sub getfile {
my $filename = shift;
open F, "< $filename" or die "open failed: $!";
my $contents = '';
while (<F>) {
$contents .= $_;
}
close F;
return $contents;
}
This is inefficient, because the <F> operator makes
Perl go to all the trouble of breaking the file into
lines and returning them one at a time, and then all
we do is put them back together again. It's cheaper to
read the file all at once, without all the splitting
and reassembling. (Some people call this slurping the
file.) Perl has a special feature to support this: If
the $/ variable is undefined, the <...> operator will
read the entire file all at once:
## Below is better pratice ##
sub getfile {
my $filename = shift;
open F, "< $filename" or die "open failed $!"
my $contents;
{ local $/ = undef; # Read entire file at once
$contents = <F>; # Return file as one line
}
close F;
return $contents;
}
I read an excerpt from
http://perl.plover.com/local.html#2_Localized_Filehandles
and was wondering if this holds true regarding
localizing $/ and setting it to undef in Perl 5.8.x?
Outside of a situation when localizing $/, is it best
practice to set $/ to undef considering "If the $/
variable is undefined, the <...> operator will read
the entire file all at once"?
thx...
derek
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