Re: Re^5: Checking input

I disagree. Consider the code:

#!/usr/bin/perl
$foo = "this is a \\ test";
print "Foo: ($foo)\n";
($bar) = $foo =~ /([\-])/;
print "Bar: ($bar)\n";
[download]

By your reasoning $bar should be '\'. It isn't. This script prints

Foo: (this is a \ test)
Bar: ()
[download]

Change $foo to "this is a \\ test - " and $bar becomes '-', not '\'. The \ before the - in the character class [\w\-] isn't escaping anything, true. But it doesn't get added to the character class.

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Re^7: Checking input by diotalevi (Canon) on Feb 25, 2003 at 23:46 UTC
Hmm.. I wonder where I picked that up then. Or was I conflating it with dot? Could be. Seeking Green geeks in Minnesota	[reply]
Re: Re^7: Checking input by Nkuvu (Priest) on Feb 25, 2003 at 23:57 UTC
My whole point was that something like `[a-]` looks like it is a typo on the programmer's part. If I saw this in a script my first question would be "Did you mean something like `[a-z]`?" If I saw `[-a]` it doesn't look like a typo. Nor does `[a\-]` look like a typo. I can't really explain it any more clearly than this. And I should note that this is a lot more trouble than I thought it would be. ;) Such a simple question shouldn't ever have to go to a Re^7...	[reply] [d/l] [select]