how to assign empty single quotes into a string

Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

i have been trying to do a very basic thing, am not sure whether it can be done or not.
i want to assign '' into a variable so that when the variable is interpolated into a string, it is replaced by '' and not empty nothing.

$a = # what should i do? ;
print $a; # should print: ''
[download]

and not nothing.
thanks.

20040610 Edit by Corion: Added formatting

Comment on how to assign empty single quotes into a string Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: how to assign empty single quotes into a string by muntfish (Chaplain) on Jun 10, 2004 at 09:55 UTC
Just for clarity - you want the value of $a to be a string containing two single-quote (apostrophe) characters? If so, try this: `use strict; my $a = "''"; print "$a\n";` [download] As an aside, if you use <code> tags when posting, it makes it a lot easier to figure out what you mean... s^^unp(;75N=&9I<V@`ack(u,^;s\|$.+\`\|"$`$'\"$&\"$"\|ee;/m.+h/&&print$&;	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: how to assign empty single quotes into a string by ambrus (Abbot) on Jun 10, 2004 at 20:56 UTC
This is so much easier now than in the BASIC years when you had to write `chr$(34)` to get a double quote.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: how to assign empty single quotes into a string by Zaxo (Archbishop) on Jun 10, 2004 at 09:55 UTC
`"''"` will do; so will `q('')`. After Compline, Zaxo	[reply]
Re^2: how to assign empty single quotes into a string by bart (Canon) on Jun 10, 2004 at 14:01 UTC
As will `'\'\''` [download] This is Perl, there's always at least one way to do it!	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: how to assign empty single quotes into a string by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Jun 10, 2004 at 14:15 UTC
Or even `$var = chr(39) x 2;` Examine what is said, not who speaks. "Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham "Think for yourself!" - Abigail	[reply] [d/l]
Re: how to assign empty single quotes into a string by mawe (Hermit) on Jun 10, 2004 at 09:56 UTC
Hi! Do you mean something like this?: `$a = "\'\'"; print $a; # prints "` [download] UPDATE: Just realized that it also works without the backslashes :-/	[reply] [d/l]