extra code in pp_concat, Take 2
[p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git] / pod / perltrap.pod
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a0d0e21e 1=head1 NAME
2
3perltrap - Perl traps for the unwary
4
5=head1 DESCRIPTION
6
9fda99eb 7The biggest trap of all is forgetting to C<use warnings> or use the B<-w>
8switch; see L<perllexwarn> and L<perlrun>. The second biggest trap is not
9making your entire program runnable under C<use strict>. The third biggest
10trap is not reading the list of changes in this version of Perl; see
11L<perldelta>.
a0d0e21e 12
13=head2 Awk Traps
14
15Accustomed B<awk> users should take special note of the following:
16
17=over 4
18
19=item *
20
6014d0cb 21A Perl program executes only once, not once for each input line. You can
22do an implicit loop with C<-n> or C<-p>.
23
24=item *
25
a0d0e21e 26The English module, loaded via
27
28 use English;
29
54310121 30allows you to refer to special variables (like C<$/>) with names (like
19799a22 31$RS), as though they were in B<awk>; see L<perlvar> for details.
a0d0e21e 32
33=item *
34
35Semicolons are required after all simple statements in Perl (except
36at the end of a block). Newline is not a statement delimiter.
37
38=item *
39
40Curly brackets are required on C<if>s and C<while>s.
41
42=item *
43
5db417f7 44Variables begin with "$", "@" or "%" in Perl.
a0d0e21e 45
46=item *
47
48Arrays index from 0. Likewise string positions in substr() and
49index().
50
51=item *
52
53You have to decide whether your array has numeric or string indices.
54
55=item *
56
aa689395 57Hash values do not spring into existence upon mere reference.
a0d0e21e 58
59=item *
60
61You have to decide whether you want to use string or numeric
62comparisons.
63
64=item *
65
66Reading an input line does not split it for you. You get to split it
54310121 67to an array yourself. And the split() operator has different
68arguments than B<awk>'s.
a0d0e21e 69
70=item *
71
72The current input line is normally in $_, not $0. It generally does
73not have the newline stripped. ($0 is the name of the program
74executed.) See L<perlvar>.
75
76=item *
77
c47ff5f1 78$<I<digit>> does not refer to fields--it refers to substrings matched
8b0a4b75 79by the last match pattern.
a0d0e21e 80
81=item *
82
83The print() statement does not add field and record separators unless
8b0a4b75 84you set C<$,> and C<$\>. You can set $OFS and $ORS if you're using
a0d0e21e 85the English module.
86
87=item *
88
89You must open your files before you print to them.
90
91=item *
92
93The range operator is "..", not comma. The comma operator works as in
94C.
95
96=item *
97
98The match operator is "=~", not "~". ("~" is the one's complement
99operator, as in C.)
100
101=item *
102
103The exponentiation operator is "**", not "^". "^" is the XOR
104operator, as in C. (You know, one could get the feeling that B<awk> is
105basically incompatible with C.)
106
107=item *
108
109The concatenation operator is ".", not the null string. (Using the
5f05dabc 110null string would render C</pat/ /pat/> unparsable, because the third slash
111would be interpreted as a division operator--the tokenizer is in fact
c47ff5f1 112slightly context sensitive for operators like "/", "?", and ">".
a0d0e21e 113And in fact, "." itself can be the beginning of a number.)
114
115=item *
116
117The C<next>, C<exit>, and C<continue> keywords work differently.
118
119=item *
120
121
122The following variables work differently:
123
124 Awk Perl
9fda99eb 125 ARGC scalar @ARGV (compare with $#ARGV)
a0d0e21e 126 ARGV[0] $0
127 FILENAME $ARGV
128 FNR $. - something
129 FS (whatever you like)
130 NF $#Fld, or some such
131 NR $.
132 OFMT $#
133 OFS $,
134 ORS $\
135 RLENGTH length($&)
136 RS $/
137 RSTART length($`)
138 SUBSEP $;
139
140=item *
141
142You cannot set $RS to a pattern, only a string.
143
144=item *
145
146When in doubt, run the B<awk> construct through B<a2p> and see what it
147gives you.
148
149=back
150
6ec4bd10 151=head2 C/C++ Traps
a0d0e21e 152
6ec4bd10 153Cerebral C and C++ programmers should take note of the following:
a0d0e21e 154
155=over 4
156
157=item *
158
159Curly brackets are required on C<if>'s and C<while>'s.
160
161=item *
162
163You must use C<elsif> rather than C<else if>.
164
165=item *
166
6ec4bd10 167The C<break> and C<continue> keywords from C become in Perl C<last>
168and C<next>, respectively. Unlike in C, these do I<not> work within a
169C<do { } while> construct. See L<perlsyn/"Loop Control">.
a0d0e21e 170
171=item *
172
6ec4bd10 173There's no switch statement. (But it's easy to build one on the fly,
174see L<perlsyn/"Basic BLOCKs and Switch Statements">)
a0d0e21e 175
176=item *
177
5db417f7 178Variables begin with "$", "@" or "%" in Perl.
a0d0e21e 179
180=item *
181
6014d0cb 182Comments begin with "#", not "/*" or "//". Perl may interpret C/C++
183comments as division operators, unterminated regular expressions or
184the defined-or operator.
a0d0e21e 185
186=item *
187
188You can't take the address of anything, although a similar operator
5f05dabc 189in Perl is the backslash, which creates a reference.
a0d0e21e 190
191=item *
192
4633a7c4 193C<ARGV> must be capitalized. C<$ARGV[0]> is C's C<argv[1]>, and C<argv[0]>
194ends up in C<$0>.
a0d0e21e 195
196=item *
197
198System calls such as link(), unlink(), rename(), etc. return nonzero for
9fda99eb 199success, not 0. (system(), however, returns zero for success.)
a0d0e21e 200
201=item *
202
203Signal handlers deal with signal names, not numbers. Use C<kill -l>
204to find their names on your system.
205
206=back
207
208=head2 Sed Traps
209
210Seasoned B<sed> programmers should take note of the following:
211
212=over 4
213
214=item *
215
6014d0cb 216A Perl program executes only once, not once for each input line. You can
217do an implicit loop with C<-n> or C<-p>.
218
219=item *
220
a0d0e21e 221Backreferences in substitutions use "$" rather than "\".
222
223=item *
224
225The pattern matching metacharacters "(", ")", and "|" do not have backslashes
226in front.
227
228=item *
229
230The range operator is C<...>, rather than comma.
231
232=back
233
234=head2 Shell Traps
235
236Sharp shell programmers should take note of the following:
237
238=over 4
239
240=item *
241
54310121 242The backtick operator does variable interpolation without regard to
a0d0e21e 243the presence of single quotes in the command.
244
245=item *
246
54310121 247The backtick operator does no translation of the return value, unlike B<csh>.
a0d0e21e 248
249=item *
250
251Shells (especially B<csh>) do several levels of substitution on each
5f05dabc 252command line. Perl does substitution in only certain constructs
54310121 253such as double quotes, backticks, angle brackets, and search patterns.
a0d0e21e 254
255=item *
256
257Shells interpret scripts a little bit at a time. Perl compiles the
258entire program before executing it (except for C<BEGIN> blocks, which
259execute at compile time).
260
261=item *
262
263The arguments are available via @ARGV, not $1, $2, etc.
264
265=item *
266
267The environment is not automatically made available as separate scalar
268variables.
269
8886331d 270=item *
271
272The shell's C<test> uses "=", "!=", "<" etc for string comparisons and "-eq",
273"-ne", "-lt" etc for numeric comparisons. This is the reverse of Perl, which
274uses C<eq>, C<ne>, C<lt> for string comparisons, and C<==>, C<!=> C<< < >> etc
275for numeric comparisons.
276
a0d0e21e 277=back
278
279=head2 Perl Traps
280
281Practicing Perl Programmers should take note of the following:
282
283=over 4
284
285=item *
286
287Remember that many operations behave differently in a list
288context than they do in a scalar one. See L<perldata> for details.
289
290=item *
291
68dc0745 292Avoid barewords if you can, especially all lowercase ones.
54310121 293You can't tell by just looking at it whether a bareword is
294a function or a string. By using quotes on strings and
5f05dabc 295parentheses on function calls, you won't ever get them confused.
a0d0e21e 296
297=item *
298
54310121 299You cannot discern from mere inspection which builtins
300are unary operators (like chop() and chdir())
a0d0e21e 301and which are list operators (like print() and unlink()).
9fda99eb 302(Unless prototyped, user-defined subroutines can B<only> be list
303operators, never unary ones.) See L<perlop> and L<perlsub>.
a0d0e21e 304
305=item *
306
748a9306 307People have a hard time remembering that some functions
a0d0e21e 308default to $_, or @ARGV, or whatever, but that others which
54310121 309you might expect to do not.
a0d0e21e 310
6dbacca0 311=item *
a0d0e21e 312
c47ff5f1 313The <FH> construct is not the name of the filehandle, it is a readline
5f05dabc 314operation on that handle. The data read is assigned to $_ only if the
748a9306 315file read is the sole condition in a while loop:
316
317 while (<FH>) { }
54310121 318 while (defined($_ = <FH>)) { }..
748a9306 319 <FH>; # data discarded!
320
6dbacca0 321=item *
748a9306 322
19799a22 323Remember not to use C<=> when you need C<=~>;
a0d0e21e 324these two constructs are quite different:
325
326 $x = /foo/;
327 $x =~ /foo/;
328
329=item *
330
54310121 331The C<do {}> construct isn't a real loop that you can use
a0d0e21e 332loop control on.
333
334=item *
335
54310121 336Use C<my()> for local variables whenever you can get away with
337it (but see L<perlform> for where you can't).
338Using C<local()> actually gives a local value to a global
a0d0e21e 339variable, which leaves you open to unforeseen side-effects
340of dynamic scoping.
341
c07a80fd 342=item *
343
344If you localize an exported variable in a module, its exported value will
345not change. The local name becomes an alias to a new value but the
346external name is still an alias for the original.
347
a0d0e21e 348=back
349
5f05dabc 350=head2 Perl4 to Perl5 Traps
a0d0e21e 351
54310121 352Practicing Perl4 Programmers should take note of the following
6dbacca0 353Perl4-to-Perl5 specific traps.
354
355They're crudely ordered according to the following list:
a0d0e21e 356
357=over 4
358
6dbacca0 359=item Discontinuance, Deprecation, and BugFix traps
a0d0e21e 360
6dbacca0 361Anything that's been fixed as a perl4 bug, removed as a perl4 feature
362or deprecated as a perl4 feature with the intent to encourage usage of
363some other perl5 feature.
a0d0e21e 364
6dbacca0 365=item Parsing Traps
748a9306 366
6dbacca0 367Traps that appear to stem from the new parser.
a0d0e21e 368
6dbacca0 369=item Numerical Traps
a0d0e21e 370
6dbacca0 371Traps having to do with numerical or mathematical operators.
a0d0e21e 372
6dbacca0 373=item General data type traps
a0d0e21e 374
6dbacca0 375Traps involving perl standard data types.
a0d0e21e 376
6dbacca0 377=item Context Traps - scalar, list contexts
378
379Traps related to context within lists, scalar statements/declarations.
380
381=item Precedence Traps
382
383Traps related to the precedence of parsing, evaluation, and execution of
384code.
385
386=item General Regular Expression Traps using s///, etc.
387
388Traps related to the use of pattern matching.
389
390=item Subroutine, Signal, Sorting Traps
391
392Traps related to the use of signals and signal handlers, general subroutines,
393and sorting, along with sorting subroutines.
394
395=item OS Traps
396
397OS-specific traps.
398
399=item DBM Traps
400
401Traps specific to the use of C<dbmopen()>, and specific dbm implementations.
402
403=item Unclassified Traps
404
405Everything else.
406
407=back
408
409If you find an example of a conversion trap that is not listed here,
4375e838 410please submit it to <F<perlbug@perl.org>> for inclusion.
9f1b1f2d 411Also note that at least some of these can be caught with the
412C<use warnings> pragma or the B<-w> switch.
6dbacca0 413
414=head2 Discontinuance, Deprecation, and BugFix traps
415
416Anything that has been discontinued, deprecated, or fixed as
54310121 417a bug from perl4.
a0d0e21e 418
6dbacca0 419=over 4
420
d52dc02a 421=item * Symbols starting with "_" no longer forced into main
6dbacca0 422
423Symbols starting with "_" are no longer forced into package main, except
424for C<$_> itself (and C<@_>, etc.).
425
426 package test;
427 $_legacy = 1;
cb1a09d0 428
6dbacca0 429 package main;
430 print "\$_legacy is ",$_legacy,"\n";
54310121 431
6dbacca0 432 # perl4 prints: $_legacy is 1
433 # perl5 prints: $_legacy is
434
d52dc02a 435=item * Double-colon valid package separator in variable name
6dbacca0 436
437Double-colon is now a valid package separator in a variable name. Thus these
5f05dabc 438behave differently in perl4 vs. perl5, because the packages don't exist.
6dbacca0 439
440 $a=1;$b=2;$c=3;$var=4;
441 print "$a::$b::$c ";
cb1a09d0 442 print "$var::abc::xyz\n";
c47ff5f1 443
6dbacca0 444 # perl4 prints: 1::2::3 4::abc::xyz
445 # perl5 prints: 3
cb1a09d0 446
6dbacca0 447Given that C<::> is now the preferred package delimiter, it is debatable
448whether this should be classed as a bug or not.
449(The older package delimiter, ' ,is used here)
cb1a09d0 450
6dbacca0 451 $x = 10 ;
452 print "x=${'x}\n" ;
54310121 453
6dbacca0 454 # perl4 prints: x=10
455 # perl5 prints: Can't find string terminator "'" anywhere before EOF
a0d0e21e 456
5e77893f 457You can avoid this problem, and remain compatible with perl4, if you
458always explicitly include the package name:
459
460 $x = 10 ;
461 print "x=${main'x}\n" ;
462
54310121 463Also see precedence traps, for parsing C<$:>.
a0d0e21e 464
d52dc02a 465=item * 2nd and 3rd args to C<splice()> are now in scalar context
a0d0e21e 466
6dbacca0 467The second and third arguments of C<splice()> are now evaluated in scalar
468context (as the Camel says) rather than list context.
a0d0e21e 469
1d2dff63 470 sub sub1{return(0,2) } # return a 2-element list
471 sub sub2{ return(1,2,3)} # return a 3-element list
54310121 472 @a1 = ("a","b","c","d","e");
6dbacca0 473 @a2 = splice(@a1,&sub1,&sub2);
474 print join(' ',@a2),"\n";
54310121 475
6dbacca0 476 # perl4 prints: a b
54310121 477 # perl5 prints: c d e
a0d0e21e 478
d52dc02a 479=item * Can't do C<goto> into a block that is optimized away
a0d0e21e 480
6dbacca0 481You can't do a C<goto> into a block that is optimized away. Darn.
a0d0e21e 482
6dbacca0 483 goto marker1;
a0d0e21e 484
54310121 485 for(1){
6dbacca0 486 marker1:
487 print "Here I is!\n";
54310121 488 }
489
6dbacca0 490 # perl4 prints: Here I is!
9fda99eb 491 # perl5 errors: Can't "goto" into the middle of a foreach loop
6dbacca0 492
d52dc02a 493=item * Can't use whitespace as variable name or quote delimiter
6dbacca0 494
495It is no longer syntactically legal to use whitespace as the name
496of a variable, or as a delimiter for any kind of quote construct.
54310121 497Double darn.
6dbacca0 498
499 $a = ("foo bar");
500 $b = q baz ;
501 print "a is $a, b is $b\n";
54310121 502
6dbacca0 503 # perl4 prints: a is foo bar, b is baz
54310121 504 # perl5 errors: Bareword found where operator expected
5e378fdf 505
d52dc02a 506=item * C<while/if BLOCK BLOCK> gone
6dbacca0 507
508The archaic while/if BLOCK BLOCK syntax is no longer supported.
509
510 if { 1 } {
511 print "True!";
512 }
513 else {
514 print "False!";
515 }
54310121 516
6dbacca0 517 # perl4 prints: True!
518 # perl5 errors: syntax error at test.pl line 1, near "if {"
519
d52dc02a 520=item * C<**> binds tighter than unary minus
6dbacca0 521
522The C<**> operator now binds more tightly than unary minus.
523It was documented to work this way before, but didn't.
524
525 print -4**2,"\n";
54310121 526
6dbacca0 527 # perl4 prints: 16
528 # perl5 prints: -16
529
d52dc02a 530=item * C<foreach> changed when iterating over a list
6dbacca0 531
532The meaning of C<foreach{}> has changed slightly when it is iterating over a
533list which is not an array. This used to assign the list to a
534temporary array, but no longer does so (for efficiency). This means
535that you'll now be iterating over the actual values, not over copies of
536the values. Modifications to the loop variable can change the original
537values.
538
539 @list = ('ab','abc','bcd','def');
540 foreach $var (grep(/ab/,@list)){
541 $var = 1;
542 }
543 print (join(':',@list));
54310121 544
6dbacca0 545 # perl4 prints: ab:abc:bcd:def
546 # perl5 prints: 1:1:bcd:def
547
548To retain Perl4 semantics you need to assign your list
54310121 549explicitly to a temporary array and then iterate over that. For
6dbacca0 550example, you might need to change
551
552 foreach $var (grep(/ab/,@list)){
553
554to
555
556 foreach $var (@tmp = grep(/ab/,@list)){
557
558Otherwise changing $var will clobber the values of @list. (This most often
559happens when you use C<$_> for the loop variable, and call subroutines in
560the loop that don't properly localize C<$_>.)
561
d52dc02a 562=item * C<split> with no args behavior changed
5e378fdf 563
564C<split> with no arguments now behaves like C<split ' '> (which doesn't
565return an initial null field if $_ starts with whitespace), it used to
566behave like C<split /\s+/> (which does).
567
568 $_ = ' hi mom';
569 print join(':', split);
570
571 # perl4 prints: :hi:mom
572 # perl5 prints: hi:mom
573
d52dc02a 574=item * B<-e> behavior fixed
55497cff 575
9607fc9c 576Perl 4 would ignore any text which was attached to an B<-e> switch,
55497cff 577always taking the code snippet from the following arg. Additionally, it
9607fc9c 578would silently accept an B<-e> switch without a following arg. Both of
55497cff 579these behaviors have been fixed.
580
581 perl -e'print "attached to -e"' 'print "separate arg"'
54310121 582
55497cff 583 # perl4 prints: separate arg
584 # perl5 prints: attached to -e
54310121 585
55497cff 586 perl -e
587
588 # perl4 prints:
589 # perl5 dies: No code specified for -e.
590
d52dc02a 591=item * C<push> returns number of elements in resulting list
55497cff 592
593In Perl 4 the return value of C<push> was undocumented, but it was
594actually the last value being pushed onto the target list. In Perl 5
595the return value of C<push> is documented, but has changed, it is the
596number of elements in the resulting list.
597
598 @x = ('existing');
599 print push(@x, 'first new', 'second new');
54310121 600
55497cff 601 # perl4 prints: second new
602 # perl5 prints: 3
603
d52dc02a 604=item * Some error messages differ
6dbacca0 605
606Some error messages will be different.
607
d52dc02a 608=item * C<split()> honors subroutine args
6dbacca0 609
46836f5c 610In Perl 4, if in list context the delimiters to the first argument of
611C<split()> were C<??>, the result would be placed in C<@_> as well as
612being returned. Perl 5 has more respect for your subroutine arguments.
613
d52dc02a 614=item * Bugs removed
46836f5c 615
6dbacca0 616Some bugs may have been inadvertently removed. :-)
617
618=back
619
620=head2 Parsing Traps
621
622Perl4-to-Perl5 traps from having to do with parsing.
623
624=over 4
625
d52dc02a 626=item * Space between . and = triggers syntax error
6dbacca0 627
628Note the space between . and =
629
630 $string . = "more string";
631 print $string;
54310121 632
6dbacca0 633 # perl4 prints: more string
634 # perl5 prints: syntax error at - line 1, near ". ="
635
d52dc02a 636=item * Better parsing in perl 5
6dbacca0 637
638Better parsing in perl 5
639
640 sub foo {}
641 &foo
642 print("hello, world\n");
54310121 643
6dbacca0 644 # perl4 prints: hello, world
645 # perl5 prints: syntax error
646
d52dc02a 647=item * Function parsing
6dbacca0 648
649"if it looks like a function, it is a function" rule.
650
651 print
652 ($foo == 1) ? "is one\n" : "is zero\n";
54310121 653
6dbacca0 654 # perl4 prints: is zero
655 # perl5 warns: "Useless use of a constant in void context" if using -w
656
d52dc02a 657=item * String interpolation of C<$#array> differs
c12982c8 658
659String interpolation of the C<$#array> construct differs when braces
660are to used around the name.
661
9fda99eb 662 @a = (1..3);
c12982c8 663 print "${#a}";
664
665 # perl4 prints: 2
666 # perl5 fails with syntax error
667
668 @ = (1..3);
669 print "$#{a}";
670
671 # perl4 prints: {a}
672 # perl5 prints: 2
673
ba0dd969 674=item * Perl guesses on C<map>, C<grep> followed by C<{> if it starts BLOCK or hash ref
bf1f8817 675
676When perl sees C<map {> (or C<grep {>), it has to guess whether the C<{>
677starts a BLOCK or a hash reference. If it guesses wrong, it will report
678a syntax error near the C<}> and the missing (or unexpected) comma.
679
680Use unary C<+> before C<{> on a hash reference, and unary C<+> applied
681to the first thing in a BLOCK (after C<{>), for perl to guess right all
682the time. (See L<perlfunc/map>.)
683
6dbacca0 684=back
685
686=head2 Numerical Traps
687
688Perl4-to-Perl5 traps having to do with numerical operators,
689operands, or output from same.
690
691=over 5
692
d52dc02a 693=item * Formatted output and significant digits
6dbacca0 694
a9709c40 695Formatted output and significant digits. In general, Perl 5
696tries to be more precise. For example, on a Solaris Sparc:
6dbacca0 697
698 print 7.373504 - 0, "\n";
54310121 699 printf "%20.18f\n", 7.373504 - 0;
700
6dbacca0 701 # Perl4 prints:
a9709c40 702 7.3750399999999996141
703 7.375039999999999614
54310121 704
6dbacca0 705 # Perl5 prints:
706 7.373504
a9709c40 707 7.375039999999999614
708
709Notice how the first result looks better in Perl 5.
710
711Your results may vary, since your floating point formatting routines
712and even floating point format may be slightly different.
6dbacca0 713
d52dc02a 714=item * Auto-increment operator over signed int limit deleted
6dbacca0 715
5f05dabc 716This specific item has been deleted. It demonstrated how the auto-increment
5e378fdf 717operator would not catch when a number went over the signed int limit. Fixed
a6006777 718in version 5.003_04. But always be wary when using large integers.
719If in doubt:
6dbacca0 720
5e378fdf 721 use Math::BigInt;
6dbacca0 722
ba0dd969 723=item * Assignment of return values from numeric equality tests doesn't work
6dbacca0 724
725Assignment of return values from numeric equality tests
726does not work in perl5 when the test evaluates to false (0).
d1be9408 727Logical tests now return a null, instead of 0
a6006777 728
6dbacca0 729 $p = ($test == 1);
730 print $p,"\n";
a6006777 731
6dbacca0 732 # perl4 prints: 0
733 # perl5 prints:
734
dc848c6f 735Also see L<"General Regular Expression Traps using s///, etc.">
736for another example of this new feature...
6dbacca0 737
651ad3b1 738=item * Bitwise string ops
739
740When bitwise operators which can operate upon either numbers or
741strings (C<& | ^ ~>) are given only strings as arguments, perl4 would
742treat the operands as bitstrings so long as the program contained a call
743to the C<vec()> function. perl5 treats the string operands as bitstrings.
744(See L<perlop/Bitwise String Operators> for more details.)
745
746 $fred = "10";
747 $barney = "12";
748 $betty = $fred & $barney;
749 print "$betty\n";
750 # Uncomment the next line to change perl4's behavior
751 # ($dummy) = vec("dummy", 0, 0);
752
753 # Perl4 prints:
754 8
755
756 # Perl5 prints:
757 10
758
759 # If vec() is used anywhere in the program, both print:
760 10
761
6dbacca0 762=back
763
764=head2 General data type traps
765
766Perl4-to-Perl5 traps involving most data-types, and their usage
767within certain expressions and/or context.
768
769=over 5
770
d52dc02a 771=item * Negative array subscripts now count from the end of array
6dbacca0 772
773Negative array subscripts now count from the end of the array.
774
775 @a = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
776 print "The third element of the array is $a[3] also expressed as $a[-2] \n";
54310121 777
6dbacca0 778 # perl4 prints: The third element of the array is 4 also expressed as
779 # perl5 prints: The third element of the array is 4 also expressed as 4
780
d52dc02a 781=item * Setting C<$#array> lower now discards array elements
6dbacca0 782
783Setting C<$#array> lower now discards array elements, and makes them
784impossible to recover.
785
54310121 786 @a = (a,b,c,d,e);
6dbacca0 787 print "Before: ",join('',@a);
54310121 788 $#a =1;
6dbacca0 789 print ", After: ",join('',@a);
790 $#a =3;
791 print ", Recovered: ",join('',@a),"\n";
54310121 792
6dbacca0 793 # perl4 prints: Before: abcde, After: ab, Recovered: abcd
794 # perl5 prints: Before: abcde, After: ab, Recovered: ab
795
d52dc02a 796=item * Hashes get defined before use
6dbacca0 797
798Hashes get defined before use
799
54310121 800 local($s,@a,%h);
6dbacca0 801 die "scalar \$s defined" if defined($s);
802 die "array \@a defined" if defined(@a);
803 die "hash \%h defined" if defined(%h);
54310121 804
6dbacca0 805 # perl4 prints:
806 # perl5 dies: hash %h defined
807
475342a6 808Perl will now generate a warning when it sees defined(@a) and
809defined(%h).
810
d52dc02a 811=item * Glob assignment from localized variable to variable
6dbacca0 812
813glob assignment from variable to variable will fail if the assigned
814variable is localized subsequent to the assignment
815
816 @a = ("This is Perl 4");
817 *b = *a;
818 local(@a);
819 print @b,"\n";
54310121 820
6dbacca0 821 # perl4 prints: This is Perl 4
822 # perl5 prints:
54310121 823
d52dc02a 824=item * Assigning C<undef> to glob
54310121 825
a3cb178b 826Assigning C<undef> to a glob has no effect in Perl 5. In Perl 4
827it undefines the associated scalar (but may have other side effects
9fda99eb 828including SEGVs). Perl 5 will also warn if C<undef> is assigned to a
829typeglob. (Note that assigning C<undef> to a typeglob is different
830than calling the C<undef> function on a typeglob (C<undef *foo>), which
831has quite a few effects.
832
833 $foo = "bar";
834 *foo = undef;
835 print $foo;
836
837 # perl4 prints:
838 # perl4 warns: "Use of uninitialized variable" if using -w
839 # perl5 prints: bar
840 # perl5 warns: "Undefined value assigned to typeglob" if using -w
5e378fdf 841
d52dc02a 842=item * Changes in unary negation (of strings)
6dbacca0 843
844Changes in unary negation (of strings)
845This change effects both the return value and what it
846does to auto(magic)increment.
847
848 $x = "aaa";
849 print ++$x," : ";
850 print -$x," : ";
851 print ++$x,"\n";
54310121 852
6dbacca0 853 # perl4 prints: aab : -0 : 1
854 # perl5 prints: aab : -aab : aac
855
d52dc02a 856=item * Modifying of constants prohibited
6dbacca0 857
858perl 4 lets you modify constants:
859
860 $foo = "x";
861 &mod($foo);
862 for ($x = 0; $x < 3; $x++) {
863 &mod("a");
864 }
865 sub mod {
866 print "before: $_[0]";
867 $_[0] = "m";
868 print " after: $_[0]\n";
869 }
54310121 870
6dbacca0 871 # perl4:
872 # before: x after: m
873 # before: a after: m
874 # before: m after: m
875 # before: m after: m
54310121 876
6dbacca0 877 # Perl5:
878 # before: x after: m
879 # Modification of a read-only value attempted at foo.pl line 12.
880 # before: a
881
d52dc02a 882=item * C<defined $var> behavior changed
6dbacca0 883
884The behavior is slightly different for:
885
886 print "$x", defined $x
54310121 887
6dbacca0 888 # perl 4: 1
889 # perl 5: <no output, $x is not called into existence>
890
d52dc02a 891=item * Variable Suicide
6dbacca0 892
893Variable suicide behavior is more consistent under Perl 5.
aa689395 894Perl5 exhibits the same behavior for hashes and scalars,
5f05dabc 895that perl4 exhibits for only scalars.
6dbacca0 896
897 $aGlobal{ "aKey" } = "global value";
898 print "MAIN:", $aGlobal{"aKey"}, "\n";
899 $GlobalLevel = 0;
900 &test( *aGlobal );
901
902 sub test {
903 local( *theArgument ) = @_;
904 local( %aNewLocal ); # perl 4 != 5.001l,m
54310121 905 $aNewLocal{"aKey"} = "this should never appear";
6dbacca0 906 print "SUB: ", $theArgument{"aKey"}, "\n";
907 $aNewLocal{"aKey"} = "level $GlobalLevel"; # what should print
908 $GlobalLevel++;
909 if( $GlobalLevel<4 ) {
910 &test( *aNewLocal );
911 }
912 }
54310121 913
6dbacca0 914 # Perl4:
915 # MAIN:global value
916 # SUB: global value
917 # SUB: level 0
918 # SUB: level 1
919 # SUB: level 2
54310121 920
6dbacca0 921 # Perl5:
922 # MAIN:global value
923 # SUB: global value
924 # SUB: this should never appear
925 # SUB: this should never appear
926 # SUB: this should never appear
927
84dc3c4d 928=back
6dbacca0 929
930=head2 Context Traps - scalar, list contexts
931
932=over 5
933
d52dc02a 934=item * Elements of argument lists for formats evaluated in list context
6dbacca0 935
936The elements of argument lists for formats are now evaluated in list
937context. This means you can interpolate list values now.
938
939 @fmt = ("foo","bar","baz");
940 format STDOUT=
941 @<<<<< @||||| @>>>>>
942 @fmt;
943 .
54310121 944 write;
945
6dbacca0 946 # perl4 errors: Please use commas to separate fields in file
947 # perl5 prints: foo bar baz
948
d52dc02a 949=item * C<caller()> returns false value in scalar context if no caller present
6dbacca0 950
54310121 951The C<caller()> function now returns a false value in a scalar context
952if there is no caller. This lets library files determine if they're
6dbacca0 953being required.
954
955 caller() ? (print "You rang?\n") : (print "Got a 0\n");
54310121 956
6dbacca0 957 # perl4 errors: There is no caller
958 # perl5 prints: Got a 0
5e378fdf 959
d52dc02a 960=item * Comma operator in scalar context gives scalar context to args
6dbacca0 961
962The comma operator in a scalar context is now guaranteed to give a
963scalar context to its arguments.
964
965 @y= ('a','b','c');
966 $x = (1, 2, @y);
967 print "x = $x\n";
54310121 968
6dbacca0 969 # Perl4 prints: x = c # Thinks list context interpolates list
970 # Perl5 prints: x = 3 # Knows scalar uses length of list
971
d52dc02a 972=item * C<sprintf()> prototyped as C<($;@)>
6dbacca0 973
9fda99eb 974C<sprintf()> is prototyped as ($;@), so its first argument is given scalar
975context. Thus, if passed an array, it will probably not do what you want,
976unlike Perl 4:
6dbacca0 977
978 @z = ('%s%s', 'foo', 'bar');
979 $x = sprintf(@z);
9fda99eb 980 print $x;
54310121 981
9fda99eb 982 # perl4 prints: foobar
983 # perl5 prints: 3
6dbacca0 984
9fda99eb 985C<printf()> works the same as it did in Perl 4, though:
6dbacca0 986
9fda99eb 987 @z = ('%s%s', 'foo', 'bar');
6dbacca0 988 printf STDOUT (@z);
54310121 989
6dbacca0 990 # perl4 prints: foobar
991 # perl5 prints: foobar
992
6dbacca0 993=back
994
995=head2 Precedence Traps
996
997Perl4-to-Perl5 traps involving precedence order.
998
f4b17341 999Perl 4 has almost the same precedence rules as Perl 5 for the operators
1000that they both have. Perl 4 however, seems to have had some
1001inconsistencies that made the behavior differ from what was documented.
1002
84dc3c4d 1003=over 5
1004
d52dc02a 1005=item * LHS vs. RHS of any assignment operator
5e378fdf 1006
8dbef698 1007LHS vs. RHS of any assignment operator. LHS is evaluated first
1008in perl4, second in perl5; this can affect the relationship
1009between side-effects in sub-expressions.
5e378fdf 1010
1011 @arr = ( 'left', 'right' );
1012 $a{shift @arr} = shift @arr;
1013 print join( ' ', keys %a );
1014
1015 # perl4 prints: left
1016 # perl5 prints: right
1017
d52dc02a 1018=item * Semantic errors introduced due to precedence
6dbacca0 1019
1020These are now semantic errors because of precedence:
1021
1022 @list = (1,2,3,4,5);
1023 %map = ("a",1,"b",2,"c",3,"d",4);
1024 $n = shift @list + 2; # first item in list plus 2
1025 print "n is $n, ";
1026 $m = keys %map + 2; # number of items in hash plus 2
1027 print "m is $m\n";
54310121 1028
6dbacca0 1029 # perl4 prints: n is 3, m is 6
1030 # perl5 errors and fails to compile
1031
d52dc02a 1032=item * Precedence of assignment operators same as the precedence of assignment
a0d0e21e 1033
4633a7c4 1034The precedence of assignment operators is now the same as the precedence
1035of assignment. Perl 4 mistakenly gave them the precedence of the associated
1036operator. So you now must parenthesize them in expressions like
1037
1038 /foo/ ? ($a += 2) : ($a -= 2);
a6006777 1039
4633a7c4 1040Otherwise
1041
6dbacca0 1042 /foo/ ? $a += 2 : $a -= 2
4633a7c4 1043
1044would be erroneously parsed as
1045
1046 (/foo/ ? $a += 2 : $a) -= 2;
1047
1048On the other hand,
1049
54310121 1050 $a += /foo/ ? 1 : 2;
4633a7c4 1051
1052now works as a C programmer would expect.
1053
d52dc02a 1054=item * C<open> requires parentheses around filehandle
4633a7c4 1055
6dbacca0 1056 open FOO || die;
a0d0e21e 1057
5f05dabc 1058is now incorrect. You need parentheses around the filehandle.
1059Otherwise, perl5 leaves the statement as its default precedence:
a0d0e21e 1060
6dbacca0 1061 open(FOO || die);
54310121 1062
6dbacca0 1063 # perl4 opens or dies
9fda99eb 1064 # perl5 opens FOO, dying only if 'FOO' is false, i.e. never
a0d0e21e 1065
d52dc02a 1066=item * C<$:> precedence over C<$::> gone
a0d0e21e 1067
6dbacca0 1068perl4 gives the special variable, C<$:> precedence, where perl5
1069treats C<$::> as main C<package>
a0d0e21e 1070
6dbacca0 1071 $a = "x"; print "$::a";
54310121 1072
6dbacca0 1073 # perl 4 prints: -:a
1074 # perl 5 prints: x
5e378fdf 1075
d52dc02a 1076=item * Precedence of file test operators documented
a0d0e21e 1077
f4b17341 1078perl4 had buggy precedence for the file test operators vis-a-vis
1079the assignment operators. Thus, although the precedence table
1080for perl4 leads one to believe C<-e $foo .= "q"> should parse as
1081C<((-e $foo) .= "q")>, it actually parses as C<(-e ($foo .= "q"))>.
1082In perl5, the precedence is as documented.
54310121 1083
1084 -e $foo .= "q"
a0d0e21e 1085
6dbacca0 1086 # perl4 prints: no output
1087 # perl5 prints: Can't modify -e in concatenation
a0d0e21e 1088
d52dc02a 1089=item * C<keys>, C<each>, C<values> are regular named unary operators
f4b17341 1090
1091In perl4, keys(), each() and values() were special high-precedence operators
1092that operated on a single hash, but in perl5, they are regular named unary
1093operators. As documented, named unary operators have lower precedence
1094than the arithmetic and concatenation operators C<+ - .>, but the perl4
1095variants of these operators actually bind tighter than C<+ - .>.
1096Thus, for:
1097
1098 %foo = 1..10;
1099 print keys %foo - 1
1100
1101 # perl4 prints: 4
1102 # perl5 prints: Type of arg 1 to keys must be hash (not subtraction)
1103
1104The perl4 behavior was probably more useful, if less consistent.
1105
6dbacca0 1106=back
1107
1108=head2 General Regular Expression Traps using s///, etc.
1109
1110All types of RE traps.
1111
1112=over 5
1113
d52dc02a 1114=item * C<s'$lhs'$rhs'> interpolates on either side
6dbacca0 1115
1116C<s'$lhs'$rhs'> now does no interpolation on either side. It used to
19799a22 1117interpolate $lhs but not $rhs. (And still does not match a literal
6dbacca0 1118'$' in string)
1119
1120 $a=1;$b=2;
1121 $string = '1 2 $a $b';
1122 $string =~ s'$a'$b';
1123 print $string,"\n";
54310121 1124
6dbacca0 1125 # perl4 prints: $b 2 $a $b
1126 # perl5 prints: 1 2 $a $b
1127
d52dc02a 1128=item * C<m//g> attaches its state to the searched string
a0d0e21e 1129
1130C<m//g> now attaches its state to the searched string rather than the
6dbacca0 1131regular expression. (Once the scope of a block is left for the sub, the
1132state of the searched string is lost)
1133
1134 $_ = "ababab";
1135 while(m/ab/g){
1136 &doit("blah");
1137 }
1138 sub doit{local($_) = shift; print "Got $_ "}
54310121 1139
9fda99eb 1140 # perl4 prints: Got blah Got blah Got blah Got blah
6dbacca0 1141 # perl5 prints: infinite loop blah...
1142
d52dc02a 1143=item * C<m//o> used within an anonymous sub
6dbacca0 1144
68dc0745 1145Currently, if you use the C<m//o> qualifier on a regular expression
1146within an anonymous sub, I<all> closures generated from that anonymous
1147sub will use the regular expression as it was compiled when it was used
1148the very first time in any such closure. For instance, if you say
1149
1150 sub build_match {
1151 my($left,$right) = @_;
1152 return sub { $_[0] =~ /$left stuff $right/o; };
1153 }
9fda99eb 1154 $good = build_match('foo','bar');
1155 $bad = build_match('baz','blarch');
1156 print $good->('foo stuff bar') ? "ok\n" : "not ok\n";
1157 print $bad->('baz stuff blarch') ? "ok\n" : "not ok\n";
1158 print $bad->('foo stuff bar') ? "not ok\n" : "ok\n";
1159
1160For most builds of Perl5, this will print:
1161ok
1162not ok
1163not ok
68dc0745 1164
1165build_match() will always return a sub which matches the contents of
19799a22 1166$left and $right as they were the I<first> time that build_match()
68dc0745 1167was called, not as they are in the current call.
1168
d52dc02a 1169=item * C<$+> isn't set to whole match
68dc0745 1170
6dbacca0 1171If no parentheses are used in a match, Perl4 sets C<$+> to
1172the whole match, just like C<$&>. Perl5 does not.
1173
1174 "abcdef" =~ /b.*e/;
1175 print "\$+ = $+\n";
54310121 1176
6dbacca0 1177 # perl4 prints: bcde
1178 # perl5 prints:
1179
d52dc02a 1180=item * Substitution now returns null string if it fails
6dbacca0 1181
1182substitution now returns the null string if it fails
1183
1184 $string = "test";
1185 $value = ($string =~ s/foo//);
1186 print $value, "\n";
54310121 1187
6dbacca0 1188 # perl4 prints: 0
1189 # perl5 prints:
1190
1191Also see L<Numerical Traps> for another example of this new feature.
1192
d52dc02a 1193=item * C<s`lhs`rhs`> is now a normal substitution
6dbacca0 1194
54310121 1195C<s`lhs`rhs`> (using backticks) is now a normal substitution, with no
1196backtick expansion
6dbacca0 1197
1198 $string = "";
1199 $string =~ s`^`hostname`;
1200 print $string, "\n";
54310121 1201
6dbacca0 1202 # perl4 prints: <the local hostname>
1203 # perl5 prints: hostname
1204
d52dc02a 1205=item * Stricter parsing of variables in regular expressions
6dbacca0 1206
1207Stricter parsing of variables used in regular expressions
1208
1209 s/^([^$grpc]*$grpc[$opt$plus$rep]?)//o;
54310121 1210
6dbacca0 1211 # perl4: compiles w/o error
1212 # perl5: with Scalar found where operator expected ..., near "$opt$plus"
1213
1214an added component of this example, apparently from the same script, is
1215the actual value of the s'd string after the substitution.
1216C<[$opt]> is a character class in perl4 and an array subscript in perl5
1217
54310121 1218 $grpc = 'a';
6dbacca0 1219 $opt = 'r';
1220 $_ = 'bar';
1221 s/^([^$grpc]*$grpc[$opt]?)/foo/;
1222 print ;
54310121 1223
6dbacca0 1224 # perl4 prints: foo
1225 # perl5 prints: foobar
1226
d52dc02a 1227=item * C<m?x?> matches only once
6dbacca0 1228
1229Under perl5, C<m?x?> matches only once, like C<?x?>. Under perl4, it matched
1230repeatedly, like C</x/> or C<m!x!>.
1231
1232 $test = "once";
1233 sub match { $test =~ m?once?; }
1234 &match();
1235 if( &match() ) {
1236 # m?x? matches more then once
1237 print "perl4\n";
54310121 1238 } else {
6dbacca0 1239 # m?x? matches only once
54310121 1240 print "perl5\n";
6dbacca0 1241 }
54310121 1242
6dbacca0 1243 # perl4 prints: perl4
1244 # perl5 prints: perl5
a0d0e21e 1245
d52dc02a 1246=item * Failed matches don't reset the match variables
665e98b9 1247
1248Unlike in Ruby, failed matches in Perl do not reset the match variables
1249($1, $2, ..., C<$`>, ...).
a0d0e21e 1250
6dbacca0 1251=back
1252
1253=head2 Subroutine, Signal, Sorting Traps
a0d0e21e 1254
6dbacca0 1255The general group of Perl4-to-Perl5 traps having to do with
1256Signals, Sorting, and their related subroutines, as well as
1257general subroutine traps. Includes some OS-Specific traps.
a0d0e21e 1258
6dbacca0 1259=over 5
a0d0e21e 1260
ba0dd969 1261=item * Barewords that used to look like strings look like subroutine calls
a0d0e21e 1262
6dbacca0 1263Barewords that used to look like strings to Perl will now look like subroutine
1264calls if a subroutine by that name is defined before the compiler sees them.
a0d0e21e 1265
6dbacca0 1266 sub SeeYa { warn"Hasta la vista, baby!" }
1267 $SIG{'TERM'} = SeeYa;
1268 print "SIGTERM is now $SIG{'TERM'}\n";
54310121 1269
9fda99eb 1270 # perl4 prints: SIGTERM is now main'SeeYa
1271 # perl5 prints: SIGTERM is now main::1 (and warns "Hasta la vista, baby!")
a0d0e21e 1272
6dbacca0 1273Use B<-w> to catch this one
a0d0e21e 1274
d52dc02a 1275=item * Reverse is no longer allowed as the name of a sort subroutine
a0d0e21e 1276
6dbacca0 1277reverse is no longer allowed as the name of a sort subroutine.
a0d0e21e 1278
6dbacca0 1279 sub reverse{ print "yup "; $a <=> $b }
9fda99eb 1280 print sort reverse (2,1,3);
54310121 1281
9fda99eb 1282 # perl4 prints: yup yup 123
1283 # perl5 prints: 123
1284 # perl5 warns (if using -w): Ambiguous call resolved as CORE::reverse()
a0d0e21e 1285
d52dc02a 1286=item * C<warn()> won't let you specify a filehandle.
b996531f 1287
1288Although it _always_ printed to STDERR, warn() would let you specify a
1289filehandle in perl4. With perl5 it does not.
5e378fdf 1290
1291 warn STDERR "Foo!";
1292
1293 # perl4 prints: Foo!
54310121 1294 # perl5 prints: String found where operator expected
5e378fdf 1295
6dbacca0 1296=back
a0d0e21e 1297
6dbacca0 1298=head2 OS Traps
1299
1300=over 5
1301
d52dc02a 1302=item * SysV resets signal handler correctly
6dbacca0 1303
54310121 1304Under HPUX, and some other SysV OSes, one had to reset any signal handler,
1305within the signal handler function, each time a signal was handled with
1306perl4. With perl5, the reset is now done correctly. Any code relying
6dbacca0 1307on the handler _not_ being reset will have to be reworked.
1308
a6006777 1309Since version 5.002, Perl uses sigaction() under SysV.
6dbacca0 1310
1311 sub gotit {
54310121 1312 print "Got @_... ";
1313 }
6dbacca0 1314 $SIG{'INT'} = 'gotit';
54310121 1315
6dbacca0 1316 $| = 1;
1317 $pid = fork;
1318 if ($pid) {
1319 kill('INT', $pid);
1320 sleep(1);
1321 kill('INT', $pid);
54310121 1322 } else {
6dbacca0 1323 while (1) {sleep(10);}
54310121 1324 }
1325
6dbacca0 1326 # perl4 (HPUX) prints: Got INT...
1327 # perl5 (HPUX) prints: Got INT... Got INT...
1328
d52dc02a 1329=item * SysV C<seek()> appends correctly
6dbacca0 1330
c47ff5f1 1331Under SysV OSes, C<seek()> on a file opened to append C<<< >> >>> now does
54310121 1332the right thing w.r.t. the fopen() manpage. e.g., - When a file is opened
6dbacca0 1333for append, it is impossible to overwrite information already in
1334the file.
1335
1336 open(TEST,">>seek.test");
54310121 1337 $start = tell TEST ;
6dbacca0 1338 foreach(1 .. 9){
1339 print TEST "$_ ";
1340 }
1341 $end = tell TEST ;
1342 seek(TEST,$start,0);
1343 print TEST "18 characters here";
54310121 1344
6dbacca0 1345 # perl4 (solaris) seek.test has: 18 characters here
1346 # perl5 (solaris) seek.test has: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 18 characters here
a0d0e21e 1347
a0d0e21e 1348
a0d0e21e 1349
6dbacca0 1350=back
a0d0e21e 1351
6dbacca0 1352=head2 Interpolation Traps
a0d0e21e 1353
8b0a4b75 1354Perl4-to-Perl5 traps having to do with how things get interpolated
1355within certain expressions, statements, contexts, or whatever.
1356
6dbacca0 1357=over 5
a0d0e21e 1358
d52dc02a 1359=item * C<@> always interpolates an array in double-quotish strings
a0d0e21e 1360
6dbacca0 1361@ now always interpolates an array in double-quotish strings.
1362
54310121 1363 print "To: someone@somewhere.com\n";
1364
6dbacca0 1365 # perl4 prints: To:someone@somewhere.com
8593bda5 1366 # perl < 5.6.1, error : In string, @somewhere now must be written as \@somewhere
1367 # perl >= 5.6.1, warning : Possible unintended interpolation of @somewhere in string
6dbacca0 1368
d52dc02a 1369=item * Double-quoted strings may no longer end with an unescaped $
6dbacca0 1370
1fa58bec 1371Double-quoted strings may no longer end with an unescaped $.
6dbacca0 1372
1373 $foo = "foo$";
1fa58bec 1374 print "foo is $foo\n";
54310121 1375
1fa58bec 1376 # perl4 prints: foo is foo$
6dbacca0 1377 # perl5 errors: Final $ should be \$ or $name
1378
1379Note: perl5 DOES NOT error on the terminating @ in $bar
1380
ba0dd969 1381=item * Arbitrary expressions are evaluated inside braces within double quotes
a0d0e21e 1382
8b0a4b75 1383Perl now sometimes evaluates arbitrary expressions inside braces that occur
1384within double quotes (usually when the opening brace is preceded by C<$>
1385or C<@>).
1386
1387 @www = "buz";
1388 $foo = "foo";
1389 $bar = "bar";
1390 sub foo { return "bar" };
1391 print "|@{w.w.w}|${main'foo}|";
1392
1393 # perl4 prints: |@{w.w.w}|foo|
1394 # perl5 prints: |buz|bar|
1395
1396Note that you can C<use strict;> to ward off such trappiness under perl5.
1397
d52dc02a 1398=item * C<$$x> now tries to dereference $x
8b0a4b75 1399
9fda99eb 1400The construct "this is $$x" used to interpolate the pid at that point, but
1401now tries to dereference $x. C<$$> by itself still works fine, however.
748a9306 1402
9fda99eb 1403 $s = "a reference";
1404 $x = *s;
6dbacca0 1405 print "this is $$x\n";
748a9306 1406
6dbacca0 1407 # perl4 prints: this is XXXx (XXX is the current pid)
9fda99eb 1408 # perl5 prints: this is a reference
6dbacca0 1409
ba0dd969 1410=item * Creation of hashes on the fly with C<eval "EXPR"> requires protection
6dbacca0 1411
54310121 1412Creation of hashes on the fly with C<eval "EXPR"> now requires either both
1413C<$>'s to be protected in the specification of the hash name, or both curlies
6dbacca0 1414to be protected. If both curlies are protected, the result will be compatible
1415with perl4 and perl5. This is a very common practice, and should be changed
1416to use the block form of C<eval{}> if possible.
c07a80fd 1417
6dbacca0 1418 $hashname = "foobar";
1419 $key = "baz";
1420 $value = 1234;
1421 eval "\$$hashname{'$key'} = q|$value|";
1422 (defined($foobar{'baz'})) ? (print "Yup") : (print "Nope");
1423
1424 # perl4 prints: Yup
1425 # perl5 prints: Nope
1426
1427Changing
1428
1429 eval "\$$hashname{'$key'} = q|$value|";
c07a80fd 1430
1431to
1432
6dbacca0 1433 eval "\$\$hashname{'$key'} = q|$value|";
c07a80fd 1434
6dbacca0 1435causes the following result:
c07a80fd 1436
6dbacca0 1437 # perl4 prints: Nope
1438 # perl5 prints: Yup
c07a80fd 1439
6dbacca0 1440or, changing to
a0d0e21e 1441
6dbacca0 1442 eval "\$$hashname\{'$key'\} = q|$value|";
1443
1444causes the following result:
1445
1446 # perl4 prints: Yup
1447 # perl5 prints: Yup
1448 # and is compatible for both versions
1449
1450
d52dc02a 1451=item * Bugs in earlier perl versions
6dbacca0 1452
1453perl4 programs which unconsciously rely on the bugs in earlier perl versions.
1454
1455 perl -e '$bar=q/not/; print "This is $foo{$bar} perl5"'
54310121 1456
6dbacca0 1457 # perl4 prints: This is not perl5
1458 # perl5 prints: This is perl5
1459
d52dc02a 1460=item * Array and hash brackets during interpolation
6dbacca0 1461
418272e4 1462You also have to be careful about array and hash brackets during
1463interpolation.
1464
1465 print "$foo["
1466
1467 perl 4 prints: [
1468 perl 5 prints: syntax error
6dbacca0 1469
1470 print "$foo{"
1471
1472 perl 4 prints: {
1473 perl 5 prints: syntax error
1474
418272e4 1475Perl 5 is expecting to find an index or key name following the respective
1476brackets, as well as an ending bracket of the appropriate type. In order
1477to mimic the behavior of Perl 4, you must escape the bracket like so.
1478
1479 print "$foo\[";
1480 print "$foo\{";
1481
d52dc02a 1482=item * Interpolation of C<\$$foo{bar}>
6dbacca0 1483
d52dc02a 1484Similarly, watch out for: C<\$$foo{bar}>
6dbacca0 1485
9fda99eb 1486 $foo = "baz";
6dbacca0 1487 print "\$$foo{bar}\n";
54310121 1488
9fda99eb 1489 # perl4 prints: $baz{bar}
6dbacca0 1490 # perl5 prints: $
1491
9fda99eb 1492Perl 5 is looking for C<$foo{bar}> which doesn't exist, but perl 4 is
1493happy just to expand $foo to "baz" by itself. Watch out for this
6dbacca0 1494especially in C<eval>'s.
1495
d52dc02a 1496=item * C<qq()> string passed to C<eval> will not find string terminator
6dbacca0 1497
1498C<qq()> string passed to C<eval>
1499
1500 eval qq(
1501 foreach \$y (keys %\$x\) {
1502 \$count++;
1503 }
1504 );
54310121 1505
6dbacca0 1506 # perl4 runs this ok
54310121 1507 # perl5 prints: Can't find string terminator ")"
a0d0e21e 1508
6dbacca0 1509=back
1510
1511=head2 DBM Traps
1512
1513General DBM traps.
1514
1515=over 5
1516
ba0dd969 1517=item * Perl5 must have been linked with same dbm/ndbm as the default for C<dbmopen()>
6dbacca0 1518
1519Existing dbm databases created under perl4 (or any other dbm/ndbm tool)
1520may cause the same script, run under perl5, to fail. The build of perl5
1521must have been linked with the same dbm/ndbm as the default for C<dbmopen()>
1522to function properly without C<tie>'ing to an extension dbm implementation.
1523
1524 dbmopen (%dbm, "file", undef);
1525 print "ok\n";
1526
1527 # perl4 prints: ok
1528 # perl5 prints: ok (IFF linked with -ldbm or -lndbm)
1529
1530
ba0dd969 1531=item * DBM exceeding limit on the key/value size will cause perl5 to exit immediately
6dbacca0 1532
1533Existing dbm databases created under perl4 (or any other dbm/ndbm tool)
1534may cause the same script, run under perl5, to fail. The error generated
1535when exceeding the limit on the key/value size will cause perl5 to exit
1536immediately.
1537
1538 dbmopen(DB, "testdb",0600) || die "couldn't open db! $!";
1539 $DB{'trap'} = "x" x 1024; # value too large for most dbm/ndbm
1540 print "YUP\n";
1541
1542 # perl4 prints:
1543 dbm store returned -1, errno 28, key "trap" at - line 3.
1544 YUP
1545
1546 # perl5 prints:
1547 dbm store returned -1, errno 28, key "trap" at - line 3.
a0d0e21e 1548
1549=back
6dbacca0 1550
1551=head2 Unclassified Traps
1552
1553Everything else.
1554
84dc3c4d 1555=over 5
1556
5db417f7 1557=item * C<require>/C<do> trap using returned value
6dbacca0 1558
1559If the file doit.pl has:
1560
1561 sub foo {
1562 $rc = do "./do.pl";
1563 return 8;
54310121 1564 }
6dbacca0 1565 print &foo, "\n";
1566
1567And the do.pl file has the following single line:
1568
1569 return 3;
1570
1571Running doit.pl gives the following:
1572
1573 # perl 4 prints: 3 (aborts the subroutine early)
54310121 1574 # perl 5 prints: 8
6dbacca0 1575
1576Same behavior if you replace C<do> with C<require>.
1577
5db417f7 1578=item * C<split> on empty string with LIMIT specified
1579
9fda99eb 1580 $string = '';
5db417f7 1581 @list = split(/foo/, $string, 2)
1582
1583Perl4 returns a one element list containing the empty string but Perl5
1584returns an empty list.
1585
6dbacca0 1586=back
1587
54310121 1588As always, if any of these are ever officially declared as bugs,
6dbacca0 1589they'll be fixed and removed.
1590