#__CLASS__

Invoked within a method, or similar location, such as a field initializer expression, this token returns the name of the class of the invoking instance. Essentially it is equivalent to ref($self) except that it can additionally be used in a field initializer to gain access to class methods, before the instance is fully constructed.

 use feature 'class'; class Example1 {	field $f = __CLASS__->default_f;	sub default_f { 10 } }

In a basic class, this value will be the same as __PACKAGE__. The distinction can be seen when a subclass is constructed; it will give the class name of the instance being constructed, rather than just the package name that the actual code belongs to.

 class Example2 :isa(Example1) {	sub default_f { 20 } } my $obj = Example2->new; # The $f field now has the value 20

Perldoc Browser is maintained by Dan Book (DBOOK). Please contact him via the GitHub issue tracker or email regarding any issues with the site itself, search, or rendering of documentation.

The Perl documentation is maintained by the Perl 5 Porters in the development of Perl. Please contact them via the Perl issue tracker, the mailing list, or IRC to report any issues with the contents or format of the documentation.