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A "method" used to indirectly inspect or update an "object"'s state (its instance variables).
- Browse Related Terms: accessor methods, Attribute, class, class method, constructor, destroy, destructor, dispatch, indirect object, indirect object slot, invocant, invocation, member data
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The scalar values that you supply to a "function" or "subroutine" when you call it. For instance, when you call
power("puff"), the string"puff"is the actual argument. See also "argument" and "formal arguments".- Browse Related Terms: @command, actual arguments, ARGV, call by reference, call-by-value, command name, function, parameter, prototype, subroutine, variadic, WYSIWYG
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Some languages work directly with the memory addresses of values, but this can be like playing with fire. Perl provides a set of asbestos gloves for handling all memory management. The closest to an address operator in Perl is the backslash operator, but it gives you a "hard reference", which is much safer than a memory address.
- Browse Related Terms: address operator, anonymous, arithmetical operator, Code, funny character, garbage collection, hard reference, indirection, Pointer, reference, soft reference, symbolic reference, syntax, Value
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A well-defined sequence of steps, clearly enough explained that even a computer could do them.
- Browse Related Terms: Algorithm, bit string, boolean, character property, escape sequence, IP, metasymbol, pathname, synchronous, TMTOWTDI
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A nickname for something, which behaves in all ways as though you'd used the original name instead of the nickname. Temporary aliases are implicitly created in the loop variable for
foreachloops, in the$_variable for map or grep operators, in$aand$bduring sort's comparison function, and in each element of@_for the "actual arguments" of a subroutine call. Permanent aliases are explicitly created in packages by importing symbols or by assignment to typeglobs. Lexically scoped aliases for package variables are explicitly created by the our declaration.- Browse Related Terms: Alias, backreference, Block, closure, current package, dynamic scoping, lexical scoping, lexical variable, local, lvalue modifier, scope, scratchpad, static scoping, static variable
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A list of possible choices from which you may select only one, as in "Would you like door A, B, or C?" Alternatives in regular expressions are separated with a single vertical bar:
|. Alternatives in normal Perl expressions are separated with a double vertical bar:||. Logical alternatives in "Boolean" expressions are separated with either||oror.- Browse Related Terms: alternatives, capturing, character class, cloister, Cluster, code subpattern, grep, metacharacter, modifier, options, pattern matching, quantifier, regex, regular expression, subpattern, watch expression
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Used to describe a "referent" that is not directly accessible through a named "variable". Such a referent must be indirectly accessible through at least one "hard reference". When the last hard reference goes away, the anonymous referent is destroyed without pity.
- Browse Related Terms: address operator, anonymous, arithmetical operator, Code, funny character, garbage collection, hard reference, indirection, Pointer, reference, soft reference, symbolic reference, syntax, Value
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The kind of computer you're working on, where one "kind" of computer means all those computers sharing a compatible machine language. Since Perl programs are (typically) simple text files, not executable images, a Perl program is much less sensitive to the architecture it's running on than programs in other languages, such as C, that are compiled into machine code. See also "platform" and "operating system".
- Browse Related Terms: architecture, bytecode, code generator, extension, Makefile, operating system, platform, porter, program generator, script, yacc
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A piece of data supplied to a program, "subroutine", "function", or "method" to tell it what it's supposed to do. Also called a "parameter".
- Browse Related Terms: argument, bit, byte, construct, data structure, dwimmer, floating point, freely available, granularity, implementation, integer, modulus, public domain
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The name of the array containing the "argument" "vector" from the command line. If you use the empty
<>operator, "ARGV" is the name of both the "filehandle" used to traverse the arguments and the "scalar" containing the name of the current input file.- Browse Related Terms: @command, actual arguments, ARGV, call by reference, call-by-value, command name, function, parameter, prototype, subroutine, variadic, WYSIWYG
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A "symbol" such as
+or/that tells Perl to do the arithmetic you were supposed to learn in grade school.- Browse Related Terms: address operator, anonymous, arithmetical operator, Code, funny character, garbage collection, hard reference, indirection, Pointer, reference, soft reference, symbolic reference, syntax, Value
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An ordered sequence of values, stored such that you can easily access any of the values using an integer "subscript" that specifies the value's "offset" in the sequence.
- Browse Related Terms: array, command-line arguments, Default, defined, en passant, interpolation, list, list value, literal, lvaluable, null list, pseudofunction, rvalue, scalar, scalar literal, scalar value, Vector
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An archaic expression for what is more correctly referred to as "list context".
- Browse Related Terms: array context, Boolean context, conditional, context, false, indirect filehandle, list context, numeric context, overloading, return value, scalar context, side effects, string context, true, void context
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The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (a 7-bit character set adequate only for poorly representing English text). Often used loosely to describe the lowest 128 values of the various ISO-8859-X character sets, a bunch of mutually incompatible 8-bit codes best described as half ASCII. See also "Unicode".
- Browse Related Terms: ASCII, BSD, canonical, Distribution, FAQ, RFC, STDIN, STDIO, STDOUT
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A component of a "regular expression" that must be true for the pattern to match but does not necessarily match any characters itself. Often used specifically to mean a "zero width" assertion.
- Browse Related Terms: assertion, atom, backtracking, fileglob, glob, greedy, leftmost longest, lookahead, lookbehind, matching, pattern, progressive matching, regular expression modifier, run-time pattern, zero width
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An "operator" whose assigned mission in life is to change the value of a "variable".
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Either a regular "assignment", or a compound "operator" composed of an ordinary assignment and some other operator, that changes the value of a variable in place, that is, relative to its old value. For example,
$a += 2adds2to$a.- Browse Related Terms: assignment operator, associativity, atomic operation, autogeneration, autoincrement, concatenation, file test operator, increment, IPC, list operator, magical increment, operand, Precedence, pseudoliteral, signal
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See "hash". Please.
- Browse Related Terms: associative array, bucket, DBM, environment variable, field, Hash, hash table, Indexing, iterator, key
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Determines whether you do the left "operator" first or the right "operator" first when you have "A "operator" B "operator" C" and the two operators are of the same precedence. Operators like
+are left associative, while operators like**are right associative. See perlop for a list of operators and their associativity.- Browse Related Terms: assignment operator, associativity, atomic operation, autogeneration, autoincrement, concatenation, file test operator, increment, IPC, list operator, magical increment, operand, Precedence, pseudoliteral, signal
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Said of events or activities whose relative temporal ordering is indeterminate because too many things are going on at once. Hence, an asynchronous event is one you didn't know when to expect.
- Browse Related Terms: asynchronous, callback, dweomer, Execute, handler, pumpkin, setgid, signal handler, tainted, trigger