I was with you all the way until $cell or next;. That is a clever trick which doesn't convey intent and thus impedes understanding and maintenance.

From an understanding and maintenance point of view:

next if !$cell;

is succinct and clear and thus maintainable. In general I find if with a negated expression clearer than unless, especially if the expression is non-trivial. It also scales better so there are fewer surprises during maintenance if the expression needs to change.

Update: s/cleaver/clever/. Thanks kennethk - I'd like to claim the pun, but it wasn't.

Premature optimization is the root of all job security

In reply to Re^2: next unless condition by GrandFather
in thread next unless condition by hankcoder

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