Re: $_ haters anonymou

> Why is [${^_Ben_Tillys_Variable}] so much
> better than $main::Ben_Tillys_Variable?

That's a good question. It isn't that much better, but that wasn't the main point of the patch. The reason for the patch was that there are all these $^T, $^L, $^V, $^S variables already. They're all forced into package main::, which is what you want, because you don't want to have to say $main::^M everywhere. And we were starting to run out of letters! So I put the patch in so that the next time someone wants to make up a new feature and use a new $^M variable, they can call it ${^Emergency_Memory} instead. It will be forced into package main:: just like $^M is.

Since I was doing that anyway, I thought I might as well reserve some of those variables for the user, just in case they turned out to be useful for someone. If not, it's OK, because it didn't cost anything.

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(cLive ;-) Re: $_ haters anonymou by cLive ;-) (Prior) on Jan 25, 2002 at 04:16 UTC
you don't want to have to say $main::^M everywhere. i blinked b4 replying, but you don't have to: $::^M is equivalent to $main::^M - 'main' is the default namespace. Or have I grabbed the wrong end of a pointy stick? cLive ;-)	[reply]
Re: $_ haters anonymou by Dominus (Parson) on Jan 25, 2002 at 19:05 UTC
Says cLive ;-): $::^M is equivalent to $main::^M - 'main' is the default namespace. Actually they're both syntax errors. If they weren't syntax errors, then yes, the variable `$::^M` is identical to `$main::^M`. But not because `main` is the default namespace. It's because the empty stash name is interpreted as though you had said `main` instead. See line 579 of `gv.c`: `if (!name) return gv ? gv : (GV)*hv_fetch(PL_defstash, "main::", + 6, TRUE);` [download] If the `name` turns out to have been empty, Perl looks up the `main` stash instead. -- Mark Dominus Perl Paraphernalia	[reply] [d/l]