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Perl - A set of related data values in a "file" or "stream", often associated with a unique "key" field. In Unix, often commensurate with a "line", or a blank-line-terminated set of lines (a "paragraph"). Each line of the /etc/passwd file is a record, keyed on login name, containing information about that user.
Perl - Cite This Source - This Definition - Browse Related Terms: ARGV, Command, command-line arguments, command name, here document, Shell
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Perl - The art of defining something (at least partly) in terms of itself, which is a naughty no-no in dictionaries but often works out okay in computer programs if you're careful not to recurse forever, which is like an infinite loop with more spectacular failure modes.
Perl - Cite This Source - This Definition - Browse Related Terms: iteration, iterator, Pern
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Perl - Where you look to find a pointer to information somewhere else. (See "indirection".) References come in two flavors, symbolic references and hard references.
Perl - Cite This Source - This Definition - Browse Related Terms: address operator, anonymous, autovivification, Code, composer, dereference, funny character, garbage collection, hard reference, indirection, Pointer, PV, referent, soft reference, symbolic reference
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Perl - Whatever a reference refers to, which may or may not have a name. Common types of referents include scalars, arrays, hashes, and subroutines.
Perl - Cite This Source - This Definition - Browse Related Terms: address operator, anonymous, autovivification, Code, composer, dereference, funny character, garbage collection, hard reference, indirection, Pointer, PV, Reference, soft reference, symbolic reference
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Perl - A single entity with various interpretations, like an elephant. To a computer scientist, it's a grammar for a little language in which some strings are legal and others aren't. To normal people, it's a pattern you can use to find what you're looking for when it varies from case to case. Perl's regular expressions are far from regular in the theoretical sense, but in regular use they work quite well. Here's a regular expression:
/Oh s.*t./. This will match strings like "Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light" and "Oh sit!". See perlre.
Perl - Cite This Source - This Definition - Browse Related Terms: alternatives, atomic operation, character class, cluster, code subpattern, metacharacter, quantifier, regex, subpattern
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Perl - A "file" that's not a "directory", a "device", a named "pipe" or "socket", or a "symbolic link". Perl uses the
-f file test operator to identify regular files. Sometimes called a "plain" file.
Perl - Cite This Source - This Definition - Browse Related Terms: filehandle, Filename, Identifier, Link, logical operator, Path, pathname, qualified, symbolic link
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Perl - A word with a specific, built-in meaning to a "compiler", such as
if or delete. In many languages (not Perl), it's illegal to use reserved words to name anything else. (Which is why they're reserved, after all.) In Perl, you just can't use them to name labels or filehandles. Also called "keywords".
Perl - Cite This Source - This Definition - Browse Related Terms: big-endian, embedding, endian, Keyword, little-endian, toolbox approach
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Perl - The "value" produced by a "subroutine" or "expression" when evaluated. In Perl, a return value may be either a "list" or a "scalar".
Perl - Cite This Source - This Definition - Browse Related Terms: interpolation, list, list value, null list, pseudofunction, scalar, scalar literal, scalar value, true, variable interpolation, Vector
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