In some code I have to now maintain, I first turned on use strict and use warnings. Then the following warning came up: Scalar value @_[0] better written as $_[0]

the error corresponds to this line:

( $paramName, $paramValue ) = split /=/, @_[0], 2;

My thinking on this code is that @_[0] creates an array slice consisting of the first element of @_. This array slice is a list, but is forced into scalar context because it is the second argument of split. Forcing a list into scalar context returns its last argument, which is the only argument in this case. Thus we would've been better off writing $_[0]

Sound good? I have to make this code change and justify it on this code which has had many years of comfortable use without use strict or use warnings. Any code change I make has to be rigorously justified, thus I want to 100% sure of what I am saying.


In reply to @_0 vs. $_0 by princepawn

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":



  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.