1nickt has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Maybe I ate too much turkey yesterday, but ... using perl 5.40.1, why does this code work: 

$ perl -MTry::Tiny -e 'try {1/0};'
$

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while this code gets an error: 
$ perl -MTry::Tiny -E 'try {1/0};'
syntax error at -e line 1, near "};"
Execution of -e aborted due to compilation errors.
$

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Thanks.


The way forward always starts with a minimal test.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Try::Tiny and -E
by haukex (Archbishop) on Dec 26, 2025 at 12:56 UTC
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      Thank you.


      The way forward always starts with a minimal test.
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        Ways to address this:

        • You can convert to using the builtin feature. 

          $ perl -E'try { 1/0 } catch ( $e ) { }; say "ok"'   # Using 5.40
ok

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        • You can follow add no feature qw( try ); 

          $ perl -MTry::Tiny -E'no feature qw( try ); try { 1/0 }; say "ok"'
ok

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        • You can use an older version of the "language" (even if you're using the 5.40 interpreter). 

          $ perl -Mv5.38 -MTry::Tiny -e'try { 1/0 }; say "ok"'
ok

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          (5.10 would suffice for this program.)

        As you might have noticed, -E isn't forward compatible. Your program would have worked with 5.38, but it doesn't with 5.40. If it's not a throwaway program, it's safer to use 

        -e'use v5.xx; ...'

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        or 
        -Mv5.xx -e'...'

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        instead of 
        -E'...'   # XXX Not forward-compatible.

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Re: Try::Tiny and -E
by LanX (Saint) on Dec 26, 2025 at 13:34 UTC
    -E activates all features and try/catch is one of them.

    The parser is most likely expecting the catch{} part after try{}

    I think Try::Tiny should attempt to warn you or die.

    You might want to open a ticket.

    Cheers Rolf
    (addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
    see Wikisyntax for the Monastery

    (As of 2025-12-26 12:59 GMT, not sure when this post will get thru...)

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        Thank you.

        In hindsight it might be that Try::Tiny is complied before the -E takes effect.

        Not sure about the compilation order here. °

        In that case only something like an INIT {} block could catch the conflict.

        Cheers Rolf
        (addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
        see Wikisyntax for the Monastery

        °) redefining a built-in should fail...

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