Commit | Line | Data |
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a0d0e21e | 1 | =head1 NAME |
d74e8afc | 2 | X<reference> X<pointer> X<data structure> X<structure> X<struct> |
a0d0e21e LW |
3 | |
4 | perlref - Perl references and nested data structures | |
5 | ||
a1e2a320 GS |
6 | =head1 NOTE |
7 | ||
8 | This is complete documentation about all aspects of references. | |
9 | For a shorter, tutorial introduction to just the essential features, | |
10 | see L<perlreftut>. | |
11 | ||
a0d0e21e LW |
12 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
13 | ||
cb1a09d0 | 14 | Before release 5 of Perl it was difficult to represent complex data |
5a964f20 TC |
15 | structures, because all references had to be symbolic--and even then |
16 | it was difficult to refer to a variable instead of a symbol table entry. | |
17 | Perl now not only makes it easier to use symbolic references to variables, | |
18 | but also lets you have "hard" references to any piece of data or code. | |
19 | Any scalar may hold a hard reference. Because arrays and hashes contain | |
20 | scalars, you can now easily build arrays of arrays, arrays of hashes, | |
21 | hashes of arrays, arrays of hashes of functions, and so on. | |
a0d0e21e LW |
22 | |
23 | Hard references are smart--they keep track of reference counts for you, | |
2d24ed35 | 24 | automatically freeing the thing referred to when its reference count goes |
7c2ea1c7 | 25 | to zero. (Reference counts for values in self-referential or |
2d24ed35 | 26 | cyclic data structures may not go to zero without a little help; see |
2b4f771d | 27 | L</"Circular References"> for a detailed explanation.) |
2d24ed35 CS |
28 | If that thing happens to be an object, the object is destructed. See |
29 | L<perlobj> for more about objects. (In a sense, everything in Perl is an | |
30 | object, but we usually reserve the word for references to objects that | |
31 | have been officially "blessed" into a class package.) | |
32 | ||
33 | Symbolic references are names of variables or other objects, just as a | |
54310121 | 34 | symbolic link in a Unix filesystem contains merely the name of a file. |
d1be9408 | 35 | The C<*glob> notation is something of a symbolic reference. (Symbolic |
2d24ed35 CS |
36 | references are sometimes called "soft references", but please don't call |
37 | them that; references are confusing enough without useless synonyms.) | |
d74e8afc ITB |
38 | X<reference, symbolic> X<reference, soft> |
39 | X<symbolic reference> X<soft reference> | |
2d24ed35 | 40 | |
54310121 | 41 | In contrast, hard references are more like hard links in a Unix file |
2d24ed35 CS |
42 | system: They are used to access an underlying object without concern for |
43 | what its (other) name is. When the word "reference" is used without an | |
5a964f20 | 44 | adjective, as in the following paragraph, it is usually talking about a |
2d24ed35 | 45 | hard reference. |
d74e8afc | 46 | X<reference, hard> X<hard reference> |
2d24ed35 CS |
47 | |
48 | References are easy to use in Perl. There is just one overriding | |
903c0e71 PM |
49 | principle: in general, Perl does no implicit referencing or dereferencing. |
50 | When a scalar is holding a reference, it always behaves as a simple scalar. | |
51 | It doesn't magically start being an array or hash or subroutine; you have to | |
52 | tell it explicitly to do so, by dereferencing it. | |
53 | ||
54 | That said, be aware that Perl version 5.14 introduces an exception | |
55 | to the rule, for syntactic convenience. Experimental array and hash container | |
56 | function behavior allows array and hash references to be handled by Perl as | |
57 | if they had been explicitly syntactically dereferenced. See | |
58 | L<perl5140delta/"Syntactical Enhancements"> | |
59 | and L<perlfunc> for details. | |
60 | ||
5a964f20 | 61 | =head2 Making References |
d74e8afc | 62 | X<reference, creation> X<referencing> |
5a964f20 TC |
63 | |
64 | References can be created in several ways. | |
a0d0e21e LW |
65 | |
66 | =over 4 | |
67 | ||
68 | =item 1. | |
d74e8afc | 69 | X<\> X<backslash> |
a0d0e21e LW |
70 | |
71 | By using the backslash operator on a variable, subroutine, or value. | |
d962e436 | 72 | (This works much like the & (address-of) operator in C.) |
7c2ea1c7 | 73 | This typically creates I<another> reference to a variable, because |
a0d0e21e LW |
74 | there's already a reference to the variable in the symbol table. But |
75 | the symbol table reference might go away, and you'll still have the | |
76 | reference that the backslash returned. Here are some examples: | |
77 | ||
78 | $scalarref = \$foo; | |
79 | $arrayref = \@ARGV; | |
80 | $hashref = \%ENV; | |
81 | $coderef = \&handler; | |
55497cff | 82 | $globref = \*foo; |
cb1a09d0 | 83 | |
5a964f20 TC |
84 | It isn't possible to create a true reference to an IO handle (filehandle |
85 | or dirhandle) using the backslash operator. The most you can get is a | |
86 | reference to a typeglob, which is actually a complete symbol table entry. | |
87 | But see the explanation of the C<*foo{THING}> syntax below. However, | |
88 | you can still use type globs and globrefs as though they were IO handles. | |
a0d0e21e LW |
89 | |
90 | =item 2. | |
d74e8afc ITB |
91 | X<array, anonymous> X<[> X<[]> X<square bracket> |
92 | X<bracket, square> X<arrayref> X<array reference> X<reference, array> | |
a0d0e21e | 93 | |
5a964f20 | 94 | A reference to an anonymous array can be created using square |
a0d0e21e LW |
95 | brackets: |
96 | ||
97 | $arrayref = [1, 2, ['a', 'b', 'c']]; | |
98 | ||
5a964f20 | 99 | Here we've created a reference to an anonymous array of three elements |
54310121 | 100 | whose final element is itself a reference to another anonymous array of three |
a0d0e21e | 101 | elements. (The multidimensional syntax described later can be used to |
c47ff5f1 | 102 | access this. For example, after the above, C<< $arrayref->[2][1] >> would have |
a0d0e21e LW |
103 | the value "b".) |
104 | ||
7c2ea1c7 | 105 | Taking a reference to an enumerated list is not the same |
cb1a09d0 AD |
106 | as using square brackets--instead it's the same as creating |
107 | a list of references! | |
108 | ||
54310121 | 109 | @list = (\$a, \@b, \%c); |
5566fa15 | 110 | @list = \($a, @b, %c); # same thing! |
58e0a6ae | 111 | |
54310121 | 112 | As a special case, C<\(@foo)> returns a list of references to the contents |
b6429b1b GS |
113 | of C<@foo>, not a reference to C<@foo> itself. Likewise for C<%foo>, |
114 | except that the key references are to copies (since the keys are just | |
115 | strings rather than full-fledged scalars). | |
cb1a09d0 | 116 | |
a0d0e21e | 117 | =item 3. |
d74e8afc ITB |
118 | X<hash, anonymous> X<{> X<{}> X<curly bracket> |
119 | X<bracket, curly> X<brace> X<hashref> X<hash reference> X<reference, hash> | |
a0d0e21e | 120 | |
5a964f20 | 121 | A reference to an anonymous hash can be created using curly |
a0d0e21e LW |
122 | brackets: |
123 | ||
124 | $hashref = { | |
5566fa15 SF |
125 | 'Adam' => 'Eve', |
126 | 'Clyde' => 'Bonnie', | |
a0d0e21e LW |
127 | }; |
128 | ||
5a964f20 | 129 | Anonymous hash and array composers like these can be intermixed freely to |
a0d0e21e LW |
130 | produce as complicated a structure as you want. The multidimensional |
131 | syntax described below works for these too. The values above are | |
132 | literals, but variables and expressions would work just as well, because | |
133 | assignment operators in Perl (even within local() or my()) are executable | |
134 | statements, not compile-time declarations. | |
135 | ||
136 | Because curly brackets (braces) are used for several other things | |
137 | including BLOCKs, you may occasionally have to disambiguate braces at the | |
138 | beginning of a statement by putting a C<+> or a C<return> in front so | |
139 | that Perl realizes the opening brace isn't starting a BLOCK. The economy and | |
140 | mnemonic value of using curlies is deemed worth this occasional extra | |
141 | hassle. | |
142 | ||
143 | For example, if you wanted a function to make a new hash and return a | |
144 | reference to it, you have these options: | |
145 | ||
146 | sub hashem { { @_ } } # silently wrong | |
147 | sub hashem { +{ @_ } } # ok | |
148 | sub hashem { return { @_ } } # ok | |
149 | ||
ebc58f1a GS |
150 | On the other hand, if you want the other meaning, you can do this: |
151 | ||
555bd962 BG |
152 | sub showem { { @_ } } # ambiguous (currently ok, |
153 | # but may change) | |
ebc58f1a GS |
154 | sub showem { {; @_ } } # ok |
155 | sub showem { { return @_ } } # ok | |
156 | ||
7c2ea1c7 | 157 | The leading C<+{> and C<{;> always serve to disambiguate |
ebc58f1a GS |
158 | the expression to mean either the HASH reference, or the BLOCK. |
159 | ||
a0d0e21e | 160 | =item 4. |
d74e8afc ITB |
161 | X<subroutine, anonymous> X<subroutine, reference> X<reference, subroutine> |
162 | X<scope, lexical> X<closure> X<lexical> X<lexical scope> | |
a0d0e21e | 163 | |
5a964f20 | 164 | A reference to an anonymous subroutine can be created by using |
a0d0e21e LW |
165 | C<sub> without a subname: |
166 | ||
167 | $coderef = sub { print "Boink!\n" }; | |
168 | ||
7c2ea1c7 GS |
169 | Note the semicolon. Except for the code |
170 | inside not being immediately executed, a C<sub {}> is not so much a | |
a0d0e21e | 171 | declaration as it is an operator, like C<do{}> or C<eval{}>. (However, no |
5a964f20 | 172 | matter how many times you execute that particular line (unless you're in an |
19799a22 | 173 | C<eval("...")>), $coderef will still have a reference to the I<same> |
a0d0e21e LW |
174 | anonymous subroutine.) |
175 | ||
748a9306 | 176 | Anonymous subroutines act as closures with respect to my() variables, |
7c2ea1c7 | 177 | that is, variables lexically visible within the current scope. Closure |
748a9306 LW |
178 | is a notion out of the Lisp world that says if you define an anonymous |
179 | function in a particular lexical context, it pretends to run in that | |
7c2ea1c7 | 180 | context even when it's called outside the context. |
748a9306 LW |
181 | |
182 | In human terms, it's a funny way of passing arguments to a subroutine when | |
183 | you define it as well as when you call it. It's useful for setting up | |
184 | little bits of code to run later, such as callbacks. You can even | |
54310121 | 185 | do object-oriented stuff with it, though Perl already provides a different |
186 | mechanism to do that--see L<perlobj>. | |
748a9306 | 187 | |
7c2ea1c7 GS |
188 | You might also think of closure as a way to write a subroutine |
189 | template without using eval(). Here's a small example of how | |
190 | closures work: | |
748a9306 LW |
191 | |
192 | sub newprint { | |
5566fa15 SF |
193 | my $x = shift; |
194 | return sub { my $y = shift; print "$x, $y!\n"; }; | |
a0d0e21e | 195 | } |
748a9306 LW |
196 | $h = newprint("Howdy"); |
197 | $g = newprint("Greetings"); | |
198 | ||
199 | # Time passes... | |
200 | ||
201 | &$h("world"); | |
202 | &$g("earthlings"); | |
a0d0e21e | 203 | |
748a9306 LW |
204 | This prints |
205 | ||
206 | Howdy, world! | |
207 | Greetings, earthlings! | |
208 | ||
7c2ea1c7 GS |
209 | Note particularly that $x continues to refer to the value passed |
210 | into newprint() I<despite> "my $x" having gone out of scope by the | |
211 | time the anonymous subroutine runs. That's what a closure is all | |
212 | about. | |
748a9306 | 213 | |
5a964f20 | 214 | This applies only to lexical variables, by the way. Dynamic variables |
748a9306 LW |
215 | continue to work as they have always worked. Closure is not something |
216 | that most Perl programmers need trouble themselves about to begin with. | |
a0d0e21e LW |
217 | |
218 | =item 5. | |
d74e8afc | 219 | X<constructor> X<new> |
a0d0e21e | 220 | |
63acfd00 | 221 | References are often returned by special subroutines called constructors. Perl |
222 | objects are just references to a special type of object that happens to know | |
223 | which package it's associated with. Constructors are just special subroutines | |
224 | that know how to create that association. They do so by starting with an | |
225 | ordinary reference, and it remains an ordinary reference even while it's also | |
226 | being an object. Constructors are often named C<new()>. You I<can> call them | |
227 | indirectly: | |
228 | ||
229 | $objref = new Doggie( Tail => 'short', Ears => 'long' ); | |
230 | ||
231 | But that can produce ambiguous syntax in certain cases, so it's often | |
232 | better to use the direct method invocation approach: | |
5a964f20 TC |
233 | |
234 | $objref = Doggie->new(Tail => 'short', Ears => 'long'); | |
235 | ||
236 | use Term::Cap; | |
237 | $terminal = Term::Cap->Tgetent( { OSPEED => 9600 }); | |
238 | ||
239 | use Tk; | |
240 | $main = MainWindow->new(); | |
241 | $menubar = $main->Frame(-relief => "raised", | |
242 | -borderwidth => 2) | |
243 | ||
a0d0e21e | 244 | =item 6. |
d74e8afc | 245 | X<autovivification> |
a0d0e21e LW |
246 | |
247 | References of the appropriate type can spring into existence if you | |
5f05dabc | 248 | dereference them in a context that assumes they exist. Because we haven't |
a0d0e21e LW |
249 | talked about dereferencing yet, we can't show you any examples yet. |
250 | ||
cb1a09d0 | 251 | =item 7. |
d74e8afc | 252 | X<*foo{THING}> X<*> |
cb1a09d0 | 253 | |
55497cff | 254 | A reference can be created by using a special syntax, lovingly known as |
255 | the *foo{THING} syntax. *foo{THING} returns a reference to the THING | |
256 | slot in *foo (which is the symbol table entry which holds everything | |
257 | known as foo). | |
cb1a09d0 | 258 | |
55497cff | 259 | $scalarref = *foo{SCALAR}; |
260 | $arrayref = *ARGV{ARRAY}; | |
261 | $hashref = *ENV{HASH}; | |
262 | $coderef = *handler{CODE}; | |
36477c24 | 263 | $ioref = *STDIN{IO}; |
55497cff | 264 | $globref = *foo{GLOB}; |
c0bd1adc | 265 | $formatref = *foo{FORMAT}; |
171e2879 FC |
266 | $globname = *foo{NAME}; # "foo" |
267 | $pkgname = *foo{PACKAGE}; # "main" | |
55497cff | 268 | |
171e2879 FC |
269 | Most of these are self-explanatory, but C<*foo{IO}> |
270 | deserves special attention. It returns | |
7c2ea1c7 GS |
271 | the IO handle, used for file handles (L<perlfunc/open>), sockets |
272 | (L<perlfunc/socket> and L<perlfunc/socketpair>), and directory | |
273 | handles (L<perlfunc/opendir>). For compatibility with previous | |
39b99f21 | 274 | versions of Perl, C<*foo{FILEHANDLE}> is a synonym for C<*foo{IO}>, though it |
275 | is deprecated as of 5.8.0. If deprecation warnings are in effect, it will warn | |
276 | of its use. | |
55497cff | 277 | |
7c2ea1c7 GS |
278 | C<*foo{THING}> returns undef if that particular THING hasn't been used yet, |
279 | except in the case of scalars. C<*foo{SCALAR}> returns a reference to an | |
5f05dabc | 280 | anonymous scalar if $foo hasn't been used yet. This might change in a |
281 | future release. | |
282 | ||
171e2879 FC |
283 | C<*foo{NAME}> and C<*foo{PACKAGE}> are the exception, in that they return |
284 | strings, rather than references. These return the package and name of the | |
285 | typeglob itself, rather than one that has been assigned to it. So, after | |
286 | C<*foo=*Foo::bar>, C<*foo> will become "*Foo::bar" when used as a string, | |
287 | but C<*foo{PACKAGE}> and C<*foo{NAME}> will continue to produce "main" and | |
288 | "foo", respectively. | |
289 | ||
7c2ea1c7 | 290 | C<*foo{IO}> is an alternative to the C<*HANDLE> mechanism given in |
5a964f20 TC |
291 | L<perldata/"Typeglobs and Filehandles"> for passing filehandles |
292 | into or out of subroutines, or storing into larger data structures. | |
293 | Its disadvantage is that it won't create a new filehandle for you. | |
7c2ea1c7 GS |
294 | Its advantage is that you have less risk of clobbering more than |
295 | you want to with a typeglob assignment. (It still conflates file | |
296 | and directory handles, though.) However, if you assign the incoming | |
297 | value to a scalar instead of a typeglob as we do in the examples | |
298 | below, there's no risk of that happening. | |
36477c24 | 299 | |
5566fa15 SF |
300 | splutter(*STDOUT); # pass the whole glob |
301 | splutter(*STDOUT{IO}); # pass both file and dir handles | |
5a964f20 | 302 | |
cb1a09d0 | 303 | sub splutter { |
5566fa15 SF |
304 | my $fh = shift; |
305 | print $fh "her um well a hmmm\n"; | |
cb1a09d0 AD |
306 | } |
307 | ||
5566fa15 | 308 | $rec = get_rec(*STDIN); # pass the whole glob |
7c2ea1c7 | 309 | $rec = get_rec(*STDIN{IO}); # pass both file and dir handles |
5a964f20 | 310 | |
cb1a09d0 | 311 | sub get_rec { |
5566fa15 SF |
312 | my $fh = shift; |
313 | return scalar <$fh>; | |
cb1a09d0 AD |
314 | } |
315 | ||
a0d0e21e LW |
316 | =back |
317 | ||
5a964f20 | 318 | =head2 Using References |
d74e8afc | 319 | X<reference, use> X<dereferencing> X<dereference> |
5a964f20 | 320 | |
a0d0e21e LW |
321 | That's it for creating references. By now you're probably dying to |
322 | know how to use references to get back to your long-lost data. There | |
323 | are several basic methods. | |
324 | ||
325 | =over 4 | |
326 | ||
327 | =item 1. | |
328 | ||
6309d9d9 | 329 | Anywhere you'd put an identifier (or chain of identifiers) as part |
330 | of a variable or subroutine name, you can replace the identifier with | |
331 | a simple scalar variable containing a reference of the correct type: | |
a0d0e21e LW |
332 | |
333 | $bar = $$scalarref; | |
334 | push(@$arrayref, $filename); | |
335 | $$arrayref[0] = "January"; | |
336 | $$hashref{"KEY"} = "VALUE"; | |
337 | &$coderef(1,2,3); | |
cb1a09d0 | 338 | print $globref "output\n"; |
a0d0e21e | 339 | |
19799a22 | 340 | It's important to understand that we are specifically I<not> dereferencing |
a0d0e21e | 341 | C<$arrayref[0]> or C<$hashref{"KEY"}> there. The dereference of the |
19799a22 | 342 | scalar variable happens I<before> it does any key lookups. Anything more |
a0d0e21e LW |
343 | complicated than a simple scalar variable must use methods 2 or 3 below. |
344 | However, a "simple scalar" includes an identifier that itself uses method | |
345 | 1 recursively. Therefore, the following prints "howdy". | |
346 | ||
347 | $refrefref = \\\"howdy"; | |
348 | print $$$$refrefref; | |
349 | ||
350 | =item 2. | |
351 | ||
6309d9d9 | 352 | Anywhere you'd put an identifier (or chain of identifiers) as part of a |
353 | variable or subroutine name, you can replace the identifier with a | |
354 | BLOCK returning a reference of the correct type. In other words, the | |
355 | previous examples could be written like this: | |
a0d0e21e LW |
356 | |
357 | $bar = ${$scalarref}; | |
358 | push(@{$arrayref}, $filename); | |
359 | ${$arrayref}[0] = "January"; | |
360 | ${$hashref}{"KEY"} = "VALUE"; | |
361 | &{$coderef}(1,2,3); | |
36477c24 | 362 | $globref->print("output\n"); # iff IO::Handle is loaded |
a0d0e21e LW |
363 | |
364 | Admittedly, it's a little silly to use the curlies in this case, but | |
365 | the BLOCK can contain any arbitrary expression, in particular, | |
366 | subscripted expressions: | |
367 | ||
5566fa15 | 368 | &{ $dispatch{$index} }(1,2,3); # call correct routine |
a0d0e21e LW |
369 | |
370 | Because of being able to omit the curlies for the simple case of C<$$x>, | |
371 | people often make the mistake of viewing the dereferencing symbols as | |
372 | proper operators, and wonder about their precedence. If they were, | |
5f05dabc | 373 | though, you could use parentheses instead of braces. That's not the case. |
a0d0e21e | 374 | Consider the difference below; case 0 is a short-hand version of case 1, |
19799a22 | 375 | I<not> case 2: |
a0d0e21e | 376 | |
5566fa15 SF |
377 | $$hashref{"KEY"} = "VALUE"; # CASE 0 |
378 | ${$hashref}{"KEY"} = "VALUE"; # CASE 1 | |
379 | ${$hashref{"KEY"}} = "VALUE"; # CASE 2 | |
380 | ${$hashref->{"KEY"}} = "VALUE"; # CASE 3 | |
a0d0e21e LW |
381 | |
382 | Case 2 is also deceptive in that you're accessing a variable | |
383 | called %hashref, not dereferencing through $hashref to the hash | |
384 | it's presumably referencing. That would be case 3. | |
385 | ||
386 | =item 3. | |
387 | ||
6da72b64 CS |
388 | Subroutine calls and lookups of individual array elements arise often |
389 | enough that it gets cumbersome to use method 2. As a form of | |
390 | syntactic sugar, the examples for method 2 may be written: | |
a0d0e21e | 391 | |
6da72b64 CS |
392 | $arrayref->[0] = "January"; # Array element |
393 | $hashref->{"KEY"} = "VALUE"; # Hash element | |
394 | $coderef->(1,2,3); # Subroutine call | |
a0d0e21e | 395 | |
6da72b64 | 396 | The left side of the arrow can be any expression returning a reference, |
19799a22 | 397 | including a previous dereference. Note that C<$array[$x]> is I<not> the |
c47ff5f1 | 398 | same thing as C<< $array->[$x] >> here: |
a0d0e21e LW |
399 | |
400 | $array[$x]->{"foo"}->[0] = "January"; | |
401 | ||
402 | This is one of the cases we mentioned earlier in which references could | |
403 | spring into existence when in an lvalue context. Before this | |
404 | statement, C<$array[$x]> may have been undefined. If so, it's | |
405 | automatically defined with a hash reference so that we can look up | |
c47ff5f1 | 406 | C<{"foo"}> in it. Likewise C<< $array[$x]->{"foo"} >> will automatically get |
a0d0e21e | 407 | defined with an array reference so that we can look up C<[0]> in it. |
5a964f20 | 408 | This process is called I<autovivification>. |
a0d0e21e | 409 | |
19799a22 | 410 | One more thing here. The arrow is optional I<between> brackets |
a0d0e21e LW |
411 | subscripts, so you can shrink the above down to |
412 | ||
413 | $array[$x]{"foo"}[0] = "January"; | |
414 | ||
415 | Which, in the degenerate case of using only ordinary arrays, gives you | |
416 | multidimensional arrays just like C's: | |
417 | ||
418 | $score[$x][$y][$z] += 42; | |
419 | ||
420 | Well, okay, not entirely like C's arrays, actually. C doesn't know how | |
421 | to grow its arrays on demand. Perl does. | |
422 | ||
423 | =item 4. | |
424 | ||
425 | If a reference happens to be a reference to an object, then there are | |
426 | probably methods to access the things referred to, and you should probably | |
427 | stick to those methods unless you're in the class package that defines the | |
428 | object's methods. In other words, be nice, and don't violate the object's | |
429 | encapsulation without a very good reason. Perl does not enforce | |
430 | encapsulation. We are not totalitarians here. We do expect some basic | |
431 | civility though. | |
432 | ||
433 | =back | |
434 | ||
7c2ea1c7 GS |
435 | Using a string or number as a reference produces a symbolic reference, |
436 | as explained above. Using a reference as a number produces an | |
437 | integer representing its storage location in memory. The only | |
438 | useful thing to be done with this is to compare two references | |
439 | numerically to see whether they refer to the same location. | |
d74e8afc | 440 | X<reference, numeric context> |
7c2ea1c7 GS |
441 | |
442 | if ($ref1 == $ref2) { # cheap numeric compare of references | |
5566fa15 | 443 | print "refs 1 and 2 refer to the same thing\n"; |
7c2ea1c7 GS |
444 | } |
445 | ||
446 | Using a reference as a string produces both its referent's type, | |
447 | including any package blessing as described in L<perlobj>, as well | |
448 | as the numeric address expressed in hex. The ref() operator returns | |
449 | just the type of thing the reference is pointing to, without the | |
450 | address. See L<perlfunc/ref> for details and examples of its use. | |
d74e8afc | 451 | X<reference, string context> |
a0d0e21e | 452 | |
5a964f20 TC |
453 | The bless() operator may be used to associate the object a reference |
454 | points to with a package functioning as an object class. See L<perlobj>. | |
a0d0e21e | 455 | |
5f05dabc | 456 | A typeglob may be dereferenced the same way a reference can, because |
7c2ea1c7 | 457 | the dereference syntax always indicates the type of reference desired. |
a0d0e21e LW |
458 | So C<${*foo}> and C<${\$foo}> both indicate the same scalar variable. |
459 | ||
460 | Here's a trick for interpolating a subroutine call into a string: | |
461 | ||
cb1a09d0 AD |
462 | print "My sub returned @{[mysub(1,2,3)]} that time.\n"; |
463 | ||
464 | The way it works is that when the C<@{...}> is seen in the double-quoted | |
465 | string, it's evaluated as a block. The block creates a reference to an | |
466 | anonymous array containing the results of the call to C<mysub(1,2,3)>. So | |
467 | the whole block returns a reference to an array, which is then | |
468 | dereferenced by C<@{...}> and stuck into the double-quoted string. This | |
469 | chicanery is also useful for arbitrary expressions: | |
a0d0e21e | 470 | |
184e9718 | 471 | print "That yields @{[$n + 5]} widgets\n"; |
a0d0e21e | 472 | |
35efdb20 DL |
473 | Similarly, an expression that returns a reference to a scalar can be |
474 | dereferenced via C<${...}>. Thus, the above expression may be written | |
475 | as: | |
476 | ||
477 | print "That yields ${\($n + 5)} widgets\n"; | |
478 | ||
0a044a7c DR |
479 | =head2 Circular References |
480 | X<circular reference> X<reference, circular> | |
481 | ||
482 | It is possible to create a "circular reference" in Perl, which can lead | |
483 | to memory leaks. A circular reference occurs when two references | |
484 | contain a reference to each other, like this: | |
485 | ||
486 | my $foo = {}; | |
487 | my $bar = { foo => $foo }; | |
488 | $foo->{bar} = $bar; | |
489 | ||
490 | You can also create a circular reference with a single variable: | |
491 | ||
492 | my $foo; | |
493 | $foo = \$foo; | |
494 | ||
495 | In this case, the reference count for the variables will never reach 0, | |
496 | and the references will never be garbage-collected. This can lead to | |
497 | memory leaks. | |
498 | ||
499 | Because objects in Perl are implemented as references, it's possible to | |
500 | have circular references with objects as well. Imagine a TreeNode class | |
501 | where each node references its parent and child nodes. Any node with a | |
502 | parent will be part of a circular reference. | |
503 | ||
504 | You can break circular references by creating a "weak reference". A | |
505 | weak reference does not increment the reference count for a variable, | |
506 | which means that the object can go out of scope and be destroyed. You | |
507 | can weaken a reference with the C<weaken> function exported by the | |
508 | L<Scalar::Util> module. | |
509 | ||
510 | Here's how we can make the first example safer: | |
511 | ||
512 | use Scalar::Util 'weaken'; | |
513 | ||
514 | my $foo = {}; | |
515 | my $bar = { foo => $foo }; | |
516 | $foo->{bar} = $bar; | |
517 | ||
518 | weaken $foo->{bar}; | |
519 | ||
520 | The reference from C<$foo> to C<$bar> has been weakened. When the | |
521 | C<$bar> variable goes out of scope, it will be garbage-collected. The | |
522 | next time you look at the value of the C<< $foo->{bar} >> key, it will | |
523 | be C<undef>. | |
524 | ||
525 | This action at a distance can be confusing, so you should be careful | |
526 | with your use of weaken. You should weaken the reference in the | |
527 | variable that will go out of scope I<first>. That way, the longer-lived | |
528 | variable will contain the expected reference until it goes out of | |
529 | scope. | |
530 | ||
a0d0e21e | 531 | =head2 Symbolic references |
d74e8afc ITB |
532 | X<reference, symbolic> X<reference, soft> |
533 | X<symbolic reference> X<soft reference> | |
a0d0e21e LW |
534 | |
535 | We said that references spring into existence as necessary if they are | |
536 | undefined, but we didn't say what happens if a value used as a | |
19799a22 | 537 | reference is already defined, but I<isn't> a hard reference. If you |
7c2ea1c7 | 538 | use it as a reference, it'll be treated as a symbolic |
19799a22 | 539 | reference. That is, the value of the scalar is taken to be the I<name> |
a0d0e21e LW |
540 | of a variable, rather than a direct link to a (possibly) anonymous |
541 | value. | |
542 | ||
543 | People frequently expect it to work like this. So it does. | |
544 | ||
545 | $name = "foo"; | |
5566fa15 SF |
546 | $$name = 1; # Sets $foo |
547 | ${$name} = 2; # Sets $foo | |
548 | ${$name x 2} = 3; # Sets $foofoo | |
549 | $name->[0] = 4; # Sets $foo[0] | |
550 | @$name = (); # Clears @foo | |
551 | &$name(); # Calls &foo() | |
a0d0e21e | 552 | $pack = "THAT"; |
5566fa15 | 553 | ${"${pack}::$name"} = 5; # Sets $THAT::foo without eval |
a0d0e21e | 554 | |
7c2ea1c7 | 555 | This is powerful, and slightly dangerous, in that it's possible |
a0d0e21e LW |
556 | to intend (with the utmost sincerity) to use a hard reference, and |
557 | accidentally use a symbolic reference instead. To protect against | |
558 | that, you can say | |
559 | ||
560 | use strict 'refs'; | |
561 | ||
562 | and then only hard references will be allowed for the rest of the enclosing | |
54310121 | 563 | block. An inner block may countermand that with |
a0d0e21e LW |
564 | |
565 | no strict 'refs'; | |
566 | ||
5a964f20 TC |
567 | Only package variables (globals, even if localized) are visible to |
568 | symbolic references. Lexical variables (declared with my()) aren't in | |
569 | a symbol table, and thus are invisible to this mechanism. For example: | |
a0d0e21e | 570 | |
5a964f20 | 571 | local $value = 10; |
b0c35547 | 572 | $ref = "value"; |
a0d0e21e | 573 | { |
5566fa15 SF |
574 | my $value = 20; |
575 | print $$ref; | |
54310121 | 576 | } |
a0d0e21e LW |
577 | |
578 | This will still print 10, not 20. Remember that local() affects package | |
579 | variables, which are all "global" to the package. | |
580 | ||
748a9306 LW |
581 | =head2 Not-so-symbolic references |
582 | ||
0480bf32 | 583 | Brackets around a symbolic reference can simply |
903c0e71 PM |
584 | serve to isolate an identifier or variable name from the rest of an |
585 | expression, just as they always have within a string. For example, | |
748a9306 LW |
586 | |
587 | $push = "pop on "; | |
588 | print "${push}over"; | |
589 | ||
7c2ea1c7 | 590 | has always meant to print "pop on over", even though push is |
0480bf32 | 591 | a reserved word. This is generalized to work the same |
903c0e71 | 592 | without the enclosing double quotes, so that |
748a9306 LW |
593 | |
594 | print ${push} . "over"; | |
595 | ||
596 | and even | |
597 | ||
598 | print ${ push } . "over"; | |
599 | ||
0480bf32 | 600 | will have the same effect. This |
748a9306 LW |
601 | construct is I<not> considered to be a symbolic reference when you're |
602 | using strict refs: | |
603 | ||
604 | use strict 'refs'; | |
5566fa15 SF |
605 | ${ bareword }; # Okay, means $bareword. |
606 | ${ "bareword" }; # Error, symbolic reference. | |
748a9306 | 607 | |
903c0e71 PM |
608 | Similarly, because of all the subscripting that is done using single words, |
609 | the same rule applies to any bareword that is used for subscripting a hash. | |
610 | So now, instead of writing | |
748a9306 LW |
611 | |
612 | $array{ "aaa" }{ "bbb" }{ "ccc" } | |
613 | ||
5f05dabc | 614 | you can write just |
748a9306 LW |
615 | |
616 | $array{ aaa }{ bbb }{ ccc } | |
617 | ||
618 | and not worry about whether the subscripts are reserved words. In the | |
619 | rare event that you do wish to do something like | |
620 | ||
621 | $array{ shift } | |
622 | ||
623 | you can force interpretation as a reserved word by adding anything that | |
624 | makes it more than a bareword: | |
625 | ||
626 | $array{ shift() } | |
627 | $array{ +shift } | |
628 | $array{ shift @_ } | |
629 | ||
9f1b1f2d GS |
630 | The C<use warnings> pragma or the B<-w> switch will warn you if it |
631 | interprets a reserved word as a string. | |
5f05dabc | 632 | But it will no longer warn you about using lowercase words, because the |
748a9306 LW |
633 | string is effectively quoted. |
634 | ||
49399b3f | 635 | =head2 Pseudo-hashes: Using an array as a hash |
d74e8afc | 636 | X<pseudo-hash> X<pseudo hash> X<pseudohash> |
49399b3f | 637 | |
6d822dc4 MS |
638 | Pseudo-hashes have been removed from Perl. The 'fields' pragma |
639 | remains available. | |
e0478e5a | 640 | |
5a964f20 | 641 | =head2 Function Templates |
d74e8afc ITB |
642 | X<scope, lexical> X<closure> X<lexical> X<lexical scope> |
643 | X<subroutine, nested> X<sub, nested> X<subroutine, local> X<sub, local> | |
5a964f20 | 644 | |
b5c19bd7 DM |
645 | As explained above, an anonymous function with access to the lexical |
646 | variables visible when that function was compiled, creates a closure. It | |
647 | retains access to those variables even though it doesn't get run until | |
648 | later, such as in a signal handler or a Tk callback. | |
5a964f20 TC |
649 | |
650 | Using a closure as a function template allows us to generate many functions | |
c2611fb3 | 651 | that act similarly. Suppose you wanted functions named after the colors |
5a964f20 TC |
652 | that generated HTML font changes for the various colors: |
653 | ||
654 | print "Be ", red("careful"), "with that ", green("light"); | |
655 | ||
7c2ea1c7 | 656 | The red() and green() functions would be similar. To create these, |
5a964f20 | 657 | we'll assign a closure to a typeglob of the name of the function we're |
d962e436 | 658 | trying to build. |
5a964f20 TC |
659 | |
660 | @colors = qw(red blue green yellow orange purple violet); | |
661 | for my $name (@colors) { | |
5566fa15 | 662 | no strict 'refs'; # allow symbol table manipulation |
5a964f20 | 663 | *$name = *{uc $name} = sub { "<FONT COLOR='$name'>@_</FONT>" }; |
d962e436 | 664 | } |
5a964f20 TC |
665 | |
666 | Now all those different functions appear to exist independently. You can | |
667 | call red(), RED(), blue(), BLUE(), green(), etc. This technique saves on | |
668 | both compile time and memory use, and is less error-prone as well, since | |
669 | syntax checks happen at compile time. It's critical that any variables in | |
670 | the anonymous subroutine be lexicals in order to create a proper closure. | |
671 | That's the reasons for the C<my> on the loop iteration variable. | |
672 | ||
673 | This is one of the only places where giving a prototype to a closure makes | |
674 | much sense. If you wanted to impose scalar context on the arguments of | |
675 | these functions (probably not a wise idea for this particular example), | |
676 | you could have written it this way instead: | |
677 | ||
678 | *$name = sub ($) { "<FONT COLOR='$name'>$_[0]</FONT>" }; | |
679 | ||
680 | However, since prototype checking happens at compile time, the assignment | |
681 | above happens too late to be of much use. You could address this by | |
682 | putting the whole loop of assignments within a BEGIN block, forcing it | |
683 | to occur during compilation. | |
684 | ||
58e2a187 CW |
685 | Access to lexicals that change over time--like those in the C<for> loop |
686 | above, basically aliases to elements from the surrounding lexical scopes-- | |
687 | only works with anonymous subs, not with named subroutines. Generally | |
688 | said, named subroutines do not nest properly and should only be declared | |
689 | in the main package scope. | |
690 | ||
691 | This is because named subroutines are created at compile time so their | |
692 | lexical variables get assigned to the parent lexicals from the first | |
693 | execution of the parent block. If a parent scope is entered a second | |
694 | time, its lexicals are created again, while the nested subs still | |
695 | reference the old ones. | |
696 | ||
697 | Anonymous subroutines get to capture each time you execute the C<sub> | |
698 | operator, as they are created on the fly. If you are accustomed to using | |
699 | nested subroutines in other programming languages with their own private | |
700 | variables, you'll have to work at it a bit in Perl. The intuitive coding | |
701 | of this type of thing incurs mysterious warnings about "will not stay | |
d962e436 | 702 | shared" due to the reasons explained above. |
58e2a187 | 703 | For example, this won't work: |
5a964f20 TC |
704 | |
705 | sub outer { | |
706 | my $x = $_[0] + 35; | |
707 | sub inner { return $x * 19 } # WRONG | |
708 | return $x + inner(); | |
b432a672 | 709 | } |
5a964f20 TC |
710 | |
711 | A work-around is the following: | |
712 | ||
713 | sub outer { | |
714 | my $x = $_[0] + 35; | |
715 | local *inner = sub { return $x * 19 }; | |
716 | return $x + inner(); | |
b432a672 | 717 | } |
5a964f20 TC |
718 | |
719 | Now inner() can only be called from within outer(), because of the | |
58e2a187 CW |
720 | temporary assignments of the anonymous subroutine. But when it does, |
721 | it has normal access to the lexical variable $x from the scope of | |
722 | outer() at the time outer is invoked. | |
5a964f20 TC |
723 | |
724 | This has the interesting effect of creating a function local to another | |
725 | function, something not normally supported in Perl. | |
726 | ||
cb1a09d0 | 727 | =head1 WARNING |
d74e8afc | 728 | X<reference, string context> X<reference, use as hash key> |
748a9306 LW |
729 | |
730 | You may not (usefully) use a reference as the key to a hash. It will be | |
731 | converted into a string: | |
732 | ||
733 | $x{ \$a } = $a; | |
734 | ||
54310121 | 735 | If you try to dereference the key, it won't do a hard dereference, and |
184e9718 | 736 | you won't accomplish what you're attempting. You might want to do something |
cb1a09d0 | 737 | more like |
748a9306 | 738 | |
cb1a09d0 AD |
739 | $r = \@a; |
740 | $x{ $r } = $r; | |
741 | ||
742 | And then at least you can use the values(), which will be | |
743 | real refs, instead of the keys(), which won't. | |
744 | ||
5a964f20 TC |
745 | The standard Tie::RefHash module provides a convenient workaround to this. |
746 | ||
821361b6 RS |
747 | =head1 Postfix Dereference Syntax |
748 | ||
749 | Beginning in v5.20.0, a postfix syntax for using references is | |
750 | available. It behaves as described in L</Using References>, but instead | |
751 | of a prefixed sigil, a postfixed sigil-and-star is used. | |
752 | ||
753 | For example: | |
754 | ||
755 | $r = \@a; | |
756 | @b = $r->@*; # equivalent to @$r or @{ $r } | |
757 | ||
758 | $r = [ 1, [ 2, 3 ], 4 ]; | |
759 | $r->[1]->@*; # equivalent to @{ $r->[1] } | |
760 | ||
761 | This syntax must be enabled with C<use feature 'postderef'>. It is | |
762 | experimental, and will warn by default unless C<no warnings | |
763 | 'experimental::postderef'> is in effect. | |
764 | ||
765 | Postfix dereference should work in all circumstances where block | |
766 | (circumfix) dereference worked, and should be entirely equivalent. This | |
767 | syntax allows dereferencing to be written and read entirely | |
768 | left-to-right. The following equivalencies are defined: | |
769 | ||
2bcaee20 FC |
770 | $sref->$*; # same as ${ $sref } |
771 | $aref->@*; # same as @{ $aref } | |
772 | $aref->$#*; # same as $#{ $aref } | |
773 | $href->%*; # same as %{ $href } | |
774 | $cref->&*; # same as &{ $cref } | |
775 | $gref->**; # same as *{ $gref } | |
821361b6 RS |
776 | |
777 | Note especially that C<< $cref->&* >> is I<not> equivalent to C<< | |
864eb29a RS |
778 | $cref->() >>, and can serve different purposes. |
779 | ||
780 | Glob elements can be extracted through the postfix dereferencing feature: | |
781 | ||
782 | $gref->*{SCALAR}; # same as *{ $gref }{SCALAR} | |
821361b6 RS |
783 | |
784 | Postfix array and scalar dereferencing I<can> be used in interpolating | |
785 | strings (double quotes or the C<qq> operator), but only if the | |
786 | additional C<postderef_qq> feature is enabled. | |
787 | ||
788 | =head2 Postfix Reference Slicing | |
789 | ||
790 | Value slices of arrays and hashes may also be taken with postfix | |
791 | dereferencing notation, with the following equivalencies: | |
792 | ||
793 | $aref->@[ ... ]; # same as @$aref[ ... ] | |
794 | $href->@{ ... }; # same as @$href{ ... } | |
795 | ||
864eb29a RS |
796 | Postfix key/value pair slicing, added in 5.20.0 and documented in |
797 | L<the KeyE<sol>Value Hash Slices section of perldata|perldata/"Key/Value Hash | |
798 | Slices">, also behaves as expected: | |
821361b6 RS |
799 | |
800 | $aref->%[ ... ]; # same as %$aref[ ... ] | |
801 | $href->%{ ... }; # same as %$href{ ... } | |
802 | ||
803 | As with postfix array, postfix value slice dereferencing I<can> be used | |
804 | in interpolating strings (double quotes or the C<qq> operator), but only | |
864eb29a | 805 | if the additional C<postderef_qq> L<feature> is enabled. |
821361b6 | 806 | |
82848c10 FC |
807 | =head1 Assigning to References |
808 | ||
809 | Beginning in v5.22.0, the referencing operator can be assigned to. It | |
810 | performs an aliasing operation, so that the variable name referenced on the | |
811 | left-hand side becomes an alias for the thing referenced on the right-hand | |
812 | side: | |
813 | ||
814 | \$a = \$b; # $a and $b now point to the same scalar | |
815 | \&foo = \&bar; # foo() now means bar() | |
816 | ||
baabe3fb | 817 | This syntax must be enabled with C<use feature 'refaliasing'>. It is |
82848c10 | 818 | experimental, and will warn by default unless C<no warnings |
baabe3fb | 819 | 'experimental::refaliasing'> is in effect. |
82848c10 FC |
820 | |
821 | These forms may be assigned to, and cause the right-hand side to be | |
822 | evaluated in scalar context: | |
823 | ||
824 | \$scalar | |
825 | \@array | |
826 | \%hash | |
827 | \&sub | |
828 | \my $scalar | |
829 | \my @array | |
830 | \my %hash | |
831 | \state $scalar # or @array, etc. | |
832 | \our $scalar # etc. | |
833 | \local $scalar # etc. | |
834 | \local our $scalar # etc. | |
835 | \$some_array[$index] | |
836 | \$some_hash{$key} | |
837 | \local $some_array[$index] | |
838 | \local $some_hash{$key} | |
839 | condition ? \$this : \$that[0] # etc. | |
840 | ||
df706e5b FC |
841 | Slicing operations and parentheses cause |
842 | the right-hand side to be evaluated in | |
e05542ee | 843 | list context: |
82848c10 | 844 | |
e05542ee FC |
845 | \@array[5..7] |
846 | (\@array[5..7]) | |
847 | \(@array[5..7]) | |
df706e5b FC |
848 | \@hash{'foo','bar'} |
849 | (\@hash{'foo','bar'}) | |
850 | \(@hash{'foo','bar'}) | |
82848c10 FC |
851 | (\$scalar) |
852 | \($scalar) | |
853 | \(my $scalar) | |
854 | \my($scalar) | |
855 | (\@array) | |
856 | (\%hash) | |
857 | (\&sub) | |
858 | \(&sub) | |
859 | \($foo, @bar, %baz) | |
860 | (\$foo, \@bar, \%baz) | |
861 | ||
862 | Each element on the right-hand side must be a reference to a datum of the | |
863 | right type. Parentheses immediately surrounding an array (and possibly | |
864 | also C<my>/C<state>/C<our>/C<local>) will make each element of the array an | |
865 | alias to the corresponding scalar referenced on the right-hand side: | |
866 | ||
867 | \(@a) = \(@b); # @a and @b now have the same elements | |
868 | \my(@a) = \(@b); # likewise | |
869 | \(my @a) = \(@b); # likewise | |
870 | push @a, 3; # but now @a has an extra element that @b lacks | |
871 | \(@a) = (\$a, \$b, \$c); # @a now contains $a, $b, and $c | |
872 | ||
873 | Combining that form with C<local> and putting parentheses immediately | |
874 | around a hash are forbidden (because it is not clear what they should do): | |
875 | ||
876 | \local(@array) = foo(); # WRONG | |
877 | \(%hash) = bar(); # wRONG | |
878 | ||
879 | Assignment to references and non-references may be combined in lists and | |
880 | conditional ternary expressions, as long as the values on the right-hand | |
881 | side are the right type for each element on the left, though this may make | |
882 | for obfuscated code: | |
883 | ||
884 | (my $tom, \my $dick, \my @harry) = (\1, \2, [1..3]); | |
885 | # $tom is now \1 | |
886 | # $dick is now 2 (read-only) | |
887 | # @harry is (1,2,3) | |
888 | ||
889 | my $type = ref $thingy; | |
890 | ($type ? $type == 'ARRAY' ? \@foo : \$bar : $baz) = $thingy; | |
891 | ||
892 | The C<foreach> loop can also take a reference constructor for its loop | |
893 | variable, though the syntax is limited to one of the following, with an | |
894 | optional C<my>, C<state>, or C<our> after the backslash: | |
895 | ||
896 | \$s | |
897 | \@a | |
898 | \%h | |
899 | \&c | |
900 | ||
901 | No parentheses are permitted. This feature is particularly useful for | |
902 | arrays-of-arrays, or arrays-of-hashes: | |
903 | ||
904 | foreach \my @a (@array_of_arrays) { | |
905 | frobnicate($a[0], $a[-1]); | |
906 | } | |
907 | ||
908 | foreach \my %h (@array_of_hashes) { | |
909 | $h{gelastic}++ if $h{type} == 'funny'; | |
910 | } | |
911 | ||
912 | B<CAVEAT:> Aliasing does not work correctly with closures. If you try to | |
913 | alias lexical variables from an inner subroutine or C<eval>, the aliasing | |
914 | will only be visible within that inner sub, and will not affect the outer | |
915 | subroutine where the variables are declared. This bizarre behavior is | |
916 | subject to change. | |
917 | ||
cb1a09d0 | 918 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
a0d0e21e LW |
919 | |
920 | Besides the obvious documents, source code can be instructive. | |
7c2ea1c7 | 921 | Some pathological examples of the use of references can be found |
a0d0e21e | 922 | in the F<t/op/ref.t> regression test in the Perl source directory. |
cb1a09d0 AD |
923 | |
924 | See also L<perldsc> and L<perllol> for how to use references to create | |
82e1c0d9 | 925 | complex data structures, and L<perlootut> and L<perlobj> |
5a964f20 | 926 | for how to use them to create objects. |