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Understanding Perl Variables: Our, My, State, Local

This document provides an overview of different types of variables in Perl: 1. Global variables (declared with "our") exist in a namespace and can be accessed from anywhere within that namespace. Examples include package variables and superglobals like $Moose::VERSION. 2. Lexical variables (declared with "my") are scoped and only exist within the block, file, or eval they are defined in. Examples show lexical variables existing only within certain blocks or scopes. 3. State variables (declared with "state") are like lexical variables but retain their value between function calls. An example shows a counter variable incrementing each time a subroutine is called. 4. Local variables (declared with "

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173 views22 pages

Understanding Perl Variables: Our, My, State, Local

This document provides an overview of different types of variables in Perl: 1. Global variables (declared with "our") exist in a namespace and can be accessed from anywhere within that namespace. Examples include package variables and superglobals like $Moose::VERSION. 2. Lexical variables (declared with "my") are scoped and only exist within the block, file, or eval they are defined in. Examples show lexical variables existing only within certain blocks or scopes. 3. State variables (declared with "state") are like lexical variables but retain their value between function calls. An example shows a counter variable incrementing each time a subroutine is called. 4. Local variables (declared with "

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santosh_panditpur
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Our local state, my, my

Your speaker for the evening


Sawyer X
Github.com/xsawyerx
Blogs.perl.org/users/sawyer_x
#dancer @ irc.perl.org

Our local state, my, my

our, local, state, my, my

Perl variables, the easy part


our is global
my is lexical

Easy part done!

What's a global variable?


Perl code is divided to namespaces
We use 'package' to declare them
'main' is the default namespace
Globals are package variables
Variables relating to that namespace
(not the same as superglobals)
(globals are saved in typeglobs)

Global variables, examples

our $name; # $main::name


package My::Package;
our $name; # $My::Package::name
say $Moose::VERSION;

Globals: done!

What's a lexical variable?


Scoped variables
Variables that exist only in a scope!
Available scopes: block, file, eval
We define lexical variables with 'my'
(they are saved in a lex pad)

Lexical variables, examples


{ my $exists_only_here }
{ my $outer; { my $inner } }
foreach my $name (@names) {
say $name; # okay
}
say $name; # error

Lexical variables, pop quiz!


package Example;
my $exvar = 30;
package main;
say $exvar;

Error or no error?

Lexical variables, pop quiz!


No error!
my is lexical
package is a namespace, not a scope
The scope here is the file scope
Here is the correct way to do it:
{ package Example; my $exvar; }

Lexicals: done!

What's a state variable?


Lexical variables with a twist!
They don't get reinitialized
sub inc {
state $myvar = 0; # default value
return ++$myvar;
}
say inc($_) for 1 .. 10;

States: Done!

What's a local variable?


Something that confuses people
But very simple, actually
Localizes an already existing variable
Used to temporarily override
variables instead of creating new ones
Useful with superglobals
Prevents fscking them up

Local variables, examples

Slurping file content:


use autodie;
open my $fh, '<', $filename;
my $content = do { local $/; <$fh> };
close $fh;

Local variables, examples


No output buffering for this scope:
local $| = 1;
Disabling warnings for a scope:
{
local $^W = 0;
# do something that would warn
}

Locals: done!

Questions?

Thank you!

(yes, you can finally go home)

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