Item 8: Know the other default arguments: @_ , @ARGV , STDIN .$_ is not the one and only default argument in Perl. There are several others. @_ as a defaultInside a subroutine, shift uses @_ as a default argument:
One interesting quirk in Perl syntax shows up when you try to shift an array argument passed by reference:
You have to put something else inside the braces to let Perl know that the identifier isn't a variable name :
@ARGV as a defaultOn the other hand, outside a subroutine, shift uses @ARGV as a default:
The shift operator always uses the main @_ or @ARGV even if your default package is something other than main . STDIN as a defaultUnlike the rest of the file test operators, which use $_ as a default, the -t operator uses the filehandle STDIN as a default. -t tests a filehandle in the manner of the Unix isatty() function to determine whether the filehandle is interactive, that is, whether input is coming from a human typing at a keyboard:
Use the -t operator to help modify the behavior of a program, depending on whether it is running interactively. For example, you could use -t in a CGI script to start it up in a special debugging mode if the script is being run from the command line. |