So I was writing up a post about why a particular while statement was not getting executed while (forgive the pun) an equivalent foreach loop was when I realized my mistake.

I was operating with a scalar value not a list. Which led me to peer furthur into the depths of foreach, out of curiosity...

# foreach operating on a scalar:

my $scalar;
foreach ($scalar) {
    print "\$scalar = $_\n";
}
print "_END_\n";
[download]

Prints:

$scalar = 
_END_
[download]

# foreach operating on an array (list context):

my @array
foreach (@array) {
    print "\$array[x] = $_\n";
}
print "_END_\n";
[download]

Prints: _END_

# foreach operating on an array with first element defined as empty:

my @array
$array[0]    =    "";
foreach (@array) {
    print "\$array[x] = $_\n";
}
print "_END_\n";
[download]

Prints:

$array[x] = 
_END_
[download]

It starts to make sense (kind of) when you add another element...

# foreach operating on an array with two elements. first element defined as empty:

my @array
$array[0]    =    "";
$array[1]    =    "foo";
foreach (@array) {
    print "\$array[x] = $_\n";
}
print "_END_\n";
[download]

Prints:

$array[x] = 
$array[x] = foo
_END_
[download]

Thought it might be of interest...
-Matthew

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