Perl Style: Use $_ in Short Code

Jan 1, 1998 by Tom Christiansen

• Contrary to beginners’ belief, $_ improves legibility. Compare:

      while ($line = <>) {
          next if $line =~ /^#/;
          $line =~ s/left/right/g;
          $line =~ tr/A-Z/a-z/;
          print "$ARGV:";
          print $line;
      }
  

  with:

      while ( <> ) {
          next if /^#/;
          s/left/right/g;
          tr/A-Z/a-z/;
          print "$ARGV:";
          print;
      }
  

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Copyright © 1998, Tom Christiansen All rights reserved.