I appreciate how even the new feature table is as unreadable at a glance as their code.
OTOH, a long time ago I used Perl seriously, so I'm familiar with the language.
typeof "" == string
falseI need to hear more about that.
perl -MJSON::XS=encode_json -MData::Dumper -E 'my $d = { foo => 42 }; say encode_json($d); say "foo is $d->{foo}"; say encode_json($d);'
{"foo":42}
foo is 42
{"foo":"42"}
The only reliable way to serialize a value with a desired type is to request that type explicitly--as one might do to represent a large integer or very precise decimal in JavaScript or JSON, for example.
The fact that they need to literally fortune-tell from Perl guts if something is a number or a string is telling as literally every other mainstream language including current dialects of Pascal has this problem solved. But I'm most unimpressed by the fact that merely looking at a variable will mutate its internal representation enough for there to be externally-visible effects.
It doesn't matter if JSON::XS is looking at the internals wrong, or if it's Perl's behavior at fault: from whichever angle you look at it, the whole thing is a tangled mess of wrongness.
From my reading of the documentation of the former (especially the MAPPING section), it has the same problem for the same reasons.
the whole thing is a tangled mess of wrongness
Perl has monomorphic operators and polymorphic values. Every time someone tries to flip that, whether encoding arbitrary data structures to monomorphic values via a polymorphic visitor pattern, the smart-match experiment, or (as I already mentioned in this story's comments) polymorphic operators for data structure dereferencing, these problems occur.
Regardless of whether anyone believes that Perl's operator/value design is good or useful, that's how the language works. Working at cross purposes is an exercise in frustration. (I'll leave analogies about duck typing, contravariance, casting, and type erasure to people who like debating programming language design.)
~ perl -MJSON::XS -E 'my $d = {foo => 42}; say encode_json($d); $d->{foo} eq "bar"; say encode_json($d);'
{"foo":42}
{"foo":"42"}
~ perl -MJSON::PP -E 'my $d = {foo => 42}; say encode_json($d); $d->{foo} eq "bar"; say encode_json($d);'
{"foo":42}
{"foo":42}
~ perl -MCpanel::JSON::XS -E 'my $d = {foo => 42}; say encode_json($d); $d->{foo} eq "bar"; say encode_json($d);'
{"foo":42}
{"foo":42}
However, it "works as documented" when the implicit conversion is the other way around:
~ perl -MCpanel::JSON::XS -E 'my $d = {foo => "42"}; say encode_json($d); $d->{foo} == 0; say encode_json($d);'
{"foo":"42"}
{"foo":42}
Nothing in the typelessness of the language, though, makes it necessary to flip any internal state of a variable, though, any time its usage context changes. Especially if the state is readable by public API. Even in a typeless language, the "primary" type of the thing, if it's queryable by anything at all, should intuitively be what it's being set to by assignment or other kind of explicit mutation.
raku -MJSON::Fast -e 'my $d = {foo => 42}; say to-json($d); say "foo is $d<foo>"; say to-json($d);'
{"foo": 42}
foo is 42
{"foo": 42}
Now, I have touched Perl in decades (oof, that’s rough to type) and that someone might be the official Perl leader for all I know. I don’t think it is, though.
The language is run by a “steering committee”.
The community has a couple of shining stars such as Mohammad Anwar who runs The Weekly Challenge https://theweeklychallenge.org/ and Gabor Szabo https://perlmaven.com/about
They are also both co-editors of the Perl Weekly https://perlweekly.com/
The Perl Foundation co-ordinates activities such as grants funding development, fundraising, and conference organizing. https://www.perlfoundation.org/
There are also a few senior Perl personalities still around such as brian d. foy who continue to write and update books and blogs.
The post-Larry Wall community seems to be doing ok so far. What is notably missing is more active participation from companies making the most use of Perl such as Craigslist or Duck Duck Go.
May your tribe increase.