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Why does passing a subroutine an undefined element in a hash create it?by faq_monk (Initiate) |
on Oct 08, 1999 at 00:20 UTC ( [id://634]=perlfaq nodetype: print w/replies, xml ) | Need Help?? |
Current Perl documentation can be found at perldoc.perl.org. Here is our local, out-dated (pre-5.6) version: If you say something like:
somefunc($hash{"nonesuch key here"});
Then that element ``autovivifies''; that is, it springs into existence whether you store something there or not. That's because functions get scalars passed in by reference. If
This has been fixed as of perl5.004. Normally, merely accessing a key's value for a nonexistent key does not cause that key to be forever there. This is different than awk's behavior.
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