Re: Re: while

%(~)>perl testwhile
syntax error at t line 1, near "while <*.*>"
syntax error at t line 4, near "}"
Execution of t aborted due to compilation errors.
%(~)>
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I get that response when I try to run the script without the parenthesis around the <*.*>

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Re: Re: Re: while by msemich (Novice) on Jul 16, 2001 at 19:03 UTC
(Be warned, newbie here) I was under the impression that the literal definition of a while structure in Perl was defined in the parser as the while keyword-a parenthesized statement (that is itself further defined as any returning object, or some such) and a loop body that is delimited by curlies. Of course, there is a little rider to that that states that in some cases exceptions can be made assuming that there is no ambiguity in the current context. I would imagine that there is some ambiguity associated with a while <.> construct in the parser...otherwise I have been told that it would work. It could be a precedence problem, considering that the parens kick the precedence for the token up quite a bit. Course, I'm a newbie so take all of this for what you paid for it MSemich	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: while by mikeo (Initiate) on Jul 16, 2001 at 18:25 UTC
The issue is one of syntax. Perl's syntax expects the body of the `while` conditional to be wrapped in parenthesis. This allows it to be read by others, including the interpreter. Every language has a syntax to make it understandable to multiple people. The English language, for example expects the first character of each sentence to be capitalized, a period (or some other form of punctuation...) at the end of each sentence, and spaces between words. itdbealothardertoreadifiwrotelikethis!!!	[reply] [d/l]