perl 5.8.0 vs perl 5.8.2 on AIX

[jc0517]

The application i am working on needs to upgrade OS from AIX 5.2 to AIX 5.3. We are major users of Perl 5.8.0 on AIX. As part of the AIX upgrade we are being required to upgrade to Perl 5.8.2. The last time this happened there were apparently major problems with Perl scripts (I was not working on this application at that time, I am trying to find out what version of Perl they want to and from). Basically what I need to know is what major differences if any exist between the 5.8.0 and 5.8.2 releases, from a syntax/coding perspective and from a code execution perspective. I have been looking around the net and I can't seem to find anything that makes this comparison. Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

[almut]

perl581delta and perl582delta would be a good starting point.

[Fletch]

And this is yet another example why many people recommend you compile your own separate application copy of Perl and use that instead of the OS' copy (as it'll insulate you from having to change both OS versions and your application simultaneously).

[smiffy]

Amen to that. After some pretty horrible experiences, I now keep my application Perl (self-compiled) well clear of my system Perl (liable to surprise upgrades). This also means that I can develop with Perl 5.10 when the distribution still thinks that 5.8.8 is the latest and greatest.

<sigh/> I miss my AIX. Wonder if I should look out for an old RS/6000 on eBay. Ah, nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

[johngg]

I don't know AIX but your AIX 5.2 is running Perl 5.8.0 so there may be a good chance that the previous AIX upgrade involved a change from the previous stable branch of Perl, 5.6.?, to the next, 5.8.0. This would have been far more problematic than a move from 5.8.0 to 5.8.2 so, hopefully, you will find the proposed upgrade much simpler from a Perl perspective.

I hope it goes smoothly.

Cheers,

JohnGG

[converter]

As another poster suggested, you should probably maintain your own Perl build (just beware AIX' broken toolchain). Since CPAN modules are no longer tested on AIX, as far as I can tell, a private build would also give you a little hedge against unexpected module upgrade breakage.

Finally, I wish IBM would bring AIX into the 21st century (or put a bullet in it and be done with it). Doesn't it bother anyone at IBM that CPAN modules aren't being tested on AIX, or that the software tools have feature sets from the 1990s and that the only way to get a decent toolset is to install the GNU/Linux utils?

[jc0517]

thanks for the responses. i am assuming by maintain our own install you mean installing our own perl libraries on the servers instead of using the AIX installed ones - wouldn't we be restricted to using the AIX binaries though, so still restricted to max of 5.8.2? not sure what CPAN is, i am new to perl so not familiar with terminology yet.

[converter]

What's being suggested is that you maintain a private build of Perl and all your Perl modules. Your applications' shebang lines would point at a different pathname (#!/usr/local/bin/perl, for example) and the perl on /usr/local/bin would be the perl you compiled and installed yourself. That perl would look for Perl modules on a completely different set of paths where it would find your privately maintained modules. The CPAN is Perl's code repository. When you update or install new modules using the cpan command or perl -MCPAN -e shell you're accessing this repository.