an edge case

Do you consider your example the common case? Relative to all the readonly uses of $#{}. Eg. 0 .. $#a; there are myriad others.

dave_the_m suggested elsewhere that "$#{..} >= 0. As well as being uglier and more long winded than @{...},". Well, ditto scalar( @a ) - 1 versus $#a.

But as so often in these cases, discussion is not entertained.

On the basis of a very casual survey of code on my system and cpan, this "optimisation" is a space pessimisation if 9 cases out of 10 I looked at. In some cases, extremely.

I'd love to see the evidence justifying the addition of tens of words to any array that you reference $#, in order to save "1 pointers-worth of memory just to store NULL" on those you don't. And that's before you consider the peformance effects.

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
RIP PCW It is as I've been saying!(Audio until 20090817)

In reply to Re^7: Does @{ } copy arrays? by BrowserUk
in thread Does @{ } copy arrays? by tford

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