in reply to buffering question

it makes no difference unless someone sneaked in  $|=-1; while you were not looking ;-)

Rudif

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Re: Re: buffering question
by I0 (Priest) on Aug 29, 2001 at 03:47 UTC
    $|=-1;is the same as $|=1; or ++$|;
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      I think Rudif was pointing out that $|++ and $|=1 are interchangable, unless the value of $| is already -1. In that (rather rare) case, the two behave quite differently.

      -Blake

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        It turns out that the value of $| can't be -1. This variable has special magic that only allows its value to be 0 or 1. Any true value assigned to $| becomes 1, and any false value becomes 0. So, $|++ and $|=1 really are interchangeable.

        Interestingly, $|-- and $|=0 are not interchangeable. If $| is 1, $|-- will of course set it to 0, but if $| is 0, $|-- will set it to 1!

        Similar magic can be found, for example, in the $. variable, which can only hold an integer.

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