Rakudo: Perl 6 on Parrot

“Rakudo” is the new name for the Perl 6 compiler targeting the Parrot virtual machine. Building Rakudo has required development of a number of tools and methodologies (as well as revisions to the Perl 6 language specification itself), and things are progressing nicely.

This talk will report on the overall status and implementation of the Rakudo Perl compiler, outline what is working (and what is not working) in Rakudo, and demonstrate how to get started writing Perl 6 programs. The talk will also cover the design of the compiler itself, focusing on the overall architecture, the structure of the Perl 6 test suite, and provide specific details that will enable others to become involved and to directly contribute to the remaining work of building Rakudo. The talk will end with a “road map” to completion of a production Perl 6 compiler on Parrot.