Confusing syntax error with grep

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

Hello fellow monks,

I am working on a little module to scan a whole tree of sourcefiles for use with Vim. One of the methods is:

sub parseDir {
    my $self    = shift;
    my $path    = shift;  # the path to the directroy we are
                          # currently scanning.
    my $out     = shift;  # the file we write the results to
    my $target  = shift;  # the thing we are searching for

    my $dir = IO::Dir->new($path) or die "can't open $path : $!";
    my @files = $dir->read();
    $dir->close();
    # Scan all interesting files
    grep(   ( -f "$path/$_" ) and 
            ( $_ =~ m/\.(java|xml|cpp|c|h|inc|pas)$/i ) and
            ( $self->Scan_File( "$path/$_", $out, $target ) )  , @file
+s );
    # Also scan any subdirectories.
    grep( ( ( -d "$path/$_" ) and 
            ( $_ !~ /^\.+$/ ) and # but avoid . and ..
            ( $self->parseDir( "$path/$_", $out, $target ) ) ), @files
+ );
}
[download]

The odd thing is that the second grep works fine while the first grep results in a: 'Not enough arguments for grep at scan.pl line 63, near "@files )"'. The only difference between the two is that the first has a '(' ')' pair less. I am quite puzzled why this makes a difference, since both

 
  ( expression ) and ( expression ) and ( expression)
[download]

and

 
  ( ( expression ) and ( expression ) and ( expression) )
[download]

seem to me to be syntactically correct expression.

Can anybody shed some light on this?

Have Fun

Comment on Confusing syntax error with grep Select or Download Code

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Re: Confusing syntax error with grep by etcshadow (Priest) on Aug 12, 2004 at 14:15 UTC
Don't try to futz with `grep (expr), @list;` [download] or `grep ((expr), @list);` [download] or any such... you just confuse the hell out of the parser and out of someone trying to read it. Instead use this syntax for grep: `grep { block } @list;` [download] Those are curly braces setting off a block, not parenthesese setting off an expression. So your code would become: `grep { ( -f "$path/$_" ) and ( $_ =~ m/\.(java\|xml\|cpp\|c\|h\|inc\|pas)$/i ) and ( $self->Scan_File( "$path/$_", $out, $target ) } @files ); # Also scan any subdirectories. grep { ( ( -d "$path/$_" ) and ( $_ !~ /^\.+$/ ) and # but avoid . and .. ( $self->parseDir( "$path/$_", $out, $target ) ) } @files;` [download] However, it also doesn't make sense because you are using grep in a void context. grep is meant to filter a list (reduce some of the contents out of list1 into list2). If you just want to apply a block of code against every item in a list, think of using map or foreach. Most folks here will complain, likewise, if you use map in a void context (for the same reason, sort of, that I complain about you using grep... the purpose of map (in perl) is to mutate a list... although in some other language paradigms one might think of map as making sense in a void context... but that's another argument). `------------ :Wq Not an editor command: Wq` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Confusing syntax error with grep by revdiablo (Prior) on Aug 12, 2004 at 16:42 UTC
However, it also doesn't make sense because you are using grep in a void context. Not necessarily. The first grep is in void context, but the last one may or may not be -- it depends on how the subroutine is called. ~~My guess is he took some working code and added a second `grep` at the end, without really realising how it worked.~~ Update: It's pointless to guess how it happened. Kindly ignore that sentence. :-)	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Confusing syntax error with grep by gumpu (Friar) on Aug 12, 2004 at 17:25 UTC
"However, it also doesn't make sense because you are using grep in a void context. grep is meant to filter a list (reduce some of the contents out of list1 into list2). If you just want to apply a block of code against every item in a list, think of using map or foreach. Most folks here will complain, likewise, if you use map in a void context" Guess I agree on using map instead of grep. But I find `foreach` ugly. `foreach ( @alist ) { if ( condition( $_ ) ) { do_something( $_ ); } }` [download] Is far less pretty to the eye than: `map { condition( $_ ) and do_something( $_ ) } @alist;` [download] OK, map ( or grep ) has to create a list which is not used. I used to worry about that too. However, given the size of an list in an average problem and the amount of memory that is nowadays present in a computer it is no longer relevant to worry about it. For instance in my case the list holds the names of all files in a single directory. That will be 1 to 1000 elements or so. Compared to the 256 Mbyte that is available in my computer this is peanuts. So I stopped worrying about it and instead worry about making it readable. Of course it would be even nicer if there was a construct in perl like: `{ do_something( $_) } forall ( @alist ) where { condition( $_ ) }` [download] Have Fun	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: Confusing syntax error with grep by ysth (Canon) on Aug 12, 2004 at 18:48 UTC
Of course it would be even nicer if there was a construct in perl like: `{ do_something( $_) } forall ( @alist ) where { condition( $_ ) }` You mean like: `do_something( $_ ) for grep condition( $_ ), @alist;` ? Update: `condition( $_ ) and do_something( $_ ) for @alist;` is going to be faster because it doesn't have to loop twice.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: Confusing syntax error with grep by gumpu (Friar) on Aug 12, 2004 at 19:45 UTC
Re^3: Confusing syntax error with grep by gumpu (Friar) on Aug 12, 2004 at 18:38 UTC
Come to think of it: `foreach ( @alist ) { if ( condition( $_ ) ) { do_something( $_ ); } }` [download] can be written as `foreach ( @alist ) { condition( $_ ) and do_something( $_ ) }` [download] Which is as pretty as the `map` version. The point about worrying too much about memory still stands though. Have Fun	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Confusing syntax error with grep by rsteinke (Scribe) on Aug 12, 2004 at 14:06 UTC
I believe 'and' actually has a lower operator precedence than the comma operator, so your first expression is parsing as `( expression ) and ( expression ) and ( expression, @files )` [download] Try replacing 'and' with '&&' and see if that helps. Ron Steinke <rsteinke@w-link.net>	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Confusing syntax error with grep by ikegami (Patriarch) on Aug 12, 2004 at 15:36 UTC
No, that would only be the case if the (last set of) parens weren't there.	[reply]
Re^3: Confusing syntax error with grep by gumpu (Friar) on Aug 12, 2004 at 16:07 UTC
Nope he is correct, it was a problem with 'and' having lower precedence than ',' `grep ( ( expression) and ( expression) and ( expression ) , @files )` [download] Is interpreted as `grep ( ( expression) and ( expression) and ( ( expression ) , @files ) + )` [download] According to `perldoc -f grep`, the construct `grep( expression, list )` is allowed. But it is indeed confusing to man and machine!. Have Fun	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: Confusing syntax error with grep by ikegami (Patriarch) on Aug 12, 2004 at 16:16 UTC