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=encoding utf8

=head1 NAME

Clownfish::Obj - Base class for all objects.

=head1 SYNOPSIS

    package MyObj;
    use base qw( Clownfish::Obj );
    
    # Inside-out member var.
    my %foo;
    
    sub new {
        my ( $class, %args ) = @_;
        my $foo = delete $args{foo};
        my $self = $class->SUPER::new(%args);
        $foo{$$self} = $foo;
        return $self;
    }
    
    sub get_foo {
        my $self = shift;
        return $foo{$$self};
    }
    
    sub DESTROY {
        my $self = shift;
        delete $foo{$$self};
        $self->SUPER::DESTROY;
    }

=head1 DESCRIPTION

Clownfish::Obj is the base class of the Clownfish object hierarchy.

From the standpoint of a Perl programmer, all classes are implemented as
blessed scalar references, with the scalar storing a pointer to a C struct.

=head2 Subclassing

The recommended way to subclass Clownfish::Obj and its descendants is
to use the inside-out design pattern.  (See L<Class::InsideOut> for an
introduction to inside-out techniques.)

Since the blessed scalar stores a C pointer value which is unique per-object,
C<$$self> can be used as an inside-out ID.

    # Accessor for 'foo' member variable.
    sub get_foo {
        my $self = shift;
        return $foo{$$self};
    }


Caveats:

=over

=item *

Inside-out aficionados will have noted that the "cached scalar id" stratagem
recommended above isn't compatible with ithreads.

=item *

Overridden methods must not return undef unless the API specifies that
returning undef is permissible.

=back

=head1 CONSTRUCTOR

=head2 new

    my $self = $class->SUPER::new;

Abstract constructor -- must be invoked via a subclass.  Attempting to
instantiate objects of class "Clownfish::Obj" directly causes an
error.

Takes no arguments; if any are supplied, an error will be reported.

=head1 ABSTRACT METHODS

=head2 clone

    my $result = $obj->clone();

Return a clone of the object.

=head2 compare_to

    my $int = $obj->compare_to($other);

Indicate whether one object is less than, equal to, or greater than
another.

=over

=item *

B<other> - Another Obj.

=back

Returns: 0 if the objects are equal, a negative number if
C<self> is less than C<other>, and a positive
number if C<self> is greater than C<other>.

=head1 METHODS

=head2 to_perl

    my $native = $obj->to_perl;

Tries to convert the object to its native Perl representation.

=head2 equals

    my $bool = $obj->equals($other);

Indicate whether two objects are the same.  By default, compares the
memory address.

=over

=item *

B<other> - Another Obj.

=back

=head2 DESTROY

All Clownfish classes implement a DESTROY method; if you override it in a
subclass, you must call C<< $self->SUPER::DESTROY >> to avoid leaking memory.

=head2 to_string

    my $string = $obj->to_string();

Generic stringification: “ClassName@hex_mem_address”.

=cut

