Badger::Codec - base class for encoding/decoding data

       Andy Wardley <http://wardley.org/>

       Copyright (C) 2005-2009 Andy Wardley. All rights reserved.

       This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl
       itself.

perl v5.36.0                                       2023-08-28                                 Badger::Codec(3pm)

       This module implements a base class codec module for encoding and decoding data to and from different
       formats. It must be subclassed to provide useful implementations of the "encode()" and "decode()"
       methods.

       In most, if not all cases, subclasses will simply delegate to subroutines provided by other modules.  For
       example, the Badger::Codec::Storable module delegates to the "freeze()" and "thaw()" methods provided by
       the Storable module.

       This documentation describes the inner working of codec modules. You should only need to consult this
       documentation if you're writing a codec subclass.  For a general introduction to codecs and examples of
       use, please see Badger::Codecs.

encode($data)
       Method for encoding data.  This must be redefined in subclassed modules.

   decode($data)
       Method for decoding data.  This must be redefined in subclassed modules.

   encoder()
       Returns a reference to a subroutine which performs the encoding operation.

   decoder()
       Returns a reference to a subroutine which performs the decoding operation.

       Badger::Codec - base class for encoding/decoding data

           # creating a Badger::Codec subclass
           package My::Codec;
           use base 'Badger::Codec';

           sub encode {
               my ($self, $data) = @_;
               # do something
               return $encoded_data;
           }

           sub decode {
               my ($self, $encoded_data) = @_;
               # do something
               return $decoded_data;
           }

           # using the subclass:
           use My::Codec;

           my $codec   = My::Codec->new();
           my $encoded = $codec->encode($some_data);
           my $decoded = $codec->decode($encoded);