Re^2: Push array into array of arrays

I don't think there are special meanings for "@a" and "@b", I think you may be thinking about "$a" and "$b" which are identified as special variable for use in perl sort, see perlvar. perlcritic will create a message "Magic variable "@a" should be assigned as "local" at line..."; however, I am not aware of and cannot find any reference to "@a" or "@b" as being a magic variable

Please explain if I am missing something!

Cheers, lbe

Comment on Re^2: Push array into array of arrays

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Re^3: Push array into array of arrays by Marshall (Canon) on Dec 20, 2018 at 03:32 UTC
Hi Ibe, You have this completely right! My advice was over simplified. In Perl, the various sigils (example: %,$,@) have their own namespaces. Yes, it is possible to have @x and $x or even %x to be distinct things. $a is different than @a. I do not believe that using the same alphanumeric name for a hash, array or scalar is a good idea. Not everything that is allowed by Perl is "good idea". I recommend and advise avoiding using "a" or "b" for any kind of user variable. Consider `$a[1]` -- that accesses @a instead of the $a scalar. This can be confusing. I stand by my recommendation to avoid any user variable named "a" or "b" or using the same string to define things like: %xyz, $xyz, @xyz. Use different names for these very different things.	[reply] [d/l]

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Re^3: Push array into array of arrays
by Marshall (Canon) on Dec 20, 2018 at 03:32 UTC

My advice was over simplified.
In Perl, the various sigils (example: %,$,@) have their own namespaces.

Yes, it is possible to have @x and $x or even %x to be distinct things.
$a is different than @a.

I do not believe that using the same alphanumeric name for a hash, array or scalar is a good idea.
Not everything that is allowed by Perl is "good idea".

I recommend and advise avoiding using "a" or "b" for any kind of user variable.
Consider $a[1] -- that accesses @a instead of the $a scalar. This can be confusing.

I stand by my recommendation to avoid any user variable named "a" or "b" or using the same string to define things like: %xyz, $xyz, @xyz.
Use different names for these very different things.

[reply]
[d/l]