Matt Diephouse writes:
> Is it possible to assign to an array slice?
>
> @array[0..4] = ( 0..4 ); # splice @array, 0, 5, 0..4
Of course. You could in Perl 5, right?
> If so (and I'm hoping it is), is there an equivalent of Ruby's `[]=`
> method? (Is there a way to define this behavior within my own
> array-like classes?)
Well, when you really get down to it, []= would be implementing the []
method to return something tied. A lot of things do that. We'll likely
provide roles to make doing that not as prohibitive conceptually.
> Can I use slice notation when dealing with strings?
>
> say $string[-1]; # say substr($string, -1);
> $string[0..2] = "Hello";
No. I'm pretty sure that's the Right Thing, too. First, the "sixth
element" in a string depends on how you're defining "element": byte,
codepoint, grapheme, etc. Second, if you think you're using an array,
and it's actually a string (even ""), then you'll be missing an error
(though I understand that this is a weak argument). Third, we already
have substr.
Perhaps as an alternative to substr, Str could provide a slice method:
$string.slice(0..2) = "Hello";
Which could massage everything to work as if it were an array of chars,
whatever the heck chars are.
Luke
