Perl Predefined Miscellaneous Functions

Commonly Used Perl Predefined Functions – Part 3

Perl Course

Foreword: In this part of the series, I talk about Perl Predefined Miscellaneous Functions that are commonly used.

By: Chrysanthus Date Published: 19 Oct 2015

Introduction

This is part 3 of my series, Commonly Used Perl Predefined Functions. In this part of the series, I talk about Perl Predefined Miscellaneous Functions that are commonly used. You should have read the previous parts of the series before reaching here, as this is a continuation.

The defined Function
This function tests whether a variable or function is defined. An entity is defined if it occupies space in memory. A variable declared without assignment is not defined. A variable that has been assigned a value, is defined. A function declared without a function body is not defined. A function that has a function body, is defined. The syntaxes for the defined function are:

    defined EXPR
    defined

It returns a Boolean value indicating whether EXPR has a value other than the undefined value, undef. If EXPR is not present, $_ is checked. When you simply declare a variable or a function, the variable has the undef value. Try the following code:

use strict;

    my $varDecl;
    sub fnDecl;

    print '$varDecl is not defined', "\n" if !defined($varDecl);
    print 'fnDecl is not defined', "\n" if !defined(&fnDecl);

    my $varDef = "Love is good.";
    sub fnDef
        {
            print "I am the body\n";
        }

    print '$varDef is defined', "\n" if defined($varDef);
    print 'fnDef is defined', "\n" if defined(fnDef);

Note that in the function declaration case, & is used in the argument of the defined function.

The undef Function
This function removes the variable or function definition, replacing it with undef. The syntax is:

    undef EXPR

It undefines the value of EXPR. Use only on a scalar value, an array (using @ ), a hash (using % ), a subroutine (using & ), or a typeglob (using * ). Note that this is a unary operator, not a list operator. The following code illustrates its use:

use strict;

    my $var = 5;
    my @arr = ("cow", "donkey");
    my %ha = (banana=>"yellow", lime=>"light green");
    sub fn
        {
            print "I am the body\n";
        }

    undef $var;
    undef @arr;
    undef %ha;
    undef &fn;

    print $var, "\n";
    print @arr, "\n";
    print %ha, "\n";
    fn();

The print statements print undef, which is not seen (not printed). The last statement returns an error message, because the function’s body is undefined.

The scalar Function
The syntax is:

    scalar EXPR

Forces EXPR to be interpreted in scalar context and returns the value of EXPR. If EXPR is a list, the last value is returned. Try the following code:

use strict;

    my $var = 5;
    my @animals = ("cow", "donkey", "dog");

    my $sca = scalar("cow", "donkey", "dog");

    print $sca;

The output is, “dog”;

That is it for this part of the series.

Chrys

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