Re^3: sub scope question

You say you get a new instance of $list_ref every time the function is called because my is not merely a declaration like in C. Yet you would get a new instance of local variables every time a function is called in C as well! Consider a re-entrant function, for example.

In fact, as an optimization in Perl, you *don't* get a new instance of my variable every pass unless you do something that forces Perl to create a new variable. That's an implementation detail you shouldn't worry about, though.

As for your suggestion to move my $list_ref, it seems to miss the point that nesting *named* functions has no benefit in Perl. Instead of trying to make the nested named function work, one should look at what one wants to achieve by nesting a named function and look for ways to meet that goal. (local *name = sub { ... }; is the likely answer.)

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Re^4: sub scope question by papidave (Pilgrim) on Feb 07, 2008 at 17:36 UTC
ikegami, Thank you for the comments on `my` implementation details; I have improved my wording above. As regards the remainder of your response, I think we both agree that nesting named functions has no benefit in Perl; we differ only in how to resolve it. By going with an unnamed function assigned to a local var, you eliminate the "named" part; by moving `$list_ref` outside the function, you can then also move the named function to main scope, thereby eliminating the "nesting". In either case, I favor passing arguments into a subroutine over retention of state information in a closure or any kind of shared variable, because I find it easier to maintain -- but then, TMTOWTDI.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^5: sub scope question by ikegami (Patriarch) on Feb 07, 2008 at 18:40 UTC
Making a local variable variable into a semi-global one in order to use it to pass arguments to a function doesn't sound like the right approach to me. For starters, it breaks if the outer function is re-entrant and can break if the inner function is re-entrant, and that's when I normally use nested subs.	[reply]