semicolon for perl command in bash

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

Hi there,

When I wrote a bash file before (like ex.bash), I use a command like "perl example.pl;" in ex.bash. This bash file is for submitting jobs in a supercomputer. When I checked out recently, I found everything worked fine. Is it allowed in bash to write a perl command with semicolon? Or is it better for me to change "perl example.pl;" to "perl example.pl"?

Thank you,

Arrow

Comment on semicolon for perl command in bash

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: semicolon for perl command in bash by hippo (Archbishop) on Oct 17, 2012 at 22:00 UTC
The semi-colon in bash is the statement terminator. If you do not use a semi-colon then your statement is terminated by a newline. Both the semi-colon and the newline can be escaped. This is all to do with bash and nothing to do with perl. As examples try these: `$ echo foo` `$ echo foo;` `$ echo foo\;` `$ echo foo; echo bar` `$ echo foo\; echo bar` Happy bashing!	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: semicolon for perl command in bash by mianfeidewucan (Initiate) on Oct 17, 2012 at 22:18 UTC
Hi, I didn't know the semicolon and newline are equivalent. Thank you very much! Arrow	[reply]