increment a loop variable, even when the loop has been continued via
the C<next> statement.
+Extension modules can also hook into the Perl parser to define new
+kinds of compound statement. These are introduced by a keyword which
+the extension recognises, and the syntax following the keyword is
+defined entirely by the extension. If you are an implementor, see
+L<perlapi/PL_keyword_plugin> for the mechanism. If you are using such
+a module, see the module's documentation for details of the syntax that
+it defines.
+
=head2 Loop Control
X<loop control> X<loop, control> X<next> X<last> X<redo> X<continue>
when($_ ~~ $foo)
-In fact C<when(EXPR)> is treated as an implicit smart match most of the
-time. The exceptions are that when EXPR is:
+Most of the time, C<when(EXPR)> is treated as an implicit smart match of
+C<$_>, i.e. C<$_ ~~ EXPR>. (See L</"Smart matching in detail"> for more
+information on smart matching.) But when EXPR is one of the below
+exceptional cases, it is used directly as a boolean:
=over 4
when (/^\d+$/ && $_ < 75) { ... }
Another useful shortcut is that, if you use a literal array
-or hash as the argument to C<when>, it is turned into a
+or hash as the argument to C<given>, it is turned into a
reference. So C<given(@foo)> is the same as C<given(\@foo)>,
for example.
C<default> behaves exactly like C<when(1 == 1)>, which is
to say that it always matches.
-See L</"Smart matching in detail"> for more information
-on smart matching.
-
=head3 Breaking out
You can use the C<break> keyword to break out of the enclosing
}
print "\@array contains $count copies of 'foo'\n";
-On exit from the C<when> block, there is an implicit C<next>.
+At the end of all C<when> blocks, there is an implicit C<next>.
You can override that with an explicit C<last> if you're only
interested in the first match.
and "Array" entries apply in those cases. (For blessed references, the
"Object" entries apply.)
+Note that the "Matching Code" column is not always an exact rendition. For
+example, the smart match operator short-circuits whenever possible, but
+C<grep> does not.
+
$a $b Type of Match Implied Matching Code
====== ===== ===================== =============
Any undef undefined !defined $a
Any CodeRef scalar sub truth $b->($a)
Hash Hash hash keys identical (every key is found in both hashes)
- Array Hash hash slice existence grep { exists $b->{$_} } @$a
+ Array Hash hash keys intersection grep { exists $b->{$_} } @$a
Regex Hash hash key grep grep /$a/, keys %$b
undef Hash always false (undef can't be a key)
Any Hash hash entry existence exists $b->{$a}
- Hash Array hash slice existence grep { exists $a->{$_} } @$b
+ Hash Array hash keys intersection grep { exists $a->{$_} } @$b
Array Array arrays are comparable[2]
Regex Array array grep grep /$a/, @$b
undef Array array contains undef grep !defined, @$b
Object Any invokes ~~ overloading on $object, or falls back:
Any Num numeric equality $a == $b
Num numish[4] numeric equality $a == $b
+ undef Any undefined !defined($b)
Any Any string equality $a eq $b
1 - empty hashes or arrays will match.
3 - If a circular reference is found, we fall back to referential equality.
4 - either a real number, or a string that looks like a number
-The "matching code" doesn't represent the I<real> matching code,
-of course: it's just there to explain the intended meaning. Unlike
-C<grep>, the smart match operator will short-circuit whenever it can.
-
=head3 Custom matching via overloading
You can change the way that an object is matched by overloading
-the C<~~> operator. This trumps the usual smart match semantics.
-See L<overload>.
+the C<~~> operator. This may alter the usual smart match semantics.
It should be noted that C<~~> will refuse to work on objects that
don't overload it (in order to avoid relying on the object's
underlying structure).
+Note also that smart match's matching rules take precedence over
+overloading, so if C<$obj> has smart match overloading, then
+
+ $obj ~~ X
+
+will not automatically invoke the overload method with X as an argument;
+instead the table above is consulted as normal, and based in the type of X,
+overloading may or may not be invoked.
+
+See L<overload>.
+
=head3 Differences from Perl 6
The Perl 5 smart match and C<given>/C<when> constructs are not