/.../);

   Returns the highest index whose element matches the given regular
   expression.

       my $index = @array->last_index(\&filter);

   Returns the highest index for an element on which the filter returns
   true. The &filter is passed in each value of the @array.

       my @things = qw(pear poll potato tomato);
       my $last_p = @things->last_index(qr/^p/); # 2

   Called with no arguments, it corresponds to $#array giving the highest
   index of the array.

       my $index = @array->last_index;

  first_index
   Works just like last_index but it will return the index of the *first*
   matching element.

       my $first_index = @array->first_index;    # 0

       my @things = qw(pear poll potato tomato);
       my $last_p = @things->first_index(qr/^t/); # 3

  at
       my $value = $array->at($index);

   Equivalent to "$array->[$index]".

  Hash Methods
   Hash methods work on both hashes and hash references.

   The built in functions work as normal:

   delete, exists, keys, values, bless, tie, tied, ref, undef,

  at, get
       my @values = %hash->get(@keys);

   Returns the @values of @keys.

  put
       %hash->put(%other_hash);

   Overlays %other_hash on top of %hash.

      my $h = {a => 1, b => 2};
      $h->put(b => 99, c => 3);    # (a => 1, b => 99, c => 3)

  set
   Synonym for put.

  each
   Like "foreach" but for hash references. For each key in the hash, the
   code reference is invoked with the key and the corresponding value as
   arguments:

     my $hashref = { foo => 10, bar => 20, baz => 30, quux => 40 };
     $hashref->each(sub { print $_[0], ' is ', $_[1], "\n" });

   Or:

     my %hash = ( foo => 10, bar => 20, baz => 30, quux => 40 );
     %hash->each(sub { print $_[0], ' is ', $_[1], "\n" });

   Unlike regular "each", this each will always iterate through the entire
   hash.

   Hash keys appear in random order that varies from run to run (this is
   intentional, to avoid calculated attacks designed to trigger algorithmic
   worst case scenario in "perl"'s hash tables).

   You can get a sorted "foreach" by combining "keys", "sort", and
   "foreach":

      %hash->keys->sort->foreach(sub {
         print $_[0], ' is ', $hash{$_[0]}, "\n";
      });

  lock_keys
       %hash->lock_keys;

   Works as "lock_keys" in Hash::Util. No more keys may be added to the
   hash.

  slice
   Takes a list of hash keys and returns the corresponding values e.g.

     my %hash = (
         one   => 'two',
         three => 'four',
         five  => 'six'
     );

     print %hash->slice(qw(one five))->join(' and '); # prints "two and six"

  flip
   Exchanges values for keys in a hash:

       my %things = ( foo => 1, bar => 2, baz => 5 );
       my %flipped = %things->flip; # { 1 => foo, 2 => bar, 5 => baz }

   If there is more than one occurrence of a certain value, any one of the
   keys may end up as the value. This is because of the random ordering of
   hash keys.

       # Could be { 1 => foo }, { 1 => bar }, or { 1 => baz }
       { foo => 1, bar => 1, baz => 1 }->flip;

   Because references cannot usefully be keys, it will not work where the
   values are references.

       { foo => [ 'bar', 'baz' ] }->flip; # dies

  flatten
       my %hash = $hash_ref->flatten;

   Dereferences a hash reference.

  Code Methods
   Methods which work on code references.

   These are simple wrappers around the Perl core functions. bless, ref,

   Due to Perl's precedence rules, some autoboxed literals may need to be
   parenthesized. For instance, this works:

     my $curried = sub { ... }->curry();

   This does not:

     my $curried = \&foo->curry();

   The solution is to wrap the reference in parentheses:

     my $curried = (\&foo)->curry();

  curry
       my $curried_code = $code->curry(5);

   Currying takes a code reference and provides the same code, but with the
   first argument filled in.

       my $greet_world = sub {
           my($greeting, $place) = @_;
           return "$greeting, $place!";
       };
       print $greet_world->("Hello", "world");  # "Hello, world!"

       my $howdy_world = $greet_world->curry("Howdy");
       print $howdy_world->("Texas");           # "Howdy, Texas!"

 What's Missing?
   *   File and socket operations are already implemented in an
       object-oriented fashion care of IO::Handle, IO::Socket::INET, and
       IO::Any.

   *   Functions listed in the perlfunc headings

       *   "System V interprocess communication functions",

       *   "Fetching user and group info",

       *   "Fetching network info",

       *   "Keywords related to perl modules",

       *   "Functions for processes and process groups",

       *   "Keywords related to scoping",

       *   "Time-related functions",

       *   "Keywords related to the control flow of your perl program",

       *   "Functions for filehandles, files, or directories",

       *   "Input and output functions".

   *   (Most) binary operators

   These things are likely implemented in an object oriented fashion by
   other CPAN modules, are keywords and not functions, take no arguments,
   or don't make sense as part of the string, number, array, hash, or code
   API.

 Autoboxing
   *This section quotes four pages from the manuscript of Perl 6 Now: The
   Core Ideas Illustrated with Perl 5 by Scott Walters. The text appears in
   the book starting at page 248. This copy lacks the benefit of copyedit -
   the finished product is of higher quality.*

   A *box* is an object that contains a primitive variable. Boxes are used
   to endow primitive types with the capabilities of objects which
   essential in strongly typed languages but never strictly required in
   Perl. Programmers might write something like "my $number = Int->new(5)".
   This is manual boxing. To *autobox* is to convert a simple type into an
   object type automatically, or only conceptually. This is done by the
   language.

   *autobox*ing makes a language look to programmers as if everything is an
   object while the interpreter is free to implement data storage however
   it pleases. Autoboxing is really making simple types such as numbers,
   strings, and arrays appear to be objects.

   "int", "num", "bit", "str", and other types with lower case names, are
   primitives. They're fast to operate on, and require no more memory to
   store than the data held strictly requires. "Int", "Num", "Bit", "Str",
   and other types with an initial capital letter, are objects. These may
   be subclassed (inherited from) and accept traits, among other things.
   These objects are provided by the system for the sole purpose of
   representing primitive types as objects, though this has many ancillary
   benefits such as making "is" and "has" work. Perl provides "Int" to
   encapsulate an "int", "Num" to encapsulate a "num", "Bit" to encapsulate
   a "bit", and so on. As Perl's implementations of hashes and dynamically
   expandable arrays store any type, not just objects, Perl programmers
   almost never are required to box primitive types in objects. Perl's
   power makes this feature less essential than it is in other languages.

   *autobox*ing makes primitive objects and they're boxed versions
   equivalent. An "int" may be used as an "Int" with no constructor call,
   no passing, nothing. This applies to constants too, not just variables.
   This is a more Perl 6 way of doing things.

     # Perl 6 - autoboxing associates classes with primitives types:

     print 4.sqrt, "\n";

     print [ 1 .. 20 ].elems, "\n";

   The language is free to implement data storage however it wishes but the
   programmer sees the variables as objects.

   Expressions using autoboxing read somewhat like Latin suffixes. In the
   autoboxing mind-set, you might not say that something is "made more
   mnemonic", but has been "mnemonicified".

   Autoboxing may be mixed with normal function calls. In the case where
   the methods are available as functions and the functions are available
   as methods, it is only a matter of personal taste how the expression
   should be written:

     # Calling methods on numbers and strings, these three lines are equivalent
     # Perl 6

     print sqrt 4;
     print 4.sqrt;
     4.sqrt.print;

   The first of these three equivalents assumes that a global "sqrt()"
   function exists. This first example would fail to operate if this global
   function were removed and only a method in the "Num" package was left.

   Perl 5 had the beginnings of autoboxing with filehandles:

     use IO::Handle;
     open my $file, '<', 'file.txt' or die $!;
     $file->read(my $data, -s $file);

   Here, "read" is a method on a filehandle we opened but *never blessed*.
   This lets us say things like "$file->print(...)" rather than the often
   ambagious "print $file ...".

   To many people, much of the time, it makes more conceptual sense as
   well.

  Reasons to Box Primitive Types
   What good is all of this?

   *   Makes conceptual sense to programmers used to object interfaces as
       *the* way to perform options.

   *   Alternative idiom. Doesn't require the programmer to write or read
       expressions with complex precedence rules or strange operators.

   *   Many times that parenthesis would otherwise have to span a large
       expression, the expression may be rewritten such that the
       parenthesis span only a few primitive types.

   *   Code may often be written with fewer temporary variables.

   *   Autoboxing provides the benefits of boxed types without the memory
       bloat of actually using objects to represent primitives. Autoboxing
       "fakes it".

   *   Strings, numbers, arrays, hashes, and so on, each have their own
       API. Documentation for an "exists" method for arrays doesn't have to
       explain how hashes are handled and vice versa.

   *   Perl tries to accommodate the notion that the "subject" of a
       statement should be the first thing on the line, and autoboxing
       furthers this agenda.

   Perl is an idiomatic language and this is an important idiom.

  Subject First: An Aside
   Perl's design philosophy promotes the idea that the language should be
   flexible enough to allow programmers to place the subject of a statement
   first. For example, "die $! unless read $file, 60" looks like the
   primary purpose of the statement is to "die".

   While that might be the programmers primary goal, when it isn't, the
   programmer can communicate his real primary intention to programmers by
   reversing the order of clauses while keeping the exact same logic: "read
   $file, 60 or die $!".

   Autoboxing is another way of putting the subject first.

   Nouns make good subjects, and in programming, variables, constants, and
   object names are the nouns. Function and method names are verbs.
   "$noun->verb()" focuses the readers attention on the thing being acted
   on rather than the action being performed. Compare to "$verb($noun)".

  Autoboxing and Method Results
   Let's look at some examples of ways an expression could be written.

     # Various ways to do the same thing:

     print(reverse(sort(keys(%hash))));          # Perl 5 - pathological parenthetic
     print reverse sort keys %hash;              # Perl 5 - no unneeded parenthesis

     print(reverse(sort(%hash,keys))));          # Perl 6 - pathological
     print reverse sort %hash.keys;              # Perl 6 - no unneeded parenthesis

     %hash.keys ==> sort ==> reverse ==> print;  # Perl 6 - pipeline operator

     %hash.keys.sort.reverse.print;              # Perl 6 - autobox

     %hash->keys->sort->reverse->print;          # Perl 5 - autobox

   This section deals with the last two of these equivalents. These are
   method calls

     use autobox::Core;
     use Perl6::Contexts;

     my %hash = (foo => 'bar', baz => 'quux');

     %hash->keys->sort->reverse->print;          # Perl 5 - autobox

     # prints "foo baz"

   Each method call returns an array reference, in this example. Another
   method call is immediately performed on this value. This feeding of the
   next method call with the result of the previous call is the common mode
   of use of autoboxing. Providing no other arguments to the method calls,
   however, is not common.

   "Perl6::Contexts" recognizes object context as provided by "->" and
   coerces %hash and @array into references, suitable for use with
   "autobox". (Note that "autobox" also does this automatically as of
   version 2.40.)

   "autobox" associates primitive types, such as references of various
   sorts, with classes. "autobox::Core" throws into those classes methods
   wrapping Perl's built-in functions. In the interest of full disclosure,
   "Perl6::Contexts" and "autobox::Core" are my creations.

  Autobox to Simplify Expressions
   One of my pet peeves in programming is parenthesis that span large
   expression. It seems like about the time I'm getting ready to close the
   parenthesis I opened on the other side of the line, I realize that I've
   forgotten something, and I have to arrow back over or grab the mouse.

   When the expression is too long to fit on a single line, it gets broken
   up, then I must decide how to indent it if it grows to 3 or more lines.

     # Perl 5 - a somewhat complex expression

     print join("\n", map { CGI::param($_) } @cgi_vars), "\n";
     # Perl 5 - again, using autobox:

     @cgi_vars->map(sub { CGI::param($_[0]) })->join("\n")->concat("\n")->print;

   The autoboxed version isn't shorter, but it reads from left to right,
   and the parenthesis from the "join()" don't span nearly as many
   characters. The complex expression serving as the value being "join()"ed
   in the non-autoboxed version becomes, in the autoboxed version, a value
   to call the "join()" method on.

   This "print" statement takes a list of CGI parameter names, reads the
   values for each parameter, joins them together with newlines, and prints
   them with a newline after the last one.

   Pretending that this expression were much larger and it had to be broken
   to span several lines, or pretending that comments are to be placed
   after each part of the expression, you might reformat it as such:

     @cgi_vars->map(sub { CGI::param($_[0]) })  # turn CGI arg names into values
              ->join("\n")                      # join with newlines
              ->concat("\n")                    # give it a trailing newline
              ->print;                          # print them all out

   *Here ends the text quoted from the Perl 6 Now manuscript.*

BUGS
   Yes. Report them to the author, [email protected], or post them to
   GitHub's bug tracker at
   <https://github.com/scrottie/autobox-Core/issues>.

   The API is not yet stable -- Perl 6-ish things and local extensions are
   still being renamed.

HISTORY
   See the Changes file.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
   Copyright (C) 2009, 2010, 2011 by Scott Walters and various contributors
   listed (and unlisted) below.

   This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
   under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.9 or, at
   your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.

   This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
   without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of
   merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

SEE ALSO
   autobox
   Moose::Autobox
   Perl6::Contexts
   <http://github.com/gitpan/autobox-Core>
   IO::Any
   Perl 6: <http://dev.perl.org/perl6/apocalypse/>.

AUTHORS
   Scott Walters, [email protected].

   Tomasz Konojacki has been assisting with maint.

   Jacinta Richardson improved documentation and tidied up the interface.

   Michael Schwern and the perl5i contributors for tests, code, and
   feedback.

   JJ contributed a "strip" method for scalars - thanks JJ!

   Ricardo SIGNES contributed patches.

   Thanks to Matt Spear, who contributed tests and definitions for numeric
   operations.

   Mitchell N Charity reported a bug and sent a fix.

   Thanks to chocolateboy for autobox and for the encouragement.

   Thanks to Bruno Vecchi for bug fixes and many, many new tests going into
   version 0.8.

   Thanks to <http://github.com/daxim> daxim/Lars DIECKOW pushing in fixes
   and patches from the RT queue along with fixes to build and additional
   doc examples.

   Thanks to everyone else who sent fixes or suggestions -- apologies if I
   failed to include you here!