On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 09:49, Bryan Harris<bryansli...@gmail.com> wrote: snip >> Yes because $_ is a special global variable. This effect is called >> "action at a distance" which is why it is better to use named lexically >> scoped variables instead of $_. > > I have the Perl Bookshelf on CD (and perldoc, obviously) -- where can I read > more about this? snip
Take a look at [Perl Best Practices][1] by Damian Conway (chapter 5 covers variable use), but be warned, not all of the advice in PBP is still considered correct. Another good resource is [Perl::Critic][2], but, again, you do not have to follow everything it tells you. You will also want to read about the [my][3], [our][4], and [local][5] functions and anywhere in the docs where the talk about lexical (my) or dynamic (our & local) scope, including, but not limited to the [Private Variables via my()][6] and [Temporary Values via local()][7] sections of perlsub. snip > Why is perl on OS X still at 5.8.8? It's free, right? why wouldn't Apple > include the latest one? (I know this isn't an Apple list, just wondering if > anyone knows.) snip Because Apple is being conservative (and rightly so, 5.10.0 has a lot of bugs). The next release (Snow Leopard) will have 5.10, and you can always compile it yourself or use [ActiveState's version][8]. In fact, there are those in the community who claim you should never trust a vendor supplied version of Perl and should always compile your own copy. [1] : http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596001735/ [2] : http://search.cpan.org/dist/Perl-Critic/lib/Perl/Critic.pm [3] : http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/my.html [4] : http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/our.html [5] : http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/local.html [6] : http://perldoc.perl.org/perlsub.html#Private-Variables-via-my%28%29 [7] : http://perldoc.perl.org/perlsub.html#Temporary-Values-via-local() [8] : http://www.activestate.com/activeperl/ -- Chas. Owens wonkden.net The most important skill a programmer can have is the ability to read. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: beginners-unsubscr...@perl.org For additional commands, e-mail: beginners-h...@perl.org http://learn.perl.org/
