Type::Tiny::Manual(3)

NAME
Type::Tiny::Manual - an overview of Type::Tiny

SYNOPSIS
Type::Tiny is a small Perl <http://www.perl.org/> class for writing type constraints, inspired by Moose's type constraint API and MooseX::Types. It has only one non-core dependency (and even that is simply a module that was previously distributed as part of Type::Tiny but has since been spun off), and can be used with Moose, Mouse, or Moo (or none of the above).

Type::Tiny is used by over 1000 Perl distributions on the CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) and can be considered a stable and mature framework for efficiently and reliably enforcing data types.

Type::Tiny is bundled with Type::Library a framework for organizing type constraints into collections. Also bundled is Types::Standard, a Moose-inspired library of useful type constraints. Type::Params is also provided, to allow very fast checking and coercion of function and method parameters.

The following example gives you an idea of some of the features of these modules. If you don't understand it all, that's fine; that's what the rest of the manual is for. Although the example uses Moo, the "use Moo" could be changed to "use Moose" or "use Mouse" and it would still work.

  use v5.36;

  package Horse {
    use Moo;
    use Types::Standard qw( Str Int Enum ArrayRef InstanceOf );
    use Type::Params qw( signature_for );
    use namespace::autoclean;

    has name => (
      is       => 'ro',
      isa      => Str,
      required => 1,
    );

    has gender => (
      is       => 'ro',
      isa      => Enum[qw( f m )],
    );

    has age => (
      is       => 'rw',
      isa      => Int->where( '$_ >= 0' ),
    );

    has children => (
      is       => 'ro',
      isa      => ArrayRef[ InstanceOf['Horse'] ],
      default  => sub { return [] },
    );

    signature_for add_child => (
      method     => Object,
      positional => [ InstanceOf['Horse'] ],
    );

    sub add_child ( $self, $child ) {
      push $self->children->@*, $child;
      return $self;
    }
  }

  package main;

  my $boldruler = Horse->new(
    name    => "Bold Ruler",
    gender  => 'm',
    age     => 16,
  );

  my $secretariat = Horse->new(
    name    => "Secretariat",
    gender  => 'm',
    age     => 0,
  );

  $boldruler->add_child( $secretariat );

  use Types::Standard qw( is_Object assert_Object );

  # is_Object will return a boolean
  #
  if ( is_Object $boldruler ) {
    say $boldruler->name;
  }

  # assert_Object will return $secretariat or die
  #
  say assert_Object( $secretariat )->name;

MANUAL
Even if you are using Type::Tiny with other object-oriented programming toolkits (such as Moose or Mouse), you should start with the Moo sections of the manual. Most of the information is directly transferrable and the Moose and Mouse sections of the manual list the minor differences between using Type::Tiny with Moo and with them.

In general, this manual assumes you use Perl 5.36 or above and may use examples that do not work on older versions of Perl. Type::Tiny does work on earlier versions of Perl, but not all the examples and features in the manual will run without adjustment. (For instance, you may need to replace "state" variables with lexical variables, avoid the "package NAME { BLOCK }" syntax, unpack @_ instead of using subroutine signatures, etc.)

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::Installation

    How to install Type::Tiny. If Type::Tiny is already installed, you can skip this.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithMoo

    Basic use of Type::Tiny with Moo, including attribute type constraints, parameterized type constraints, coercions, and method parameter checking.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithMoo2

    Advanced use of Type::Tiny with Moo, including unions and intersections, "stringifies_to", "numifies_to", "with_attribute_values", and "where".

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithMoo3

    There's more than one way to do it! Alternative ways of using Type::Tiny, including type registries, exported functions, and "dwim_type".

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::Libraries

    Defining your own type libraries, including extending existing libraries, defining new types, adding coercions, defining parameterizable types, and the declarative style.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithMoose

    How to use Type::Tiny with Moose, including the advantages of Type::Tiny over built-in type constraints, and Moose-specific features.

•   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.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithMite

    How to use Type::Tiny with Mite, including how to write an entire Perl project using clean Moose-like code and no non-core dependencies. (Not even dependencies on Mite or Type::Tiny!)

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithClassTiny

    Including how to Type::Tiny in your object's "BUILD" method, and third-party shims between Type::Tiny and Class::Tiny.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithOther

    Using Type::Tiny with Class::InsideOut, Params::Check, and Object::Accessor.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::UsingWithTestMore

    Type::Tiny for test suites.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::Params

    Advanced information on Type::Params, and using Type::Tiny with other signature modules like Function::Parameters and Kavorka.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::NonOO

    Type::Tiny in non-object-oriented code.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::Optimization

    Squeeze the most out of your CPU.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::Coercions

    Advanced information on coercions.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::AllTypes

    An alphabetical list of all type constraints bundled with Type::Tiny.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::Policies

    Policies related to Type::Tiny development.

•   Type::Tiny::Manual::Contributing

    Contributing to Type::Tiny development.

BUGS
Please report any bugs to <https://github.com/tobyink/p5-type-tiny/issues>.

SEE ALSO
The Type::Tiny homepage <https://typetiny.toby.ink/>.

AUTHOR
Toby Inkster <tobyink@cpan.org>.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE
This software is copyright (c) 2013-2014, 2017-2025 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.

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.