=pod

=head1 Introduction

Parrot is a language-neutral virtual machine for dynamic languages such as
Ruby, Python, PHP, and Perl. It hosts a powerful suite of compiler tools
tailored to dynamic languages and a next generation regular expression engine.
Its architecture differs from virtual machines such as the JVM or CLR, with
optimizations for dynamic languages, the use of registers instead of stacks,
and pervasive continuations used for all flow control.

The name "Parrot" was inspired by Monty Python's Parrot sketch. As an April
Fools' Day joke in 2001, Simon Cozens published "Programming Parrot", a
fictional interview between Guido van Rossum and Larry Wall detailing their
plans to merge Python and Perl into a new language called Parrot
(U<http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2001/04/01/parrot.htm>).

Parrot Intermediate Representation (PIR) is Parrot's native low-level language.
PIR is fundamentally an assembly language, but it has some higher-level
features such as operator syntax, syntactic sugar for subroutine and method
calls, automatic register allocation, and more friendly conditional syntax.
Parrot libraries -- including most of Parrot's compiler tools -- are often
written in PIR.  Even so, PIR is more rigid and "close to the machine" than
some higher-level languages like C, which makes it a good window into the inner
workings of the virtual machine.

=head2 Parrot Resources

X<www.parrot.org website>
The starting point for all things related to Parrot is the main website
U<http://www.parrot.org/>. The site lists additional resources, well as recent
news and information about the project.

The Parrot Foundation holds the copyright over Parrot and helps support its
development and community.

=head3 Documentation

X<docs.parrot.org website>
X<online documentation (docs.parrot.org)>
Parrot includes extensive documentation in the distribution. The full
documentation for the latest release is available online at
U<http://docs.parrot.org/>.

=head3 Mailing Lists

X<parrot-dev mailing list>
X<mailing lists>

The primary mailing list for Parrot is I<parrot-dev>.N<parrot-dev@lists.parrot.org>  If
you're interested in developing Parrot, the I<parrot-commits> and
I<parrot-tickets> lists are useful.  More information on the Parrot mailing
lists, as well as subscription options, is available on the mailing list
info page 
U<http://lists.parrot.org/mailman/listinfo>.

The archives for I<parrot-dev> are available on Google Groups at
U<http://groups.google.com/group/parrot-dev> and as NNTP at
U<nntp://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.compilers.parrot.devel>.

=head3 IRC

X<#parrot (IRC channel)>
X<IRC channel (#parrot)>

Parrot developers and users congregate on IRC at C<#parrot> on the
U<irc://irc.parrot.org> server. It's a good place to ask questions or discuss
Parrot in real time.

=head3 Issue Tracking & Wiki

X<github.com wiki>
X<issue tracking (github.com)>

Parrot developers track issues using the Github issues system at
L<https://github.com/parrot/parrot/issues/> Users can submit new tickets and
track the status of existing tickets.  Github also provides a wiki used in
project development and a source code browser.

=head2 Parrot Development

X<development cycles>

Parrot's first release occurred in September 2001.  The 1.0 release took place
on March 17, 2009. The Parrot project makes releases on the third Tuesday of
each month. Two releases a year E<mdash> occuring every January and July
E<mdash> are "supported" releases intended for production use.  The other ten
releases are development releases intended for language implementers and
testers.

Development proceeds in cycles around releases. Activity just before a release
focuses on closing tickets, fixing bugs, reviewing documentation, and preparing
for the release. Immediately after the release, larger changes occur: merging
branches, adding large features, or removing deprecated features. This allows
developers to ensure that changes have sufficient testing time before the next
release.  These regular releases also encourage feedback from casual users and
testers.

=head2 Licensing

X<license>

The Parrot foundation supports the Parrot development community and holds
trademarks and copyrights to Parrot.  The project is available under the
Artistic License 2.0, allowing free use in commercial and open source/free
software contexts.

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