File: //usr/local/share/perl5/Type/Tiny/Manual/UsingWithMoose.pod
=pod
=encoding utf-8
=head1 NAME
Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithMoose - how to use Type::Tiny with Moose
=head1 MANUAL
First read L<Type::Tiny::Manual::Moo>, L<Type::Tiny::Manual::Moo2>, and
L<Type::Tiny::Manual::Moo3>. Everything in those parts of the manual
should work exactly the same in Moose.
This part of the manual will focus on Moose-specifics.
=head2 Why Use Type::Tiny At All?
Moose does have a built-in type constraint system which is fairly
convenient to use, but there are several reasons you should consider
using Type::Tiny instead.
=over
=item *
Type::Tiny type constraints will usually be faster than Moose built-ins.
Even without Type::Tiny::XS installed, Type::Tiny usually produces more
efficient inline code than Moose. Coercions will usually be a lot faster.
=item *
Type::Tiny provides helpful methods like C<where> and C<plus_coercions>
that allow type constraints and coercions to be easily tweaked on a
per-attribute basis.
Something like this is much harder to do with plain Moose types:
has name => (
is => "ro",
isa => Str->plus_coercions(
ArrayRef[Str], sub { join " ", @$_ },
),
coerce => 1,
);
Moose tends to encourage defining coercions globally, so if you wanted
one B<Str> attribute to be able to coerce from B<< ArrayRef[Str] >>, then
I<all> B<Str> attributes would coerce from B<< ArrayRef[Str] >>, and they'd
all do that coercion in the same way. (Even if it might make sense to
join by a space in some places, a comma in others, and a line break in
others!)
=item *
Type::Tiny provides automatic deep coercions, so if type B<Xyz> has a coercion,
the following should "just work":
isa xyzlist => ( is => 'ro', isa => ArrayRef[Xyz], coerce => 1 );
=item *
Type::Tiny offers a wider selection of built-in types.
=item *
By using Type::Tiny, you can use the same type constraints and coercions
for attributes and method parameters, in Moose and non-Moose code.
=back
=head2 Type::Utils
If you've used L<Moose::Util::TypeConstraints>, you may be accustomed to
using a DSL for declaring type constraints:
use Moose::Util::TypeConstraints;
subtype 'Natural',
as 'Int',
where { $_ > 0 };
There's a module called L<Type::Utils> that provides a very similar DSL for
declaring types in Type::Library-based type libraries.
package My::Types {
use Type::Library -base;
use Type::Utils;
use Types::Standard qw( Int );
declare 'Natural',
as Int,
where { $_ > 0 };
}
Personally I prefer the more object-oriented way to declare types though.
Since Type::Library 1.012, a shortcut has been available for importing
Type::Library and Type::Utils at the same time:
package MyType {
use Type::Library -base, -utils;
...;
}
In Moose you might also declare types like this within classes and roles too.
Unlike Moose, Type::Tiny doesn't keep types in a single global flat namespace,
so this doesn't work quite the same with Type::Utils. It still creates the
type, but it doesn't store it in any type library; the type is returned.
package My::Class {
use Moose;
use Type::Utils;
use Types::Standard qw( Int );
my $Natural = # store type in a variable
declare 'Natural',
as Int,
where { $_ > 0 };
has number => ( is => 'ro', isa => $Natural );
}
But really, isn't the object-oriented way cleaner?
package My::Class {
use Moose;
use Types::Standard qw( Int );
has number => (
is => 'ro',
isa => Int->where('$_ > 0'),
);
}
=head2 Type::Tiny and MooseX::Types
L<Types::Standard> should be a drop-in replacement for L<MooseX::Types>.
And L<Types::Common::Numeric> and L<Types::Common::String> should easily
replace L<MooseX::Types::Common::Numeric> and L<MooseX::Types::Common::String>.
That said, if you do with to use a mixture of Type::Tiny and MooseX::Types,
they should fit together pretty seamlessly.
use Types::Standard qw( ArrayRef );
use MooseX::Types::Common::Numeric qw( PositiveInt );
# this should just work
my $list_of_nums = ArrayRef[PositiveInt];
# and this
my $list_or_num = ArrayRef | PositiveInt;
=head2 C<< -moose >> Import Parameter
If you have read this far in the manual, you will know that this is the
usual way to import type constraints:
use Types::Standard qw( Int );
And the C<Int> which is imported is a function that takes no arguments and
returns the B<Int> type constraint, which is a blessed object in the
L<Type::Tiny> class.
Type::Tiny mocks the L<Moose::Meta::TypeConstraint> API so well that most
Moose and MooseX code will not be able to tell the difference.
But what if you need a real Moose::Meta::TypeConstraint object?
use Types::Standard -moose, qw( Int );
Now the C<Int> function imported will return a genuine native Moose type
constraint.
This flag is mostly a throwback from when Type::Tiny native objects
I<< didn't >> directly work in Moose. In 99.9% of cases, there is no
reason to use it and plenty of reasons not to. (Moose native type
constraints don't offer helpful methods like C<plus_coercions> and
C<where>.)
=head2 C<< moose_type >> Method
Another quick way to get a native Moose type constraint object from a
Type::Tiny object is to call the C<moose_type> method:
use Types::Standard qw( Int );
my $tiny_type = Int;
my $moose_type = $tiny_type->moose_type;
Internally, this is what the C<< -moose >> flag makes imported functions
do.
=head1 NEXT STEPS
Here's your next step:
=over
=item * L<Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithMouse>
How to use Type::Tiny with Mouse, including the advantages of Type::Tiny
over built-in type constraints, and Mouse-specific features.
=back
=head1 AUTHOR
Toby Inkster E<lt>tobyink@cpan.orgE<gt>.
=head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE
This software is copyright (c) 2013-2014, 2017-2021 by Toby Inkster.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.
=head1 DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
=cut