print +(split)[1,5], $/ while <DATA>;

Could also be written like this: 

while ( my $line = <DATA> ) {
    my ( $second, $sixth ) = ( split //, $line )[1,5];
    print $second, $sixth, "\n";
}

[download]

The unary + sign is used to signal to Perl that you mean print( (split)[1,5], "\n" ); and not print(split[1,5]),"\n"; (which doesn't make sense, but is confusing to Perl nevertheless.

For a description of split, see split. For a description of using slices, see perldata. For a description of what $/ is, see perlvar. And for an explanation of the "do something while condition" syntax, see perlsyn.


Dave

In reply to Re^5: awk like question in perl by davido
in thread awk like question in perl by drock

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