The information given to you on this is sufficient to explain that the repetition operator (x) takes a string on the left and a number on the right (specifically a positive integer). As you can tell, perl does not make you say that a $foo is an integer or $foo is a string, but rather just allows you to say $foo is a value. It determines the type of $foo on the fly.
$string x $number gives the desired result because the first character of the string $number is a number. So data types in perl are based on sequential characters. If the $number starts with a number, it is considered a numerical string and when used in a numerical context (like on the right side of the repetition operator) it looks at the characters in order and at the first non-number, it stops processing the rest of the string and truncates the value for that operation. If $string started with a number, $number x $string would not be repeated 0 times, but because it does start with a non-number, it is truncated for the operation (the value of $string is unchanged, but perl thinks of it differently for that operation) . Because "" is treated the same way undef() is treated, it is occasionally treated as 0, so really what $number x $string is saying is $number x "" or $number x 0. That should hopefully clarify why perl functions this particular way. ## Z. Bornheimer On Tue, Jan 1, 2013 at 6:02 PM, Goke Aruna <mykl...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello Singh, > Chomp the $string and test again. > Really sorry I cannot bottom post with BBerry phone. > > Regards > > On 12/29/12, Om Prakash Singh <torque.in...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi All, > > > > I am new to perl and while going through the chapters of Learning perl, > > i just came through one excessive, while i was able to complete it, i > > just came across something that didn't work and i couldn't find any > > explanation for it. Would be great if i get some help in understanding > > this behavior. > > > > below is the code > > > > print "the string: "; > > $string = <STDIN>; > > print "the no.: "; > > chomp($number = <STDIN>); > > $result = $string x $number; > > print "the result is:\n$result"; > > > > > > in the above code when i use > > $result = $string x $number; > > i get the right result, i.e. strings printed on two lines. > > > > but, when i use > > $result = $number x $string; > > I don't get any output at all, just wondering why this happens, any help > > would be highly appreciable. > > > > Regards, > > Omps > > > > -- > Sent from my mobile device > > -- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: beginners-unsubscr...@perl.org > For additional commands, e-mail: beginners-h...@perl.org > http://learn.perl.org/ > > >
