I want my program to do different things depending on whether user input is a number, a string of only letters, and so on. So I try to make some sort of switch statement. But of course I want it to look really succinct and perly. I could do 
while(<>){
if(/.../){...}
elsif(/.../){...}
elsif(/.../){...}
}

[download]
or, using the fancy new switch feature, 
while(<>){
given($_){
when(...){...}
when(...){...}
when(...){...}
}}

[download]
Altho the given-when thing is cool, it would be cooler if the given() could be left out. It seems like the kind of thing that should be possible, because it's kind of, well, a given. Apparently it can be left out in a for() loop, but not in while(). And you can't use a for() loop in this case. Or can you?

And, by the way, is there an even shorter way to do print "\n"; ?

In reply to Succinct switch statement by Anonymous Monk

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.