On 01/08/2011 23:29, Jim Gibson wrote:
On 8/1/11 Mon Aug 1, 2011 11:20 AM, "Rob Dixon"<rob.di...@gmx.com>
scribbled:
On 01/08/2011 19:00, Dr.Ruud wrote:
On 2011-08-01 15:52, Shlomi Fish wrote:
To convert a string to characters one can use split based on the empty
regex,
That should be "a pattern matching the empty string".
The "empty regex" works differently:
perl -wle '
my $text = "abcdefghi";
$text =~ /[aeiou]/;
$text =~ /x/;
my @result = $text =~ //g;
print "@result";
'
a e i
(admire how 'regex' and 'regular expression' are avoided in perldoc -f
split)
Please Shlomi, you have taught me nothing despite repeated reading of
your post. Please tell me what is wrong with the OP's
To convert a string to characters one can use split based on the empty regex
Are you trying to say that any regular expression that can match zero
character will also suffice? How does your code demonstrate the point
you are making?
Rob:
I believe you are responding to Dr. Ruud's post, not Shlomi's, and the term
"empty regex" is Shlomi's, not the OP (Emeka).
Dr. Ruud is demonstrating the little-known but documented feature of Perl
that the explicit empty regex // repeats the last, successful regex within
its scope. Thus, in Dr. Ruud's sample program, the line
my @result = $text =~ //g;
is equivalent to the line
my @result = $text =~ /[aeiou]/g;
because that was the regex used in the last successful match.
Of course, in a beginner's list, it is better to explain such exceptional
cases, rather than just showing the statements. or people may miss the point
entirely. But not everyone has the time or inclination to do so,
unfortunately.
Thanks Jim. Ruud's post makes a lot more sense in the light of your post.
My apologies to Shlomi and Ruud for misattributing their contributions.
Rob
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