In English, it's much more efficient and common to say "can't" rather than "cannot" or "can not". Sure, it's redundant: you could have always used the longer form. But by permitting the contraction of "can't", you reward the more experienced English speaker with the savings of a bit of time and effort.
Similarly, foreach $_ (...) { ... } is semantically identical to foreach (...) {...} which is semantically identical to for (...) {...}. Sure, the latter are redundant in a pure sense, but they perform the "contraction" for the experienced Perl speaker.
So, it's best to learn the common "contractions". It saves time and typing for the expert, although it might slightly confuse a beginner. In fact, not using the contraction will likely confuse or call unduly attention for an expert, much like someone saying "can not" is when speaking English. An expert will wonder why the speaker didn't use "can't", because it sounds odd.
When I program in other languages, I miss Perl's contractions. Having only one (or two) ways to say something leaves me without a convenient short way to do something. I'm glad I have the opportunity to write mostly in Perl.
-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.
In reply to On Perl's "contractions"
by merlyn
in thread Legible or Obfuscated?
by Velaki
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