Introduction to Perl

October 2013
Document reference: 3169-2013

#!/usr/local/bin/perl
#
#Findalltheimagesthathavebeendownloaded,andhowoften.
#Storeinanestedhash:filename>size>count
usestrict;
useData::Dumper;
my%downloads;#Predeclarethehash
while(<>){
nextunless/Download/;#ignoreeverythingthatsnotadownload
nextif/imageBar/;#ignoredownloadsfortheimageBar
m!/hulton/(\w+?)/(.+\.jpg)!;#getthedirectory(size)andfilename
#Ifthefilenamedoesn'texist,weneedtocreateit.
$downloads{$2}={}unlessdefined$downloads{$2}
$downloads{$2}>{$1}++;#incrementfilename>sizebyone
}
$Data::Dumper::Indent=3;#Definethepaddingfortheoutput
$Data::Dumper::Sortkeys="true";#Sortkeys(defaultASCIIsort)
printDumper(\%downloads);#displaythegathereddata

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Slide 1 of 69

PracticalExtractionandReportLanguage

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Languageforeasymanipulationof
text
files
processes
Hasmanysimilarietiesto:
C
Java
unixshell
Convertersavailablefor:
awk
sed
Version1.000wasreleasedin1987,version5cameoutin1994.
Unicodecamein2000,withPerl5.6
Perlnowreleaseamajorstableversionupgradeannually(5.18.0in2013)
Perl6(Perl5withlotsofbellsandwhistles)starteddevelopmentinSummer2005.
Don'tholdyourbreath.
Slide 2 of 69

Overview

Avoidsinbuiltlimitsusesfullvirtualmemory
Manydefaultsdoeswhatyouwant
Easytodofromthecommandprompt
perle'print"helloworld\n"'

Easytodosimplescripts
#!/usr/local/bin/perl
#ahelloworldscript
printhelloworld\n;

useof#!forspecifyingprocessor
fileneedstobeexecutable
chmod+xhello

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Onlyhasthreebasictypesofdata

Slide 3 of 69

Versionsavailablefor

2013

acornRISCOS

Aix/HPUX/Irix/DigitalUnix/UnixWare/etc

AS/400

Solaris/SunOS

BeOS

Linux(allplatforms)

MacOS(system7.5onwards)

MacOSX

MSDos

Xenix

NovellNetware

VMS

IBMOS/2

BSD(Free,Net&Open)

QNX

Windows(i386,Alpha&Win64)

PDAs
MobilePhones(Symbian,[Jailbroken]iPhone,
Android,WindowsMobile)

Slide 4 of 69

ScalarVariables

SimplestkindofPerlvariable
Basisforeverythingelse
scalarvariablenamesareidentifiedbyaleading$character
$name

variablenamestartswithazAZthen[azAZ09_]
$A_very_long_variable_name_ending_in_1

holdnumericorstringdata,noseparatetypes.
$thing=123;
$thing2=fred;

doesnotneedtobepredeclared.
Lexicalscope:
while(expression){
my$variable;#$variableisonlyaccessiblewithinthisloop
local$var2;#$var2alreadyexists,andcangetanewvaluewithin
#thisloop,butrevertswhenbackoutsidethisloop
#morestuff;
}

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ScalarVariablesnumeric

Allnumericvariablesstoredasrealinternally
floatingpointliteralsasinC
1.25
7.25e45
$num=12e24;

integerliterals
12
2004

octal(base8)constantsstartwithleading0
0377
$y=0177;#0177octalis127decimal

hex(base16)constantsstartwithleading0x(or0X)
0x7f
$y=0x7f;#0x7fhexis127decimal

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ScalarVariablesString

Literalstringssinglequotedordoublequoted
$fred=hello;
$fred=hello;

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Nolimitonstringlengthotherthanmemory
Allowfull8bit0255characterset
noterminatingNULL
canmanipulaterawbinarydata(egimagefiles)

Slide 7 of 69

Doublequotedstrings

Delimitedbydoublequotes
Scannedforbackslashescapes(fulllistinrefguide)
\n
\cC
\x8

:newline
:controlC
:hex08=backspace

$string=helloworld\n;

Scannedforvariableinterpolation
$a=fred;
$b=hello$a;#Giveshellofred

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Unassignedvariableinterpolatesasnullstring

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Singlequotedstrings

Delimitedbysinglequotes
Anycharacterexcept\andislegal,includingnewline
togetor\useabackslashtoescape:\and\\
don\t;#5characters
hello
there;#11charsinclnewline

Notscannedforvariableinterpolation
Usedlessoftenthandoublequotedstrings
Goodforfixedtext:
$footer='<divid="credit_graphics"><ahref="http://lucas.ucs.ed.ac.uk/"title="Edited
byKiz"><!
><imgsrc="/images/kiz_logo.jpg"alt="EditedbyKiz"
class="noborder"/></a><!
><ahref="http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://lucas.ucs.ed.ac.uk"
title="ArchivedbytheWayBackMachinesinceJuly2000"target="_blank"><img
src="/images/wayback_logo_sm.gif"alt="ArchivedbytheWayBackMachinesinceJuly2000"
class="noborder"/></a><!
><ahref="http://www.apache.org/"><imgsrc="/icons/apache_pb2.png"alt="Poweredby
Apache"title="PoweredbyApache2.2.xwebserver.(c)ApacheFoundation"class="left"
border="0"/></a>></div>';

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Operators

NumericoperatorsgenerallythesameasC/Java
+/*%**&|>><<(andmore)

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precedenceasinC
fulllistinreferenceguide

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Operators(contd)

Numericorstringoperands
contextistakenfromoperator
string<>numericconversionisautomatic
trailingnonnumberisstrippedfromstringsinconversion
123+1gives124
123zzz+1gives124
zzz123+1gives1

autoincrementissmart,andcanworkinstrings
$a=zzz;
$a++;#$aisaaaa

autoincrementcanbetooclever:
$foo="1zzz";$foo++;print$foo;#gives"2"
$foo="zz1";$foo++;print$foo;#gives"zz2"

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useWARNINGS(mentionedattheendoftheworkbook)

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Comparison Operators

Differentsetsofoperatorsfornumericandstringcomparison
Comparison
Equal
Notequal
Lessthan
Greaterthan
Lessthanorequalto
Greaterthanorequalto

Numeric
==
!=
<
>
<=
>=

String
eq
ne
lt
gt
le
ge

Thus...
(12lt5)#truesincestringcomparison
(5<12)#trueinnumericcontext

Smartmatchoperator(since5.10butseeperldocperlsyn)
"Foo"~~"Foo"
42~~42
42~~42.0
42~~"42.0"
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#true
#true
#true
#true

"Foo"~~"Bar"
#false
42~~"42x"
#false
"Moose"~~[Foo,Bar,Baz] #false
"Moose"~~[qw(FooBarMooseBaz)] #true
Slide 12 of 69

StringOperators

Concatenationoperator
$string=hello.world;#giveshelloworld
#Note'.'not'+'!!

Stringrepetitionoperator
$string=fredx3;
#givesfredfredfred
(3+2)x4;
#gives5555.Typeconversionagain.
#Bracketsneededasxhasprecedenceover+
3+2x4;
#gives2225.Typeconversionagain.

Reverse
$string=fred;
$newstring=reverse($string);#Givesderf

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MoreStringOperators

chop()
removesthelastcharacterfromastringvariable
$x=helloworld;
chop($x);#xisnowhelloworl

chomp()
Perl5replacementforthecommonuseofchopinPerl4
removesanewlinefromtheendofastringvariable
$x=helloworld;
chomp($x);#$xisstillhelloworld
$x=helloworld\n;
chomp($x);#$xishelloworld

defaultbehaviour.Specialvariable$/forgeneralcase
$x=helloworld;
$old_newline=$/;
$/=d;#Weknowitsabadideabut...
chomp($x);#$xishelloworl

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SimpleInput/Output

<STDIN>representsstandardinput
$line=<STDIN>;
#getsonelinefrominputstreaminto$line

newlinesexistontheendoftheline,canberemovedwithchomp()
$line=<STDIN>;
chomp($line);

print()
takesalistofarguments
defaultstostandardoutput
printHellothere\n;

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Arrays

Secondvariabletype
Simplyanorderedlistofscalarvalues
Listisagenerictermforlistliteralandarray.
Listliteraliscommaseparatedsequenceofscalars,inparenthesesnota
variable
(1,2,3)
(1,one)
()#Emptylist

Arrayislistofscalarsavariablenumberofscalars
Arrayvariablenamesareidentifiedbyaleading@character
@poets=(jonson,donne,herbert,marvell);

$#namecontainstheindexofthelastelementofarray@name
$lastIndex=$#poets;#$lastIndexcontains3

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@fredand$fredcanbothexistindependently,separatenamespace(memory
allocation)
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Moreaboutarrays

Individualscalarvaluesaddressedas$name[n],etc,indexedfrom0
@fred=(7,8,9);
print$fred[0];#prints7
$fred[0]=5;#Now@fredcontains(5,8,9)

Arrayscanbeincludedinarrays
Insertedarrayelementsaresubsumedintotheliteral.Thelistisnotan
element.
@barney=@fred;
@barney=(2,@fred,zzz);#@barneycontains(2,5,8,9,zzz)

Literallistscanbeassignedto
excessvaluesontherighthandsidearediscarded
excessvaluesonthelefthandsidearesettoundef.
($a,$b,$c)=(1,2,3);#$a=1,$b=2,$c=3
($a,$b,$c)=(1,2);#$a=1,$b=2,$c=undef
($a,$b)=(1,2,3);#$a=1,$b=2,3isignored

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Arrayslices

Alistofelementsfromthesamearrayiscalledaslice
indexesarealistenclosedinsquarebrackets
@prefixsinceasliceisalist
@fred[0,1];#Sameas($fred[0],$fred[1])
@fred[1,2]=(9,10);#Sameas$fred[1]=9;$fred[2]=10;

slicesalsoworkonliterallists
@who=(fred,barney,betty,wilma)[1,3];
#@whocontains(barney,wilma)
@who=(fred,barney,betty,wilma)[1..3];
#@whocontains(barney,betty,wilma)

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Arrayslicescountasliterallists,notarrays
@who[0]isaoneelementliterallist,notanarray!
Itwillprobablydowhatyouwant,butnotforthereasonyouthink.
see"ScalarandArrayContext"(slide23)

Slide 18 of 69

Arrayoperators

push()andpop()
addandremoveitemsfromtherighthandsideofanarray/list(theend)
push(@mylist,$newvalue);#like@mylist=(@mylist,$newvalue)
$oldvalue=pop(@mylist);#Putslastvalueof@mylistin$oldvalue

pop()returnsundefifgivenanemptylist
push()alsoacceptsalistofvaluestobepushed
@mylist=(1,2,3);
push(@mylist,4,5,6);#@mylist=(1,2,3,4,5,6)

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More array operators

shift()andunshift()
addandremoveitemsfromthelefthandsideofanarray/list(thestart)
unshift(@fred,$newValue);#like@fred=($newValue,@fred)
$oldValue=shift(@fred);#like($oldValue,@fred)=@fred

shift()returnsundefifgivenanemptyarray
unshift()alsoacceptsalistofvaluestobeadded
@mylist=(1,2,3);
unshift(@mylist,4,5,6);#@mylist=(4,5,6,1,2,3)

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push/pop/shift/unshiftDiagram
$x=shift(@myarray);$x=pop(@myarray);

unshift(@myarray,$a,$b,$c)push(@myarray,$a,$b,$c)

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Morearrayoperators

reverse()
Reversestheorderofthearguments
@a=(7,8,9);
@b=reverse(@a);#@b(9,8,7)
@b=reverse(1,@a);#@b(9,8,7,1)

sort()
sortsargumentsasstringsinascendingASCIIorder
defaultcaseofgeneralsortfacility
@x=sort(red,green,blue);#gives(blue,green,red)
@y=sort(1,5,10,15);#gives(1,10,15,5)

Sortcanbetoldhowtodothesorting:
@z=sort{$a<=>$b}@y;#Numericalsort(ascending)(1,5,10,15)
@z=sort{$b<=>$a}@y;#Descendingnumericalsort,gives(15,10,5,1)
@x=sort{$bcmp$a}(b,r,g);#gives(r,g,b)
@z=sortmy_sort_function@y#Nottellingyouhowtowritefunctions...

chomp()
Applieschomptoeachelementinanarray
chomp(@words_in_LOTR);

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ScalarandArrayContext

LotsofPerliscontextdriven
operandsareevaluatedinascalarorarraycontext
@fred=@barney;#ordinaryarrayassignment
$fred=@barney;
#Returnsnumberofelementsinarray@barney
#$fredcontains5(using@barneyfromslide17)

ArraysandLiteralListsdodifferentthings
$number=@array;
#$numbercontainsthenumberofelementsinthearray
$number=('aa','bb','cc','dd','ee','ff');
$number=qw(aabbccddeeff);
#$numberdoesnotcontainthenumberofelementsintheliterallist,but
#thevalueofthelastelementofthelist:$numbercontains'ff'
$number=@array[$n..$m];
#anarraysliceisconsideredaliterallist,therefore$numbercontains
#thevalueofthelastelementoftheslice

@all=<STDIN>isusedtoreadallofstandardinputintoanarray
#Eachlinewillbeterminatedwithanewline
@all=<STDIN>;#ReaduntilEndOfFile
#fromkeyboard:usectrl+d(unix)orctrl+z(windows)
chomp(@all);

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Controlstructures

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StatementblockenclosedincurlybracketslikeC/Java
selection(flowcontrol)
if/unlessstatement
optionalelsifandelseblocks
noelsunless
loops(iterativecontrol)
while/until
for
foreach
switch(addressedinpart2)

Slide 24 of 69

Controlstructures(contd)

curlybracesarealwaysrequired(unlikeC/Java).
if(expression){
statement1;
statement2;
....
}elsif(expression2){
statement1;
statement2;
....
}elseif(expression3){
statement1;
statement2;
....
}else{
statement1;
statement2;
....
}
}
print"Testingforquantuminstabilitiesinsubethericsingularities\n"if
$trekkie;

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Whatistrue?

"Truthisselfevident"
Controlexpressionsareevaluatedasastring(scalarcontext)
if($thing){
statement;
}

""(nullstring)and0(numericzero)arefalse
undefinanumericcontextconvertsto0
undefinastringcontextconvertsto""
0#convertsto0sofalse
11#sumsto0sofalse
"1"#not""or0sotrue
"0e0"#not""or0sotrue!(0e0isastring)
"0e0"+0#sumsto0,sofalse
undef#convertsto""or0(dependingoncontext)sofalse
scalarkeys%my_new_hash#therearenoelementsinthehash,so0...false

Fromslide12operatorsreturntrue/false:
($count<$max)#truefor$count=5&$max=10
($sring1ne$string2)#truefor$string1=Ian&$string2=Alex
($thing1~~@thing2)#truefor$thing1=a&@thing2=(a,b,c)

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Morecontrolstructures

Iterativecontrolstructures
whileiterateswhile(expression)istrue
while($temperature>32){
statement1;
statement2;
}

untiliteratesuntil(expression)istrue
until($temperaturelt'3'){
statement1;
statement2;
}

nextstopsthecurrentflowandexecutesthenextiteration
laststopsthecurrentflowandexitstheloop
my$i=1;
while($i>0){
nextif($i%2);#%is"modulus":returnstheexcessafterthedivision
#2%2=0;3%2=1;4%2=0;8%3=2;27%14=13;etc
lastif($i>101);
print$i;
$i++;
}#Thiscodeisflawed....canyouspotwhy?

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forstatement

forstatementmuchlikeC(andjava)
for(initial_exp;test_exp;increment_exp)
for($i=1;$i<=10;$i++){
print$i;
}

aninfiniteloop
for(;;){
statement1;
statement2;
...
}
#suggestusinglasttoexit

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foreachstatement

Iteratesthroughlistsinorderassigningtoscalarvariable
scalarvariableislocaltotheloop
foreachmy$i(@list){
statement1;
$i+=$random_number;#Note:thismodifiestheactualelementin@list
....
}

toprintanarrayinreverse
foreachmy$b(reverse@a){
print$b;
}

ifscalarvariableomitteddefaultsto$_
foreach(reverse@a){#assignsto$_
print;#prints$_
}

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Summary

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ScalarVariables
numeric
stringssinglevsdoublequoted
Operators
numericvsstring
comparisonandimplicationscontext
SimpleI/O
inputfromSTDIN
print()
Arrays
namingandcomparing
slicesandsizes
push(),pop(),shift(),unshift(),reverse()&sort()
ControlStructures
whatistrue?
if(),unless(),while(),until(),for()&foreach()
next&last
Slide 30 of 69

PracticalExercises

AllquestionsarefromtheLearningPerlbook
Chapters2,3&4
ThereisnoCorrectAnswerifitworks,itsright1
Perlmotto:"TIMTOWTDI"(timtowtiddy:"ThereIsMoreThanOneWayToDoIt")
Suggestedwaytowritecode:
writecodeandsavetoafile
typeperlfilenametoruntheprogram

ForWindowsusers:

clickontheappsmenu,andruncmd

Inthewindowthatopens,enter
cdm:/users/trxxyyy/LocalDocuments/Desktop

reminder:ctrlzratherthanctrldforendoffile

1Someanswersaremoreaestheticallypleasingthanothers
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Part2

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AssociativearraysHashes

Thirdandfinalvariabletype.
listofindexesandassociatedvalues
likeatwocolumntable
hashvariablenameisidentifiedbyaleading%character
%hash

indexesarescalarscalledkeys
valuesarescalarscalledvalues
individualscalarvaluesaddressedas$name{key}
$superheroes{superman}=DCComics;
#createsakeysupermanin%superheroes,withvalueDCComics
$superheroes{FantasticFour}=MarvelComics;
#createsakeyFantasticFourin%superheroes,withvalueMarvelComics

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%superheroes,@superheroesand$superheroescanallexistindependently

Slide 33 of 69

Initialisingandcopyinghashes

Initialisinghashes
usingalist
%identities=(Superman,ClarkKent,Spiderman,PeterParker);

usingkeyandvaluepairs(sinceperl5.001)
%identities=(Superman=>ClarkKent,Spiderman=>PeterParker);

Copyinghashes
ashashes
%identities=%superheroes;#normalwaytocopywholehash

aslists
@ident_list=%identities;#resultsin@ident_listas
#(Superman,ClarkKent,Spiderman,PeterParker)
#or(Spiderman,PeterParker,Superman,ClarkKent,)
%ident_2=@ident_list;#creates%ident_2asacopyof%identities

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orderofinternalstorageundefined
Slide 34 of 69

HashOperators

keys()operator
producesalistofkeys
orderisarbitrary
@list=keys(%identities);#@listgets(superman,Spiderman)
#or(Spiderman,superman)

parenthesesoptional

#onceforeachkeyof%identities
foreach$hero(keys%identities){
printThesecretidentityof$herois$identities{$hero}\n;
}

inscalarcontext,keys()returnsnumberofelements

$num_elems=keys(%identities)#$num_elemscontains2
if(keys(%superheroes)){
#ifkeys()isnotzero,thehashisnotempty
statement1;
....
}

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HashOperators(contd)

values()operator
producesalistofvalues
sameorderaskeys()
@list=values(%identities);#@listgets(PeterParker,Clarkkent)
or(ClarkKent,PeterParker)

parenthesesoptional

@list=values%identities;

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Hashoperators(contd)

each()operator
returnseachkeyvaluepairastwoelementlist
afterlastelement,returnsemptylist
while(($first,$last)=each(%lastnames)){
printThelastnameof$firstis$last\n;
}

delete()operator
removesahashkeyvaluepair
returnsvalueofdeletedelement
%names=(Clark=>Kent,Peter=>Parker);#%nameshastwoelements
$lastname=delete$names{Clark);#%nameshasoneelement

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Ahashexample

Countingoccurrenceofwordsinagivenarray
#Assume@words_in_LOTRhasbeendefinedandcontainsallthewords,
#onepercell,fromthetrilogy"LordofTheRings"(thereareover12,000
#pages,sothat'salotofwords!)
#predeclarethehash
my%count;
#calculatethewordcount
foreach$word(@words_in_LOTR){
$count{lc($word)}++;#lc()returnsthewordinlowercase
}
#nowprintouttheresults
foreach$word(keys%count){
print$wordwasseen$count{$word}times\n;
}
print"Thereare".scalar(keys%count)."uniquewords,fromatotalof"
.scalar@words_in_LOTR."wordsinthetrilogy\n";

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7linesofcodetocountthewords
Slide 38 of 69

BasicI/O:STDIN

InputfromSTDIN
#readnextinputline
$line=<STDIN>;
#readrestofinputuntilEOF(CTRL+D)
@lines=<STDIN>;#returnsundefonEOF

Useof$_
$_=<STDIN>;#readnextinputline

$_isthedefaultvariableforinput
<STDIN>;#equivalentto$_=<STDIN>;

usedinloops
while($_=<STDIN>){...};
while(<STDIN>){...};#uses$_

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OutputtoSTDOUT

print()isalistoperator
printhelloworld\n;
print(helloworld\n);

returns0or1
$a=print(hello,world,\n);

mayneedtoaddbrackets(parentheses,orroundbraces)
print(2+3),hello\n;#wrong!prints5,ignoreshello\n
print((2+3),hello\n);#right,prints5hello
print2+3,hello\n;#right,prints5hello

printf()forformattedoutput
sameasCfunction
firstargumentformatcontrol
subsequentargumentsdatatobeprinted
printf%15s%5d%10.2f\n,$s,$n,$r;

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parenthesesoptional
Slide 40 of 69

GeneralInput/Output

Useoffilehandles
#samplescripttocopyafile
open(SOURCE,data.in)||dieCannotopendata.inforreading\n;
open(OUTPUT,>/tmp/data.out)||dieCannotopenoutputfile
/tmp/data.out\n;
while($line=<SOURCE>){
#processinsomeway
printOUTPUT$line;
}
close(SOURCE);
close(OUTPUT);

Filehandlesareuppercasebyconvention,notrequired

Youmayalsosee:
open(my$foo,data.in);

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MoreI/O

Optionsforopen()
#equivalenttofileforreading
open(FH1,<file);
#canusevariableinterpolationoverwritestheexistingfile
open(FH2,>$filename);
#appendmodeoutput
open(FH3,>>file);
#Openforreadingandwritingpointeratthestartofthefile
open(LOCAL_LOG,+<$filename);
#openforreadingandwritingclearthefilepriortouse
open(LOCAL_LOG2,+>file);
#inputfromapipe
open(PIPE,ps|);
#outputtoapipethesortdoesnotoccuruntilOUTisclosed
open(SORTED,|sort>>/tmp/file);
#ensurethefileisencodedcorrectly
open(UTF8_DATA,"<:encoding(utf8)",$filename);

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Diamondoperator

readslinesfromfilesspecifiedoncommandline
$line=<>;

uses@ARGV(Note:usesshift,so@ARGVemptiesinuse)
while($line=<>){...};#anunderstandableform
while(<>){...};#amorecommonform(uses$_)

readsfromSTDINif@ARGVempty
while($line=<>){print$line;};#catcommand
while(<>){print;};#ditto

canassignto@ARGV
@ARGV=("The_Hobbits","The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring",
"The_Two_Towers","The\Return\of\the\King");
while(<>){#processthefiles
push@lines_in_LOTR,$_;
}

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(willsay"Can'topenThe_Hobbits:Nosuchfileordirectoryat...")
4linestoreadthreefilesonthedisk
Slide 43 of 69

Regularexpressions

Patterntomatchagainstastring
Usedingrep,sed,awk,ed,vi,emacs
Perlusesasuperset

Seethereferenceguideforamorecompletelistofoptions

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Matchoperator
$string=~m/pattern/

matchesthefirstoccurrenceofpattern
returnstrueorfalse
tofind"LandRover"invariousfiles:
#dogrep'LandRover'file1file2file3
while($line=<>){
if($line=~m/LandRover/){
print$line;
}
}

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Matchoperator(contd)

canusedefaults
use$_
m/LandRover/;

omitm
/LandRover/;

thus:
while(<>){#usingdefaults
printif/LandRover/;
}

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Substituteoperator
$string=~s/pattern/string2/

toreplace"ipod"with"mp3player"
while($line=<>){
$line=~s/ipod/mp3player/;
print$line;
}

substitutesonlythefirstoccurrenceofpattern
returnstrueorfalse
replacessubstringsinagivenstring
Canusedefaults
use$_
while(<>){s/ipod/mp3player/;print;}

2013

Becareful:"tripod"becomes"trmp3player"
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Patterns

Singlecharacterpatterns
thecharacteritself
/a/

adefinedstringofcharacters

/landrover/

/./

anycharacter(exceptnewline)

Alternations(asopposedtoalterations)
/Fred|Barney|Nate|Weirdly/#FredorBarneyorNateorWeirdly
#NateSlateisFred'sbossatthequarry
#WeirdlyGruesomeisFred'sneighbour

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Patterns(contd)

characterclasses
/[abcde]/;#matchasingleletter
/[aeiouAEIOU]/;#matchasinglevowel
/[09]/;#useofrange
/[09\]/;#matchdigitorminus
/[azAZ09_]/;#matchletter,digitor
#underscore

inversecharacterclasses
/[^aeiouAEIOU]/;#matchasinglenonvowel
/[^09]/;#matchasinglenondigit
/[^^]/;#matchanysinglecharacter
#exceptcaret

Predefinedcharacterclasses(abbreviationsfor)
\s#whitespace[\t\r\n\f]
\d#digits[09]
\w#words[azAZ09_]
\W#nonwords[^azAZ09_]
\D#nondigits[^09]
\S#nonspace[^\r\t\n\f]

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Anchoringpatterns

^forbeginningofstring
/^fred/;#matchesfredatstartofstring
/^fr^ed/;#matchesfr^edatstartofstring

$forendofstring
/fred$/;#matchesfredatendofstring
/$fred$/;#matchesthecontentsofthe
#variable$fredatendofstring
/fr\$ed$/;#matchesfr$edatendofstring

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Anchoringpatterns(contd)

\band\Bforwordboundaries
/ipod\b/;#matchestripodandipodbut
#notipodate
/\bipod/;#matchesipodandipodatebut
#nottripod
/\bipod\B/;#matchesipodatebutnotipod
#ortripod

Note:Aboundaryisdefinedasthebitbetweena\wcharacterandanon\w
character.
As\wexcludesalmostallpunctuation,thereareboundariesinthemiddleof
stringslike"isn't","[email protected]","M.I.T",and"key/value"
NoteII:ipodateacompoundC12H13I3N2O2thatisadministeredintheformofits
sodiumorcalciumsaltforuseasaradiopaquemediumincholecystography
andcholangiography

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Groupingpatterns

Multipliers
*zeroormoreofprecedingcharacter(class)
/^\s*\w/;#matchesanynumberofspacesatthestartofastring
#(copeswithtabindents,blanklines,etc)

+oneormoreofprecedingcharacter(class)
/\b\w+\b/;#aword,ofanylength:from'a'to'zenzizenzizenzic'

?zerooroneofprecedingcharacter(class)
/\boff?\b/;#matchesthewords'of'or'off'

Examplethepirate'scry
/aa?r*g+h*!?/
#aarrgghhhhh!,arrggggg!,arrrgggg
#a,ah,arh
#Notethat"blag"isvalid,asthereisnoboundarydefinition
#atthestartofregexp

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Matchingvariables

Readonlyvariables
$&stringthatmatchestheregularexpression
$partofstringbeforematch
$partofstringaftermatch
$_=thisisasamplestring;
/sa.*le/;#matchsample
#$isthisisa
#$&issample
#$isstring

Avoidusingthem!
Whilstthesearefineforsimplecode&debuggingoncetheyappearincodeonce,they
areappliedtoeverymatch,whichslowstheperformanceoftheprogram.
Ifyouwanttoget$&,youwouldbebettercapturingitismoreefficientwithin
Perl.
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Capturing&Clustering&Cloistering
Whatdowedotocapturethematchedinformationinaregexp?
$foo=1:IanStuart8097;
$foo=~/\b((\w+)\s+(\w+))\b/;
#$1=IanStuart;$2=Ian;$3=Stuart

Sometimesoneneedstoclusteragrouptogether:
/^cat|cow|dog$/

needstobe
/^(?:cat|cow|dog)$/

sothatthecatdoesn'trunawaywiththe^
Sometimesoneneedstoapplymodifierstojustasmallbitoftheregexp(makinga
cloister):
/Harry(?ix:\s*[AZ]\.?\s+)?Truman/
#matchesHarryTruman,HarryS.Truman,HarrySTruman,
#Harrys.Truman,HarrysTrumanandevenHarrys

Truman

(Seeslide57&58for'i'&'x')

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Matchingoperatorrevisited
$string=~m/pattern/

Operatesonanystring
$a=helloworld;
$a=~/^he/;#true

worksonanyscalar
if(<STDIN>=~/^[yY]/){...};#inputstartingwithY

Usingdifferentdelimiterm/.../
useanynonalphanumericcharacter
m/^\/usr\/etc/;#usingslash
m#^/usr/etc#;#using#foradelimeter

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SubstitutionOperatorrevisited
$string=~s/pattern/string2/

worksonanyscalarvalue
#Change$whichtothisisaquiz
$which=thisisaquiz;
$which=~s/test/quiz/;
#Changeanarrayelement
$someplace[$here]='turnleftattheroundabout';
$someplace[$here]=~s/left/right/;
#prependxtohashelement
$d{'t'}=marksthespot;
$d{t}=~s/^/x/;

Usingdifferentdelimiter
$_=~s#fred#barney#;
$filename=~s#\#/#g;

Globalreplacements/pattern/string/g
$_=footfoolbuffoon;
s/foo/bar/g;#$_becomesbartbarlbufbarn

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Generalmodifiers

Ignoringcase
$which=~s/TEST/quiz/i;

Howtoreacttonewlines(\n)
#smodifiermeans"."canmatchthenewline
/Perl.Programming/s#'IusePerl
#Programmingisfun'
#mmodifiermeans"^"&"$"matchesthestart
#andendoflines,notwholestrings
s/^$editor/$author/m#'Theeditorsnameis
#Ian,and...'

Fastermatching
#Compilethepatternmatchonce.
#Couldbeaproblemas$speakerwillnotbe
#changed
$person=~/$speaker/o

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Generalmodifiers(continued)

Allowwhitespaceandcommentswith/x
AverycomplexexampleFindduplicatewords:
my$input_record_separator=$/;
$/=""#definesa"newline"asbeingablankcharacter,not"\n"
while(<>){
while(
m!#using'!'asthedelimiter
\b#startatawordboundary
(\w\S+)#captureawordlikechunk(2ormorecharacters)
(
\s+#separatedbysomespace
\1#fromthethinginthebracesabove
)+#repeatedly
\b#untilanotherwordboundary
!xig#'x'allowsspacesandcommentsintheregexp(asdonehere)
#'i'tomatch"Is"with"is"
#'g'tolookformultiplematchesinoneparagraph
){
print"Duplicateword'$1'foundinparagraph$.\n"#the$1matchesthethingin
#thefirstsetofbracesabove
}
}
$/=$input_record_separator;#resetrecordseparator

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split()operator
split(/pattern/,string)

splitsstringoneachoccurrenceofaregularexpression
returnslistofvalues
$line=merlyn::118:10:Randal:/home/merlyn:/usr/bin/perl;
@fields=split(/:/,$line);
#split$lineonfielddelimeters
#now@fieldsbecomes(merlyn,,118,10,
#Randal/home/merlyn,/usr/bin/perl)

$_isthedefaultstring
@words=split(//);#sameassplit(//,$_)

whitespaceisthedefaultpattern
@words=split;#sameassplit(/\s+/,$_)

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join()operator
join(string,list)

gluestogetheralistofvalueswithagivenstring
@fields=(merlyn,,118,10,Randal,/home/merlyn,
/usr/bin/perl)
$newline=join(:,@fields);
#$newlinenowequalsmerlyn::118:10:Randal:/home/merlyn:/usr/bin/perl

note:joinusesstring,notregularexpression
$newline=join(:,@fields);

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Switchstatement
FromPerl5.10,the'switch'featurewasintroduced
Oldschool:
for($var){#using$_
/^abc/&&do{&some_stuff;last};
/^def/&&do{&other_stuff;last};
/^xyz/&&do{&alternative;last};
{&nothing;};

}
Preferredform

givenisexperimental

usev5.10.1;
for($var){
when(/^abc/){&some_stuff;}
when(/^def/){&other_stuff;}
when(/^xyz/){&alternative;}
default{&nothing;}
}

usev5.10.1;

given($var){
when(/^abc/){&some_stuff;}
when(/^def/){&other_stuff;}
when(/^xyz/){&alternative;}
default{&nothing;}
}

Perl5.10.0hasaslightlybrokenswitchimplementation
Perl5.10to5.14haveahinkyimplementationofgiven

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Afinalexample
AnalyzethewordsinthetrilogyLordoftheRings
@ARGV=("TheFellowshipoftheRing","TheTwoTowers","TheReturnoftheKing");
my%count;
my$sum;
while(<>){#eachlineisin$_
chomp;
@words_in_line=split;#defaultstosplittingonwhitespace
#Dotheanalysis
foreach$word(@words_in_line){
$count{lc($word)}++;#lc()returnsthewordinlowercase
$sum++;
}
}
#displaytheresults
print"Thereare".
scalar(keys%count).
"uniquewords,fromatotalof$sumwordsinthetrilogy\n";
foreach$word(keys%count){
print$wordwasseen$count{$word}times\n;
}
#14linestobrieflyanalyzethewordsintheLordoftheRingstrilogy!

2013

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Summary

2013

Associativearrayshashes
naming
initialising
copying
keys(),values(),each(),delete()operators
BasicI/O
inputfromSTDIN
diamondoperatorand@ARGV
outputtoSTDOUT
useoffilehandles
optionstoopen()

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Summary(contd)

2013

Matchandsubsituteoperations
thereadonlyvariables
Regularexpressions
characterclasses
anchoringpatterns
mutipliers
split()andjoin()operators
theswitchstatement

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Diagnostics

Thewswitchgivesusefuldiagnostics
perlwfilename
#!/usr/local/bin/perlw

2013

warnsofsuchthingsas:
useofvariableswithoutpredeclaration
redeclaringlocalisedvariables
silentchangeofcontext
variablesdeclaredorsetbutneverused

Slide 65 of 69

thedebugger
perldfilename
#!/usr/local/bin/perld

Debuggercommands
llist
ssinglestep(goesintosubroutines)
nnextstatement(silentlydoesthesubroutine)
bnnnsetbreakpointatlinennn
cnnncontinuetolinennn
p..printscalarvalue
x...printsthecontentsofthething(array,hash,etc...)
anyperlstatement
qquit

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InformationResources

Electronic
manpages
manperlstyle

perldoccommand
perldocNet::Ping
perldocperlfaq

Websites
http://www.perl.org#ThemainPerlwebsite
http://www.perl.com#AusesofPerlblog
http://www.perlfoundation.org/#forthepoliticallymotivated
http://perlmonks.org/#helpwithperl
http://www.pm.org/#Alooseassociationofinternational
#PerlUserGroups
http://edinburgh.pm.org/#PerlMongersatEdinburgh
http://search.cpan.org/#CPAN(ComprehensivePerlArchiveNetwork),
#formodules

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InformationResources(contd)

2013

Newsgroups
comp.lang.perl.*(announce,misc,modules,moderated&tk)
Literature
OReillybooks(http://www.oreilly.com/pub/topic/perl)
ManningPublications(http://www.manning.com/catalog/perl/)

Slide 68 of 69

PracticalExercises

AllquestionsarefromtheLearningPerlbook
Chapters5,6&7
ThereisnoCorrectAnswerifitworks,itsright2
Perlmotto:"TIMTOWTDI"(timtowtiddy:"ThereIsMoreThanOneWayToDoIt")
Somesolutionsarefasterorcleanerthanothers

ForWindowsusers:

clickontheappsmenu,andruncmd

Inthewindowthatopens,enter
cdm:/users/trxxyyy/LocalDocuments/Desktop

Usectrlzratherthanctrldforendoffile

ForUnixusers:
Toemailallfilesthatstartmytoyourself,run:
forfinmy*;domailad@dress<$f;done;

2Someanswersaremoreaestheticallypleasingthanothers
2013

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