http://qs1969.pair.com?node_id=11559


in reply to for[each]
in thread My favorite looping mechanism in Perl is:

Well, 'for' and 'foreach' may be the same, but I never use them for it. I use 'foreach' to step through arrays/lists, and I use a 'for' for pattern switching:
for ($var) { /test/i && do { # stuff here last; }; do { # nice default last; # not really needed here .. But what the hey :) }; }
You can lable it SWITCH and say last SWITCH .. You can even use 'break' instead of 'last' (If I remember right) .. Either way, it works like the C/C++ switch with better matching abilities :) 'foreach' and 'while' do all my loops and walk throughs. 'map' and 'grep' are used for quickly one liners, or two, depening on what I want done ...

The right function for the job. I just don't have use for the formal 'for' loop. Too many things are far better and faster in Perl. Leave 'for(;;;)' for C(++)?, Pascal and (Q|R|V)?Basic.;P

-- philip
Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups.