PERLSUB(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLSUB(1)

PERLSUB(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLSUB(1) #

PERLSUB(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLSUB(1)

NNAAMMEE #

 perlsub - Perl subroutines

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS #

 To declare subroutines:

     sub NAME;                     # A "forward" declaration.
     sub NAME(PROTO);              #  ditto, but with prototypes
     sub NAME : ATTRS;             #  with attributes
     sub NAME(PROTO) : ATTRS;      #  with attributes and prototypes

     sub NAME BLOCK                # A declaration and a definition.
     sub NAME(PROTO) BLOCK         #  ditto, but with prototypes
     sub NAME : ATTRS BLOCK        #  with attributes
     sub NAME(PROTO) : ATTRS BLOCK #  with prototypes and attributes

     use feature 'signatures';
     sub NAME(SIG) BLOCK                    # with signature
     sub NAME :ATTRS (SIG) BLOCK            # with signature, attributes
     sub NAME :prototype(PROTO) (SIG) BLOCK # with signature, prototype

 To define an anonymous subroutine at runtime:

     $subref = sub BLOCK;                 # no proto
     $subref = sub (PROTO) BLOCK;         # with proto
     $subref = sub : ATTRS BLOCK;         # with attributes
     $subref = sub (PROTO) : ATTRS BLOCK; # with proto and attributes

     use feature 'signatures';
     $subref = sub (SIG) BLOCK;           # with signature
     $subref = sub : ATTRS(SIG) BLOCK;    # with signature, attributes

 To import subroutines:

     use MODULE qw(NAME1 NAME2 NAME3);

 To call subroutines:

     NAME(LIST);    # & is optional with parentheses.
     NAME LIST;     # Parentheses optional if predeclared/imported.
     &NAME(LIST);   # Circumvent prototypes.
     &NAME;         # Makes current @_ visible to called subroutine.

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN #

 Like many languages, Perl provides for user-defined subroutines.  These
 may be located anywhere in the main program, loaded in from other files
 via the "do", "require", or "use" keywords, or generated on the fly using
 "eval" or anonymous subroutines.  You can even call a function indirectly
 using a variable containing its name or a CODE reference.

 The Perl model for function call and return values is simple: all
 functions are passed as parameters one single flat list of scalars, and
 all functions likewise return to their caller one single flat list of
 scalars.  Any arrays or hashes in these call and return lists will
 collapse, losing their identities--but you may always use pass-by-
 reference instead to avoid this.  Both call and return lists may contain
 as many or as few scalar elements as you'd like.  (Often a function
 without an explicit return statement is called a subroutine, but there's
 really no difference from Perl's perspective.)

 In a subroutine that uses signatures (see "Signatures" below), arguments
 are assigned into lexical variables introduced by the signature.  In the
 current implementation of perl they are also accessible in the @_ array
 in the same way as for non-signature subroutines, but accessing them in
 this manner is now discouraged inside such a signature-using subroutine.

 In a subroutine that does not use signatures, any arguments passed in
 show up in the array @_.  Therefore, if you called a function with two
 arguments, those would be stored in $_[0] and $_[1].  The array @_ is a
 local array, but its elements are aliases for the actual scalar
 parameters.  In particular, if an element $_[0] is updated, the
 corresponding argument is updated (or an error occurs if it is not
 updatable).  If an argument is an array or hash element which did not
 exist when the function was called, that element is created only when
 (and if) it is modified or a reference to it is taken.  (Some earlier
 versions of Perl created the element whether or not the element was
 assigned to.) Assigning to the whole array @_ removes that aliasing, and
 does not update any arguments.

 When not using signatures, Perl does not otherwise provide a means to
 create named formal parameters. In practice all you do is assign to a
 "my()" list of these.  Variables that aren't declared to be private are
 global variables.  For gory details on creating private variables, see
 "Private Variables via mmyy(())" and "Temporary Values via llooccaall(())".  To
 create protected environments for a set of functions in a separate
 package (and probably a separate file), see "Packages" in perlmod.

 A "return" statement may be used to exit a subroutine, optionally
 specifying the returned value, which will be evaluated in the appropriate
 context (list, scalar, or void) depending on the context of the
 subroutine call.  If you specify no return value, the subroutine returns
 an empty list in list context, the undefined value in scalar context, or
 nothing in void context.  If you return one or more aggregates (arrays
 and hashes), these will be flattened together into one large
 indistinguishable list.

 If no "return" is found and if the last statement is an expression, its
 value is returned.  If the last statement is a loop control structure
 like a "foreach" or a "while", the returned value is unspecified.  The
 empty sub returns the empty list.

 Example:

     sub max {
         my $max = shift(@_);
         foreach $foo (@_) {
             $max = $foo if $max < $foo;
         }
         return $max;
     }
     $bestday = max($mon,$tue,$wed,$thu,$fri);

 Example:

     # get a line, combining continuation lines
     #  that start with whitespace

     sub get_line {
         $thisline = $lookahead;  # global variables!
         LINE: while (defined($lookahead = <STDIN>)) {
             if ($lookahead =~ /^[ \t]/) {
                 $thisline .= $lookahead;
             }
             else {
                 last LINE;
             }
         }
         return $thisline;
     }

     $lookahead = <STDIN>;       # get first line
     while (defined($line = get_line())) {
         ...
     }

 Assigning to a list of private variables to name your arguments:

     sub maybeset {
         my($key, $value) = @_;
         $Foo{$key} = $value unless $Foo{$key};
     }

 Because the assignment copies the values, this also has the effect of
 turning call-by-reference into call-by-value.  Otherwise a function is
 free to do in-place modifications of @_ and change its caller's values.

     upcase_in($v1, $v2);  # this changes $v1 and $v2
     sub upcase_in {
         for (@_) { tr/a-z/A-Z/ }
     }

 You aren't allowed to modify constants in this way, of course.  If an
 argument were actually literal and you tried to change it, you'd take a
 (presumably fatal) exception.   For example, this won't work:

     upcase_in("frederick");

 It would be much safer if the "upcase_in()" function were written to
 return a copy of its parameters instead of changing them in place:

     ($v3, $v4) = upcase($v1, $v2);  # this doesn't change $v1 and $v2
     sub upcase {
         return unless defined wantarray;  # void context, do nothing
         my @parms = @_;
         for (@parms) { tr/a-z/A-Z/ }
         return wantarray ? @parms : $parms[0];
     }

 Notice how this (unprototyped) function doesn't care whether it was
 passed real scalars or arrays.  Perl sees all arguments as one big, long,
 flat parameter list in @_.  This is one area where Perl's simple
 argument-passing style shines.  The "upcase()" function would work
 perfectly well without changing the "upcase()" definition even if we fed
 it things like this:

     @newlist   = upcase(@list1, @list2);
     @newlist   = upcase( split /:/, $var );

 Do not, however, be tempted to do this:

     (@a, @b)   = upcase(@list1, @list2);

 Like the flattened incoming parameter list, the return list is also
 flattened on return.  So all you have managed to do here is stored
 everything in @a and made @b empty.  See "Pass by Reference" for
 alternatives.

 A subroutine may be called using an explicit "&" prefix.  The "&" is
 optional in modern Perl, as are parentheses if the subroutine has been
 predeclared.  The "&" is _n_o_t optional when just naming the subroutine,
 such as when it's used as an argument to ddeeffiinneedd(()) or uunnddeeff(()).  Nor is it
 optional when you want to do an indirect subroutine call with a
 subroutine name or reference using the "&$subref()" or "&{$subref}()"
 constructs, although the "$subref->()" notation solves that problem.  See
 perlref for more about all that.

 Subroutines may be called recursively.  If a subroutine is called using
 the "&" form, the argument list is optional, and if omitted, no @_ array
 is set up for the subroutine: the @_ array at the time of the call is
 visible to subroutine instead.  This is an efficiency mechanism that new
 users may wish to avoid.

     &foo(1,2,3);        # pass three arguments
     foo(1,2,3);         # the same

     foo();              # pass a null list
     &foo();             # the same

     &foo;               # foo() get current args, like foo(@_) !!
     use strict 'subs';
     foo;                # like foo() iff sub foo predeclared, else
                         # a compile-time error
     no strict 'subs';
     foo;                # like foo() iff sub foo predeclared, else
                         # a literal string "foo"

 Not only does the "&" form make the argument list optional, it also
 disables any prototype checking on arguments you do provide.  This is
 partly for historical reasons, and partly for having a convenient way to
 cheat if you know what you're doing.  See "Prototypes" below.

 Since Perl 5.16.0, the "__SUB__" token is available under "use feature
 'current_sub'" and "use v5.16".  It will evaluate to a reference to the
 currently-running sub, which allows for recursive calls without knowing
 your subroutine's name.

     use v5.16;
     my $factorial = sub {
       my ($x) = @_;
       return 1 if $x == 1;
       return($x * __SUB__->( $x - 1 ) );
     };

 The behavior of "__SUB__" within a regex code block (such as
 "/(?{...})/") is subject to change.

 Subroutines whose names are in all upper case are reserved to the Perl
 core, as are modules whose names are in all lower case.  A subroutine in
 all capitals is a loosely-held convention meaning it will be called
 indirectly by the run-time system itself, usually due to a triggered
 event.  Subroutines whose name start with a left parenthesis are also
 reserved the same way.  The following is a list of some subroutines that
 currently do special, pre-defined things.

 documented later in this document

“AUTOLOAD” #

 documented in perlmod

“CLONE”, “CLONE_SKIP” #

 documented in perlobj

“DESTROY”, “DOES” #

 documented in perltie

“BINMODE”, “CLEAR”, “CLOSE”, “DELETE”, “DESTROY”, “EOF”, “EXISTS”, #

“EXTEND”, “FETCH”, “FETCHSIZE”, “FILENO”, “FIRSTKEY”, “GETC”, #

“NEXTKEY”, “OPEN”, “POP”, “PRINT”, “PRINTF”, “PUSH”, “READ”, #

“READLINE”, “SCALAR”, “SEEK”, “SHIFT”, “SPLICE”, “STORE”, #

“STORESIZE”, “TELL”, “TIEARRAY”, “TIEHANDLE”, “TIEHASH”, “TIESCALAR”, #

“UNSHIFT”, “UNTIE”, “WRITE” #

 documented in PerlIO::via

“BINMODE”, “CLEARERR”, “CLOSE”, “EOF”, “ERROR”, “FDOPEN”, “FILENO”, #

“FILL”, “FLUSH”, “OPEN”, “POPPED”, “PUSHED”, “READ”, “SEEK”, #

“SETLINEBUF”, “SYSOPEN”, “TELL”, “UNREAD”, “UTF8”, “WRITE” #

 documented in perlfunc
     "import" , "unimport" , "INC"

 documented in UNIVERSAL

“VERSION” #

 documented in perldebguts
     "DB::DB", "DB::sub", "DB::lsub", "DB::goto", "DB::postponed"

 undocumented, used internally by the overload feature
     any starting with "("

 The "BEGIN", "UNITCHECK", "CHECK", "INIT" and "END" subroutines are not
 so much subroutines as named special code blocks, of which you can have
 more than one in a package, and which you can nnoott call explicitly.  See
 "BEGIN, UNITCHECK, CHECK, INIT and END" in perlmod

SSiiggnnaattuurreess Perl has a facility to allow a subroutine’s formal parameters to be declared by special syntax, separate from the procedural code of the subroutine body. The formal parameter list is known as a _s_i_g_n_a_t_u_r_e.

 This facility must be enabled before it can be used. It is enabled
 automatically by a "use v5.36" (or higher) declaration, or more directly
 by "use feature 'signatures'", in the current scope.

 The signature is part of a subroutine's body.  Normally the body of a
 subroutine is simply a braced block of code, but when using a signature,
 the signature is a parenthesised list that goes immediately before the
 block, after any name or attributes.

 For example,

     sub foo :lvalue ($a, $b = 1, @c) { .... }

 The signature declares lexical variables that are in scope for the block.
 When the subroutine is called, the signature takes control first.  It
 populates the signature variables from the list of arguments that were
 passed.  If the argument list doesn't meet the requirements of the
 signature, then it will throw an exception.  When the signature
 processing is complete, control passes to the block.

 Positional parameters are handled by simply naming scalar variables in
 the signature.  For example,

     sub foo ($left, $right) {
         return $left + $right;
     }

 takes two positional parameters, which must be filled at runtime by two
 arguments.  By default the parameters are mandatory, and it is not
 permitted to pass more arguments than expected.  So the above is
 equivalent to

     sub foo {
         die "Too many arguments for subroutine" unless @_ <= 2;
         die "Too few arguments for subroutine" unless @_ >= 2;
         my $left = $_[0];
         my $right = $_[1];
         return $left + $right;
     }

 An argument can be ignored by omitting the main part of the name from a
 parameter declaration, leaving just a bare "$" sigil.  For example,

     sub foo ($first, $, $third) {
         return "first=$first, third=$third";
     }

 Although the ignored argument doesn't go into a variable, it is still
 mandatory for the caller to pass it.

 A positional parameter is made optional by giving a default value,
 separated from the parameter name by "=":

     sub foo ($left, $right = 0) {
         return $left + $right;
     }

 The above subroutine may be called with either one or two arguments.  The
 default value expression is evaluated when the subroutine is called, so
 it may provide different default values for different calls.  It is only
 evaluated if the argument was actually omitted from the call.  For
 example,

     my $auto_id = 0;
     sub foo ($thing, $id = $auto_id++) {
         print "$thing has ID $id";
     }

 automatically assigns distinct sequential IDs to things for which no ID
 was supplied by the caller.  A default value expression may also refer to
 parameters earlier in the signature, making the default for one parameter
 vary according to the earlier parameters.  For example,

     sub foo ($first_name, $surname, $nickname = $first_name) {
         print "$first_name $surname is known as \"$nickname\"";
     }

 An optional parameter can be nameless just like a mandatory parameter.
 For example,

     sub foo ($thing, $ = 1) {
         print $thing;
     }

 The parameter's default value will still be evaluated if the
 corresponding argument isn't supplied, even though the value won't be
 stored anywhere.  This is in case evaluating it has important side
 effects.  However, it will be evaluated in void context, so if it doesn't
 have side effects and is not trivial it will generate a warning if the
 "void" warning category is enabled.  If a nameless optional parameter's
 default value is not important, it may be omitted just as the parameter's
 name was:

     sub foo ($thing, $=) {
         print $thing;
     }

 Optional positional parameters must come after all mandatory positional
 parameters.  (If there are no mandatory positional parameters then an
 optional positional parameters can be the first thing in the signature.)
 If there are multiple optional positional parameters and not enough
 arguments are supplied to fill them all, they will be filled from left to
 right.

 After positional parameters, additional arguments may be captured in a
 slurpy parameter.  The simplest form of this is just an array variable:

     sub foo ($filter, @inputs) {
         print $filter->($_) foreach @inputs;
     }

 With a slurpy parameter in the signature, there is no upper limit on how
 many arguments may be passed.  A slurpy array parameter may be nameless
 just like a positional parameter, in which case its only effect is to
 turn off the argument limit that would otherwise apply:

     sub foo ($thing, @) {
         print $thing;
     }

 A slurpy parameter may instead be a hash, in which case the arguments
 available to it are interpreted as alternating keys and values.  There
 must be as many keys as values: if there is an odd argument then an
 exception will be thrown.  Keys will be stringified, and if there are
 duplicates then the later instance takes precedence over the earlier, as
 with standard hash construction.

     sub foo ($filter, %inputs) {
         print $filter->($_, $inputs{$_}) foreach sort keys %inputs;
     }

 A slurpy hash parameter may be nameless just like other kinds of
 parameter.  It still insists that the number of arguments available to it
 be even, even though they're not being put into a variable.

     sub foo ($thing, %) {
         print $thing;
     }

 A slurpy parameter, either array or hash, must be the last thing in the
 signature.  It may follow mandatory and optional positional parameters;
 it may also be the only thing in the signature.  Slurpy parameters cannot
 have default values: if no arguments are supplied for them then you get
 an empty array or empty hash.

 A signature may be entirely empty, in which case all it does is check
 that the caller passed no arguments:

     sub foo () {
         return 123;
     }

 Prior to Perl 5.36 these were considered experimental, and emitted a
 warning in the "experimental::signatures" category. From Perl 5.36
 onwards this no longer happens, though the warning category still exists
 for back-compatibility with code that attempts to disable it with a
 statement such as:

     no warnings 'experimental::signatures';

 In the current perl implementation, when using a signature the arguments
 are still also available in the special array variable @_.  However,
 accessing them via this array is now discouraged, and should not be
 relied upon in newly-written code as this ability may change in a future
 version.  Code that attempts to access the @_ array will produce warnings
 in the "experimental::args_array_with_signatures" category when compiled:

     sub f ($x) {
         # This line emits the warning seen below
         print "Arguments are @_";
     }

     Use of @_ in join or string with signatured subroutine is
     experimental at ...

 There is a difference between the two ways of accessing the arguments: @_
 _a_l_i_a_s_e_s the arguments, but the signature variables get _c_o_p_i_e_s of the
 arguments.  So writing to a signature variable only changes that
 variable, and has no effect on the caller's variables, but writing to an
 element of @_ modifies whatever the caller used to supply that argument.

 There is a potential syntactic ambiguity between signatures and
 prototypes (see "Prototypes"), because both start with an opening
 parenthesis and both can appear in some of the same places, such as just
 after the name in a subroutine declaration.  For historical reasons, when
 signatures are not enabled, any opening parenthesis in such a context
 will trigger very forgiving prototype parsing.  Most signatures will be
 interpreted as prototypes in those circumstances, but won't be valid
 prototypes.  (A valid prototype cannot contain any alphabetic character.)
 This will lead to somewhat confusing error messages.

 To avoid ambiguity, when signatures are enabled the special syntax for
 prototypes is disabled.  There is no attempt to guess whether a
 parenthesised group was intended to be a prototype or a signature.  To
 give a subroutine a prototype under these circumstances, use a prototype
 attribute.  For example,

     sub foo :prototype($) { $_[0] }

 It is entirely possible for a subroutine to have both a prototype and a
 signature.  They do different jobs: the prototype affects compilation of
 calls to the subroutine, and the signature puts argument values into
 lexical variables at runtime.  You can therefore write

     sub foo :prototype($$) ($left, $right) {
         return $left + $right;
     }

 The prototype attribute, and any other attributes, must come before the
 signature.  The signature always immediately precedes the block of the
 subroutine's body.

PPrriivvaattee VVaarriiaabblleess vviiaa mmyy(()) Synopsis:

     my $foo;            # declare $foo lexically local
     my (@wid, %get);    # declare list of variables local
     my $foo = "flurp";  # declare $foo lexical, and init it
     my @oof = @bar;     # declare @oof lexical, and init it
     my $x : Foo = $y;   # similar, with an attribute applied

 WWAARRNNIINNGG: The use of attribute lists on "my" declarations is still
 evolving.  The current semantics and interface are subject to change.
 See attributes and Attribute::Handlers.

 The "my" operator declares the listed variables to be lexically confined
 to the enclosing block, conditional ("if"/"unless"/"elsif"/"else"), loop
 ("for"/"foreach"/"while"/"until"/"continue"), subroutine, "eval", or
 "do"/"require"/"use"'d file.  If more than one value is listed, the list
 must be placed in parentheses.  All listed elements must be legal
 lvalues.  Only alphanumeric identifiers may be lexically scoped--magical
 built-ins like $/ must currently be "local"ized with "local" instead.

 Unlike dynamic variables created by the "local" operator, lexical
 variables declared with "my" are totally hidden from the outside world,
 including any called subroutines.  This is true if it's the same
 subroutine called from itself or elsewhere--every call gets its own copy.

 This doesn't mean that a "my" variable declared in a statically enclosing
 lexical scope would be invisible.  Only dynamic scopes are cut off.   For
 example, the "bumpx()" function below has access to the lexical $x
 variable because both the "my" and the "sub" occurred at the same scope,
 presumably file scope.

     my $x = 10;
     sub bumpx { $x++ }

 An "eval()", however, can see lexical variables of the scope it is being
 evaluated in, so long as the names aren't hidden by declarations within
 the "eval()" itself.  See perlref.

 The parameter list to mmyy(()) may be assigned to if desired, which allows
 you to initialize your variables.  (If no initializer is given for a
 particular variable, it is created with the undefined value.)  Commonly
 this is used to name input parameters to a subroutine.  Examples:

     $arg = "fred";        # "global" variable
     $n = cube_root(27);
     print "$arg thinks the root is $n\n";
  fred thinks the root is 3

     sub cube_root {
         my $arg = shift;  # name doesn't matter
         $arg **= 1/3;
         return $arg;
     }

 The "my" is simply a modifier on something you might assign to.  So when
 you do assign to variables in its argument list, "my" doesn't change
 whether those variables are viewed as a scalar or an array.  So

     my ($foo) = <STDIN>;                # WRONG?
     my @FOO = <STDIN>;

 both supply a list context to the right-hand side, while

     my $foo = <STDIN>;

 supplies a scalar context.  But the following declares only one variable:

     my $foo, $bar = 1;                  # WRONG

 That has the same effect as

     my $foo;
     $bar = 1;

 The declared variable is not introduced (is not visible) until after the
 current statement.  Thus,

     my $x = $x;

 can be used to initialize a new $x with the value of the old $x, and the
 expression

     my $x = 123 and $x == 123

 is false unless the old $x happened to have the value 123.

 Lexical scopes of control structures are not bounded precisely by the
 braces that delimit their controlled blocks; control expressions are part
 of that scope, too.  Thus in the loop

     while (my $line = <>) {
         $line = lc $line;
     } continue {
         print $line;
     }

 the scope of $line extends from its declaration throughout the rest of
 the loop construct (including the "continue" clause), but not beyond it.
 Similarly, in the conditional

     if ((my $answer = <STDIN>) =~ /^yes$/i) {
         user_agrees();
     } elsif ($answer =~ /^no$/i) {
         user_disagrees();
     } else {
         chomp $answer;
         die "'$answer' is neither 'yes' nor 'no'";
     }

 the scope of $answer extends from its declaration through the rest of
 that conditional, including any "elsif" and "else" clauses, but not
 beyond it.  See "Simple Statements" in perlsyn for information on the
 scope of variables in statements with modifiers.

 The "foreach" loop defaults to scoping its index variable dynamically in
 the manner of "local".  However, if the index variable is prefixed with
 the keyword "my", or if there is already a lexical by that name in scope,
 then a new lexical is created instead.  Thus in the loop

     for my $i (1, 2, 3) {
         some_function();
     }

 the scope of $i extends to the end of the loop, but not beyond it,
 rendering the value of $i inaccessible within "some_function()".

 Some users may wish to encourage the use of lexically scoped variables.
 As an aid to catching implicit uses to package variables, which are
 always global, if you say

     use strict 'vars';

 then any variable mentioned from there to the end of the enclosing block
 must either refer to a lexical variable, be predeclared via "our" or "use
 vars", or else must be fully qualified with the package name.  A
 compilation error results otherwise.  An inner block may countermand this
 with "no strict 'vars'".

 A "my" has both a compile-time and a run-time effect.  At compile time,
 the compiler takes notice of it.  The principal usefulness of this is to
 quiet "use strict 'vars'", but it is also essential for generation of
 closures as detailed in perlref.  Actual initialization is delayed until
 run time, though, so it gets executed at the appropriate time, such as
 each time through a loop, for example.

 Variables declared with "my" are not part of any package and are
 therefore never fully qualified with the package name.  In particular,
 you're not allowed to try to make a package variable (or other global)
 lexical:

     my $pack::var;      # ERROR!  Illegal syntax

 In fact, a dynamic variable (also known as package or global variables)
 are still accessible using the fully qualified "::" notation even while a
 lexical of the same name is also visible:

     package main;
     local $x = 10;
     my    $x = 20;
     print "$x and $::x\n";

 That will print out 20 and 10.

 You may declare "my" variables at the outermost scope of a file to hide
 any such identifiers from the world outside that file.  This is similar
 in spirit to C's static variables when they are used at the file level.
 To do this with a subroutine requires the use of a closure (an anonymous
 function that accesses enclosing lexicals).  If you want to create a
 private subroutine that cannot be called from outside that block, it can
 declare a lexical variable containing an anonymous sub reference:

     my $secret_version = '1.001-beta';
     my $secret_sub = sub { print $secret_version };
     &$secret_sub();

 As long as the reference is never returned by any function within the
 module, no outside module can see the subroutine, because its name is not
 in any package's symbol table.  Remember that it's not _R_E_A_L_L_Y called
 $some_pack::secret_version or anything; it's just $secret_version,
 unqualified and unqualifiable.

 This does not work with object methods, however; all object methods have
 to be in the symbol table of some package to be found.  See "Function
 Templates" in perlref for something of a work-around to this.

PPeerrssiisstteenntt PPrriivvaattee VVaarriiaabblleess There are two ways to build persistent private variables in Perl 5.10. First, you can simply use the “state” feature. Or, you can use closures, if you want to stay compatible with releases older than 5.10.

 _P_e_r_s_i_s_t_e_n_t _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_s _v_i_a _ss_tt_aa_tt_ee_((_))

 Beginning with Perl 5.10.0, you can declare variables with the "state"
 keyword in place of "my".  For that to work, though, you must have
 enabled that feature beforehand, either by using the "feature" pragma, or
 by using "-E" on one-liners (see feature).  Beginning with Perl 5.16, the
 "CORE::state" form does not require the "feature" pragma.

 The "state" keyword creates a lexical variable (following the same
 scoping rules as "my") that persists from one subroutine call to the
 next.  If a state variable resides inside an anonymous subroutine, then
 each copy of the subroutine has its own copy of the state variable.
 However, the value of the state variable will still persist between calls
 to the same copy of the anonymous subroutine.  (Don't forget that "sub {
 ... }" creates a new subroutine each time it is executed.)

 For example, the following code maintains a private counter, incremented
 each time the ggiimmmmee__aannootthheerr(()) function is called:

     use feature 'state';
     sub gimme_another { state $x; return ++$x }

 And this example uses anonymous subroutines to create separate counters:

     use feature 'state';
     sub create_counter {
         return sub { state $x; return ++$x }
     }

 Also, since $x is lexical, it can't be reached or modified by any Perl
 code outside.

 When combined with variable declaration, simple assignment to "state"
 variables (as in "state $x = 42") is executed only the first time.  When
 such statements are evaluated subsequent times, the assignment is
 ignored.  The behavior of assignment to "state" declarations where the
 left hand side of the assignment involves any parentheses is currently
 undefined.

 _P_e_r_s_i_s_t_e_n_t _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_s _w_i_t_h _c_l_o_s_u_r_e_s

 Just because a lexical variable is lexically (also called statically)
 scoped to its enclosing block, "eval", or "do" FILE, this doesn't mean
 that within a function it works like a C static.  It normally works more
 like a C auto, but with implicit garbage collection.

 Unlike local variables in C or C++, Perl's lexical variables don't
 necessarily get recycled just because their scope has exited.  If
 something more permanent is still aware of the lexical, it will stick
 around.  So long as something else references a lexical, that lexical
 won't be freed--which is as it should be.  You wouldn't want memory being
 free until you were done using it, or kept around once you were done.
 Automatic garbage collection takes care of this for you.

 This means that you can pass back or save away references to lexical
 variables, whereas to return a pointer to a C auto is a grave error.  It
 also gives us a way to simulate C's function statics.  Here's a mechanism
 for giving a function private variables with both lexical scoping and a
 static lifetime.  If you do want to create something like C's static
 variables, just enclose the whole function in an extra block, and put the
 static variable outside the function but in the block.

     {
         my $secret_val = 0;
         sub gimme_another {
             return ++$secret_val;
         }
     }
     # $secret_val now becomes unreachable by the outside
     # world, but retains its value between calls to gimme_another

 If this function is being sourced in from a separate file via "require"
 or "use", then this is probably just fine.  If it's all in the main
 program, you'll need to arrange for the "my" to be executed early, either
 by putting the whole block above your main program, or more likely,
 placing merely a "BEGIN" code block around it to make sure it gets
 executed before your program starts to run:

BEGIN { #

         my $secret_val = 0;
         sub gimme_another {
             return ++$secret_val;
         }
     }

 See "BEGIN, UNITCHECK, CHECK, INIT and END" in perlmod about the special
 triggered code blocks, "BEGIN", "UNITCHECK", "CHECK", "INIT" and "END".

 If declared at the outermost scope (the file scope), then lexicals work
 somewhat like C's file statics.  They are available to all functions in
 that same file declared below them, but are inaccessible from outside
 that file.  This strategy is sometimes used in modules to create private
 variables that the whole module can see.

TTeemmppoorraarryy VVaalluueess vviiaa llooccaall(()) WWAARRNNIINNGG: In general, you should be using “my” instead of “local”, because it’s faster and safer. Exceptions to this include the global punctuation variables, global filehandles and formats, and direct manipulation of the Perl symbol table itself. “local” is mostly used when the current value of a variable must be visible to called subroutines.

 Synopsis:

     # localization of values

     local $foo;                # make $foo dynamically local
     local (@wid, %get);        # make list of variables local
     local $foo = "flurp";      # make $foo dynamic, and init it
     local @oof = @bar;         # make @oof dynamic, and init it

     local $hash{key} = "val";  # sets a local value for this hash entry
     delete local $hash{key};   # delete this entry for the current block
     local ($cond ? $v1 : $v2); # several types of lvalues support
                                # localization

     # localization of symbols

     local *FH;                 # localize $FH, @FH, %FH, &FH  ...
     local *merlyn = *randal;   # now $merlyn is really $randal, plus
                                #     @merlyn is really @randal, etc
     local *merlyn = 'randal';  # SAME THING: promote 'randal' to *randal
     local *merlyn = \$randal;  # just alias $merlyn, not @merlyn etc

 A "local" modifies its listed variables to be "local" to the enclosing
 block, "eval", or "do FILE"--and to _a_n_y _s_u_b_r_o_u_t_i_n_e _c_a_l_l_e_d _f_r_o_m _w_i_t_h_i_n
 _t_h_a_t _b_l_o_c_k.  A "local" just gives temporary values to global (meaning
 package) variables.  It does _n_o_t create a local variable.  This is known
 as dynamic scoping.  Lexical scoping is done with "my", which works more
 like C's auto declarations.

 Some types of lvalues can be localized as well: hash and array elements
 and slices, conditionals (provided that their result is always
 localizable), and symbolic references.  As for simple variables, this
 creates new, dynamically scoped values.

 If more than one variable or expression is given to "local", they must be
 placed in parentheses.  This operator works by saving the current values
 of those variables in its argument list on a hidden stack and restoring
 them upon exiting the block, subroutine, or eval.  This means that called
 subroutines can also reference the local variable, but not the global
 one.  The argument list may be assigned to if desired, which allows you
 to initialize your local variables.  (If no initializer is given for a
 particular variable, it is created with an undefined value.)

 Because "local" is a run-time operator, it gets executed each time
 through a loop.  Consequently, it's more efficient to localize your
 variables outside the loop.

 _G_r_a_m_m_a_t_i_c_a_l _n_o_t_e _o_n _ll_oo_cc_aa_ll_((_))

 A "local" is simply a modifier on an lvalue expression.  When you assign
 to a "local"ized variable, the "local" doesn't change whether its list is
 viewed as a scalar or an array.  So

     local($foo) = <STDIN>;
     local @FOO = <STDIN>;

 both supply a list context to the right-hand side, while

     local $foo = <STDIN>;

 supplies a scalar context.

 _L_o_c_a_l_i_z_a_t_i_o_n _o_f _s_p_e_c_i_a_l _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_s

 If you localize a special variable, you'll be giving a new value to it,
 but its magic won't go away.  That means that all side-effects related to
 this magic still work with the localized value.

 This feature allows code like this to work :

     # Read the whole contents of FILE in $slurp
     { local $/ = undef; $slurp = <FILE>; }

 Note, however, that this restricts localization of some values ; for
 example, the following statement dies, as of perl 5.10.0, with an error
 _M_o_d_i_f_i_c_a_t_i_o_n _o_f _a _r_e_a_d_-_o_n_l_y _v_a_l_u_e _a_t_t_e_m_p_t_e_d, because the $1 variable is
 magical and read-only :

     local $1 = 2;

 One exception is the default scalar variable: starting with perl 5.14
 "local($_)" will always strip all magic from $_, to make it possible to
 safely reuse $_ in a subroutine.

 WWAARRNNIINNGG: Localization of tied arrays and hashes does not currently work
 as described.  This will be fixed in a future release of Perl; in the
 meantime, avoid code that relies on any particular behavior of localising
 tied arrays or hashes (localising individual elements is still okay).
 See "Localising Tied Arrays and Hashes Is Broken" in perl58delta for more
 details.

 _L_o_c_a_l_i_z_a_t_i_o_n _o_f _g_l_o_b_s

 The construct

     local *name;

 creates a whole new symbol table entry for the glob "name" in the current
 package.  That means that all variables in its glob slot ($name, @name,
 %name, &name, and the "name" filehandle) are dynamically reset.

 This implies, among other things, that any magic eventually carried by
 those variables is locally lost.  In other words, saying "local */" will
 not have any effect on the internal value of the input record separator.

 _L_o_c_a_l_i_z_a_t_i_o_n _o_f _e_l_e_m_e_n_t_s _o_f _c_o_m_p_o_s_i_t_e _t_y_p_e_s

 It's also worth taking a moment to explain what happens when you
 "local"ize a member of a composite type (i.e. an array or hash element).
 In this case, the element is "local"ized _b_y _n_a_m_e.  This means that when
 the scope of the "local()" ends, the saved value will be restored to the
 hash element whose key was named in the "local()", or the array element
 whose index was named in the "local()".  If that element was deleted
 while the "local()" was in effect (e.g. by a "delete()" from a hash or a
 "shift()" of an array), it will spring back into existence, possibly
 extending an array and filling in the skipped elements with "undef".  For
 instance, if you say

     %hash = ( 'This' => 'is', 'a' => 'test' );
     @ary  = ( 0..5 );
     {
          local($ary[5]) = 6;
          local($hash{'a'}) = 'drill';
          while (my $e = pop(@ary)) {
              print "$e . . .\n";
              last unless $e > 3;
          }
          if (@ary) {
              $hash{'only a'} = 'test';
              delete $hash{'a'};
          }
     }
     print join(' ', map { "$_ $hash{$_}" } sort keys %hash),".\n";
     print "The array has ",scalar(@ary)," elements: ",
           join(', ', map { defined $_ ? $_ : 'undef' } @ary),"\n";

 Perl will print

     6 . . .
     4 . . .
     3 . . .
     This is a test only a test.
     The array has 6 elements: 0, 1, 2, undef, undef, 5

 The behavior of llooccaall(()) on non-existent members of composite types is
 subject to change in future. The behavior of llooccaall(()) on array elements
 specified using negative indexes is particularly surprising, and is very
 likely to change.

 _L_o_c_a_l_i_z_e_d _d_e_l_e_t_i_o_n _o_f _e_l_e_m_e_n_t_s _o_f _c_o_m_p_o_s_i_t_e _t_y_p_e_s

 You can use the "delete local $array[$idx]" and "delete local $hash{key}"
 constructs to delete a composite type entry for the current block and
 restore it when it ends.  They return the array/hash value before the
 localization, which means that they are respectively equivalent to

     do {
         my $val = $array[$idx];
         local  $array[$idx];
         delete $array[$idx];
         $val
     }

 and

     do {
         my $val = $hash{key};
         local  $hash{key};
         delete $hash{key};
         $val
     }

 except that for those the "local" is scoped to the "do" block.  Slices
 are also accepted.

     my %hash = (
      a => [ 7, 8, 9 ],
      b => 1,
     )

     {
      my $a = delete local $hash{a};
      # $a is [ 7, 8, 9 ]
      # %hash is (b => 1)

      {
       my @nums = delete local @$a[0, 2]
       # @nums is (7, 9)
       # $a is [ undef, 8 ]

       $a[0] = 999; # will be erased when the scope ends
      }
      # $a is back to [ 7, 8, 9 ]

     }
     # %hash is back to its original state

 This construct is supported since Perl v5.12.

LLvvaalluuee ssuubbrroouuttiinneess It is possible to return a modifiable value from a subroutine. To do this, you have to declare the subroutine to return an lvalue.

     my $val;
     sub canmod : lvalue {
         $val;  # or:  return $val;
     }
     sub nomod {
         $val;
     }

     canmod() = 5;   # assigns to $val
     nomod()  = 5;   # ERROR

 The scalar/list context for the subroutine and for the right-hand side of
 assignment is determined as if the subroutine call is replaced by a
 scalar.  For example, consider:

     data(2,3) = get_data(3,4);

 Both subroutines here are called in a scalar context, while in:

     (data(2,3)) = get_data(3,4);

 and in:

     (data(2),data(3)) = get_data(3,4);

 all the subroutines are called in a list context.

 Lvalue subroutines are convenient, but you have to keep in mind that,
 when used with objects, they may violate encapsulation.  A normal mutator
 can check the supplied argument before setting the attribute it is
 protecting, an lvalue subroutine cannot.  If you require any special
 processing when storing and retrieving the values, consider using the
 CPAN module Sentinel or something similar.

LLeexxiiccaall SSuubbrroouuttiinneess Beginning with Perl 5.18, you can declare a private subroutine with “my” or “state”. As with state variables, the “state” keyword is only available under “use feature ‘state’” or “use v5.10” or higher.

 Prior to Perl 5.26, lexical subroutines were deemed experimental and were
 available only under the "use feature 'lexical_subs'" pragma.  They also
 produced a warning unless the "experimental::lexical_subs" warnings
 category was disabled.

 These subroutines are only visible within the block in which they are
 declared, and only after that declaration:

     # Include these two lines if your code is intended to run under Perl
     # versions earlier than 5.26.
     no warnings "experimental::lexical_subs";
     use feature 'lexical_subs';

     foo();              # calls the package/global subroutine
     state sub foo {
         foo();          # also calls the package subroutine
     }
     foo();              # calls "state" sub
     my $ref = \&foo;    # take a reference to "state" sub

     my sub bar { ... }
     bar();              # calls "my" sub

 You can't (directly) write a recursive lexical subroutine:

# WRONG #

     my sub baz {
         baz();
     }

 This example fails because "baz()" refers to the package/global
 subroutine "baz", not the lexical subroutine currently being defined.

 The solution is to use "__SUB__":

     my sub baz {
         __SUB__->();    # calls itself
     }

 It is possible to predeclare a lexical subroutine.  The "sub foo {...}"
 subroutine definition syntax respects any previous "my sub;" or "state
 sub;" declaration.  Using this to define recursive subroutines is a bad
 idea, however:

     my sub baz;         # predeclaration
     sub baz {           # define the "my" sub
         baz();          # WRONG: calls itself, but leaks memory
     }

 Just like "my $f; $f = sub { $f->() }", this example leaks memory.  The
 name "baz" is a reference to the subroutine, and the subroutine uses the
 name "baz"; they keep each other alive (see "Circular References" in
 perlref).

 _"_s_t_a_t_e _s_u_b_" _v_s _"_m_y _s_u_b_"

 What is the difference between "state" subs and "my" subs?  Each time
 that execution enters a block when "my" subs are declared, a new copy of
 each sub is created.  "State" subroutines persist from one execution of
 the containing block to the next.

 So, in general, "state" subroutines are faster.  But "my" subs are
 necessary if you want to create closures:

     sub whatever {
         my $x = shift;
         my sub inner {
             ... do something with $x ...
         }
         inner();
     }

 In this example, a new $x is created when "whatever" is called, and also
 a new "inner", which can see the new $x.  A "state" sub will only see the
 $x from the first call to "whatever".

 _"_o_u_r_" _s_u_b_r_o_u_t_i_n_e_s

 Like "our $variable", "our sub" creates a lexical alias to the package
 subroutine of the same name.

 The two main uses for this are to switch back to using the package sub
 inside an inner scope:

     sub foo { ... }

     sub bar {
         my sub foo { ... }
         {
             # need to use the outer foo here
             our sub foo;
             foo();
         }
     }

 and to make a subroutine visible to other packages in the same scope:

     package MySneakyModule;

     our sub do_something { ... }

     sub do_something_with_caller {
         package DB;
         () = caller 1;          # sets @DB::args
         do_something(@args);    # uses MySneakyModule::do_something
     }

PPaassssiinngg SSyymmbbooll TTaabbllee EEnnttrriieess ((ttyyppeegglloobbss)) WWAARRNNIINNGG: The mechanism described in this section was originally the only way to simulate pass-by-reference in older versions of Perl. While it still works fine in modern versions, the new reference mechanism is generally easier to work with. See below.

 Sometimes you don't want to pass the value of an array to a subroutine
 but rather the name of it, so that the subroutine can modify the global
 copy of it rather than working with a local copy.  In perl you can refer
 to all objects of a particular name by prefixing the name with a star:
 *foo.  This is often known as a "typeglob", because the star on the front
 can be thought of as a wildcard match for all the funny prefix characters
 on variables and subroutines and such.

 When evaluated, the typeglob produces a scalar value that represents all
 the objects of that name, including any filehandle, format, or
 subroutine.  When assigned to, it causes the name mentioned to refer to
 whatever "*" value was assigned to it.  Example:

     sub doubleary {
         local(*someary) = @_;
         foreach $elem (@someary) {
             $elem *= 2;
         }
     }
     doubleary(*foo);
     doubleary(*bar);

 Scalars are already passed by reference, so you can modify scalar
 arguments without using this mechanism by referring explicitly to $_[0]
 etc.  You can modify all the elements of an array by passing all the
 elements as scalars, but you have to use the "*" mechanism (or the
 equivalent reference mechanism) to "push", "pop", or change the size of
 an array.  It will certainly be faster to pass the typeglob (or
 reference).

 Even if you don't want to modify an array, this mechanism is useful for
 passing multiple arrays in a single LIST, because normally the LIST
 mechanism will merge all the array values so that you can't extract out
 the individual arrays.  For more on typeglobs, see "Typeglobs and
 Filehandles" in perldata.

WWhheenn ttoo SSttiillll UUssee llooccaall(()) Despite the existence of “my”, there are still three places where the “local” operator still shines. In fact, in these three places, you _m_u_s_t use “local” instead of “my”.

 1.  You need to give a global variable a temporary value, especially $_.

     The global variables, like @ARGV or the punctuation variables, must
     be "local"ized with "local()".  This block reads in _/_e_t_c_/_m_o_t_d, and
     splits it up into chunks separated by lines of equal signs, which are
     placed in @Fields.

         {
             local @ARGV = ("/etc/motd");
             local $/ = undef;
             local $_ = <>;
             @Fields = split /^\s*=+\s*$/;
         }

     It particular, it's important to "local"ize $_ in any routine that
     assigns to it.  Look out for implicit assignments in "while"
     conditionals.

 2.  You need to create a local file or directory handle or a local
     function.

     A function that needs a filehandle of its own must use "local()" on a
     complete typeglob.   This can be used to create new symbol table
     entries:

         sub ioqueue {
             local  (*READER, *WRITER);    # not my!
             pipe    (READER,  WRITER)     or die "pipe: $!";
             return (*READER, *WRITER);
         }
         ($head, $tail) = ioqueue();

     See the Symbol module for a way to create anonymous symbol table
     entries.

     Because assignment of a reference to a typeglob creates an alias,
     this can be used to create what is effectively a local function, or
     at least, a local alias.

         {
             local *grow = \&shrink; # only until this block exits
             grow();                # really calls shrink()
             move();                # if move() grow()s, it shrink()s too
         }
         grow();                    # get the real grow() again

     See "Function Templates" in perlref for more about manipulating
     functions by name in this way.

 3.  You want to temporarily change just one element of an array or hash.

     You can "local"ize just one element of an aggregate.  Usually this is
     done on dynamics:

         {
             local $SIG{INT} = 'IGNORE';
             funct();                            # uninterruptible
         }
         # interruptibility automatically restored here

     But it also works on lexically declared aggregates.

PPaassss bbyy RReeffeerreennccee If you want to pass more than one array or hash into a function–or return them from it–and have them maintain their integrity, then you’re going to have to use an explicit pass-by-reference. Before you do that, you need to understand references as detailed in perlref. This section may not make much sense to you otherwise.

 Here are a few simple examples.  First, let's pass in several arrays to a
 function and have it "pop" all of then, returning a new list of all their
 former last elements:

     @tailings = popmany ( \@a, \@b, \@c, \@d );

     sub popmany {
         my $aref;
         my @retlist;
         foreach $aref ( @_ ) {
             push @retlist, pop @$aref;
         }
         return @retlist;
     }

 Here's how you might write a function that returns a list of keys
 occurring in all the hashes passed to it:

     @common = inter( \%foo, \%bar, \%joe );
     sub inter {
         my ($k, $href, %seen); # locals
         foreach $href (@_) {
             while ( $k = each %$href ) {
                 $seen{$k}++;
             }
         }
         return grep { $seen{$_} == @_ } keys %seen;
     }

 So far, we're using just the normal list return mechanism.  What happens
 if you want to pass or return a hash?  Well, if you're using only one of
 them, or you don't mind them concatenating, then the normal calling
 convention is ok, although a little expensive.

 Where people get into trouble is here:

     (@a, @b) = func(@c, @d);
 or
     (%a, %b) = func(%c, %d);

 That syntax simply won't work.  It sets just @a or %a and clears the @b
 or %b.  Plus the function didn't get passed into two separate arrays or
 hashes: it got one long list in @_, as always.

 If you can arrange for everyone to deal with this through references,
 it's cleaner code, although not so nice to look at.  Here's a function
 that takes two array references as arguments, returning the two array
 elements in order of how many elements they have in them:

     ($aref, $bref) = func(\@c, \@d);
     print "@$aref has more than @$bref\n";
     sub func {
         my ($cref, $dref) = @_;
         if (@$cref > @$dref) {
             return ($cref, $dref);
         } else {
             return ($dref, $cref);
         }
     }

 It turns out that you can actually do this also:

     (*a, *b) = func(\@c, \@d);
     print "@a has more than @b\n";
     sub func {
         local (*c, *d) = @_;
         if (@c > @d) {
             return (\@c, \@d);
         } else {
             return (\@d, \@c);
         }
     }

 Here we're using the typeglobs to do symbol table aliasing.  It's a tad
 subtle, though, and also won't work if you're using "my" variables,
 because only globals (even in disguise as "local"s) are in the symbol
 table.

 If you're passing around filehandles, you could usually just use the bare
 typeglob, like *STDOUT, but typeglobs references work, too.  For example:

     splutter(\*STDOUT);
     sub splutter {
         my $fh = shift;
         print $fh "her um well a hmmm\n";
     }

     $rec = get_rec(\*STDIN);
     sub get_rec {
         my $fh = shift;
         return scalar <$fh>;
     }

 If you're planning on generating new filehandles, you could do this.
 Notice to pass back just the bare *FH, not its reference.

     sub openit {
         my $path = shift;
         local *FH;
         return open (FH, $path) ? *FH : undef;
     }

PPrroottoottyyppeess Perl supports a very limited kind of compile-time argument checking using function prototyping. This can be declared in either the PROTO section or with a prototype attribute. If you declare either of

     sub mypush (\@@)
     sub mypush :prototype(\@@)

 then "mypush()" takes arguments exactly like "push()" does.

 If subroutine signatures are enabled (see "Signatures"), then the shorter
 PROTO syntax is unavailable, because it would clash with signatures.  In
 that case, a prototype can only be declared in the form of an attribute.

 The function declaration must be visible at compile time.  The prototype
 affects only interpretation of new-style calls to the function, where
 new-style is defined as not using the "&" character.  In other words, if
 you call it like a built-in function, then it behaves like a built-in
 function.  If you call it like an old-fashioned subroutine, then it
 behaves like an old-fashioned subroutine.  It naturally falls out from
 this rule that prototypes have no influence on subroutine references like
 "\&foo" or on indirect subroutine calls like "&{$subref}" or
 "$subref->()".

 Method calls are not influenced by prototypes either, because the
 function to be called is indeterminate at compile time, since the exact
 code called depends on inheritance.

 Because the intent of this feature is primarily to let you define
 subroutines that work like built-in functions, here are prototypes for
 some other functions that parse almost exactly like the corresponding
 built-in.

    Declared as             Called as

    sub mylink ($$)         mylink $old, $new
    sub myvec ($$$)         myvec $var, $offset, 1
    sub myindex ($$;$)      myindex &getstring, "substr"
    sub mysyswrite ($$$;$)  mysyswrite $buf, 0, length($buf) - $off, $off
    sub myreverse (@)       myreverse $a, $b, $c
    sub myjoin ($@)         myjoin ":", $a, $b, $c
    sub mypop (\@)          mypop @array
    sub mysplice (\@$$@)    mysplice @array, 0, 2, @pushme
    sub mykeys (\[%@])      mykeys $hashref->%*
    sub myopen (*;$)        myopen HANDLE, $name
    sub mypipe (**)         mypipe READHANDLE, WRITEHANDLE
    sub mygrep (&@)         mygrep { /foo/ } $a, $b, $c
    sub myrand (;$)         myrand 42
    sub mytime ()           mytime

 Any backslashed prototype character represents an actual argument that
 must start with that character (optionally preceded by "my", "our" or
 "local"), with the exception of "$", which will accept any scalar lvalue
 expression, such as "$foo = 7" or "my_function()->[0]".  The value passed
 as part of @_ will be a reference to the actual argument given in the
 subroutine call, obtained by applying "\" to that argument.

 You can use the "\[]" backslash group notation to specify more than one
 allowed argument type.  For example:

     sub myref (\[$@%&*])

 will allow calling mmyyrreeff(()) as

     myref $var
     myref @array
     myref %hash
     myref &sub
     myref *glob

 and the first argument of mmyyrreeff(()) will be a reference to a scalar, an
 array, a hash, a code, or a glob.

 Unbackslashed prototype characters have special meanings.  Any
 unbackslashed "@" or "%" eats all remaining arguments, and forces list
 context.  An argument represented by "$" forces scalar context.  An "&"
 requires an anonymous subroutine, which, if passed as the first argument,
 does not require the "sub" keyword or a subsequent comma.

 A "*" allows the subroutine to accept a bareword, constant, scalar
 expression, typeglob, or a reference to a typeglob in that slot.  The
 value will be available to the subroutine either as a simple scalar, or
 (in the latter two cases) as a reference to the typeglob.  If you wish to
 always convert such arguments to a typeglob reference, use
 SSyymmbbooll::::qquuaalliiffyy__ttoo__rreeff(()) as follows:

     use Symbol 'qualify_to_ref';

     sub foo (*) {
         my $fh = qualify_to_ref(shift, caller);
         ...
     }

 The "+" prototype is a special alternative to "$" that will act like
 "\[@%]" when given a literal array or hash variable, but will otherwise
 force scalar context on the argument.  This is useful for functions which
 should accept either a literal array or an array reference as the
 argument:

     sub mypush (+@) {
         my $aref = shift;
         die "Not an array or arrayref" unless ref $aref eq 'ARRAY';
         push @$aref, @_;
     }

 When using the "+" prototype, your function must check that the argument
 is of an acceptable type.

 A semicolon (";") separates mandatory arguments from optional arguments.
 It is redundant before "@" or "%", which gobble up everything else.

 As the last character of a prototype, or just before a semicolon, a "@"
 or a "%", you can use "_" in place of "$": if this argument is not
 provided, $_ will be used instead.

 Note how the last three examples in the table above are treated specially
 by the parser.  "mygrep()" is parsed as a true list operator, "myrand()"
 is parsed as a true unary operator with unary precedence the same as
 "rand()", and "mytime()" is truly without arguments, just like "time()".
 That is, if you say

     mytime +2;

 you'll get "mytime() + 2", not mytime(2), which is how it would be parsed
 without a prototype.  If you want to force a unary function to have the
 same precedence as a list operator, add ";" to the end of the prototype:

     sub mygetprotobynumber($;);
     mygetprotobynumber $a > $b; # parsed as mygetprotobynumber($a > $b)

 The interesting thing about "&" is that you can generate new syntax with
 it, provided it's in the initial position:

     sub try (&@) {
         my($try,$catch) = @_;
         eval { &$try };
         if ($@) {
             local $_ = $@;
             &$catch;
         }
     }
     sub catch (&) { $_[0] }

     try {
         die "phooey";
     } catch {
         /phooey/ and print "unphooey\n";
     };

 That prints "unphooey".  (Yes, there are still unresolved issues having
 to do with visibility of @_.  I'm ignoring that question for the moment.
 (But note that if we make @_ lexically scoped, those anonymous
 subroutines can act like closures... (Gee, is this sounding a little
 Lispish?  (Never mind.))))

 And here's a reimplementation of the Perl "grep" operator:

     sub mygrep (&@) {
         my $code = shift;
         my @result;
         foreach $_ (@_) {
             push(@result, $_) if &$code;
         }
         @result;
     }

 Some folks would prefer full alphanumeric prototypes.  Alphanumerics have
 been intentionally left out of prototypes for the express purpose of
 someday in the future adding named, formal parameters.  The current
 mechanism's main goal is to let module writers provide better diagnostics
 for module users.  Larry feels the notation quite understandable to Perl
 programmers, and that it will not intrude greatly upon the meat of the
 module, nor make it harder to read.  The line noise is visually
 encapsulated into a small pill that's easy to swallow.

 If you try to use an alphanumeric sequence in a prototype you will
 generate an optional warning - "Illegal character in prototype...".
 Unfortunately earlier versions of Perl allowed the prototype to be used
 as long as its prefix was a valid prototype.  The warning may be upgraded
 to a fatal error in a future version of Perl once the majority of
 offending code is fixed.

 It's probably best to prototype new functions, not retrofit prototyping
 into older ones.  That's because you must be especially careful about
 silent impositions of differing list versus scalar contexts.  For
 example, if you decide that a function should take just one parameter,
 like this:

     sub func ($) {
         my $n = shift;
         print "you gave me $n\n";
     }

 and someone has been calling it with an array or expression returning a
 list:

     func(@foo);
     func( $text =~ /\w+/g );

 Then you've just supplied an automatic "scalar" in front of their
 argument, which can be more than a bit surprising.  The old @foo which
 used to hold one thing doesn't get passed in.  Instead, "func()" now gets
 passed in a 1; that is, the number of elements in @foo.  And the "m//g"
 gets called in scalar context so instead of a list of words it returns a
 boolean result and advances "pos($text)".  Ouch!

 If a sub has both a PROTO and a BLOCK, the prototype is not applied until
 after the BLOCK is completely defined.  This means that a recursive
 function with a prototype has to be predeclared for the prototype to take
 effect, like so:

         sub foo($$);
         sub foo($$) {
                 foo 1, 2;
         }

 This is all very powerful, of course, and should be used only in
 moderation to make the world a better place.

CCoonnssttaanntt FFuunnccttiioonnss Functions with a prototype of “()” are potential candidates for inlining. If the result after optimization and constant folding is either a constant or a lexically-scoped scalar which has no other references, then it will be used in place of function calls made without “&”. Calls made using “&” are never inlined. (See constant for an easy way to declare most constants.)

 The following functions would all be inlined:

     sub pi ()           { 3.14159 }             # Not exact, but close.
     sub PI ()           { 4 * atan2 1, 1 }      # As good as it gets,
                                                 # and it's inlined, too!
     sub ST_DEV ()       { 0 }
     sub ST_INO ()       { 1 }

     sub FLAG_FOO ()     { 1 << 8 }
     sub FLAG_BAR ()     { 1 << 9 }
     sub FLAG_MASK ()    { FLAG_FOO | FLAG_BAR }

     sub OPT_BAZ ()      { not (0x1B58 & FLAG_MASK) }

     sub N () { int(OPT_BAZ) / 3 }

     sub FOO_SET () { 1 if FLAG_MASK & FLAG_FOO }
     sub FOO_SET2 () { if (FLAG_MASK & FLAG_FOO) { 1 } }

 (Be aware that the last example was not always inlined in Perl 5.20 and
 earlier, which did not behave consistently with subroutines containing
 inner scopes.)  You can countermand inlining by using an explicit
 "return":

     sub baz_val () {
         if (OPT_BAZ) {
             return 23;
         }
         else {
             return 42;
         }
     }
     sub bonk_val () { return 12345 }

 As alluded to earlier you can also declare inlined subs dynamically at
 BEGIN time if their body consists of a lexically-scoped scalar which has
 no other references.  Only the first example here will be inlined:

BEGIN { #

         my $var = 1;
         no strict 'refs';
         *INLINED = sub () { $var };
     }

BEGIN { #

         my $var = 1;
         my $ref = \$var;
         no strict 'refs';
         *NOT_INLINED = sub () { $var };
     }

 A not so obvious caveat with this (see [RT #79908]) is what happens if
 the variable is potentially modifiable. For example:

BEGIN { #

         my $x = 10;
         *FOO = sub () { $x };
         $x++;
     }
     print FOO(); # printed 10 prior to 5.32.0

 From Perl 5.22 onwards this gave a deprecation warning, and from Perl
 5.32 onwards it became a run-time error. Previously the variable was
 immediately inlined, and stopped behaving like a normal lexical variable;
 so it printed 10, not 11.

 If you still want such a subroutine to be inlined (with no warning), make
 sure the variable is not used in a context where it could be modified
 aside from where it is declared.

     # Fine, no warning

BEGIN { #

         my $x = 54321;
         *INLINED = sub () { $x };
     }
     # Error

BEGIN { #

         my $x;
         $x = 54321;
         *ALSO_INLINED = sub () { $x };
     }

 Perl 5.22 also introduces the experimental "const" attribute as an
 alternative.  (Disable the "experimental::const_attr" warnings if you
 want to use it.)  When applied to an anonymous subroutine, it forces the
 sub to be called when the "sub" expression is evaluated.  The return
 value is captured and turned into a constant subroutine:

     my $x = 54321;
     *INLINED = sub : const { $x };
     $x++;

 The return value of "INLINED" in this example will always be 54321,
 regardless of later modifications to $x.  You can also put any arbitrary
 code inside the sub, at it will be executed immediately and its return
 value captured the same way.

 If you really want a subroutine with a "()" prototype that returns a
 lexical variable you can easily force it to not be inlined by adding an
 explicit "return":

BEGIN { #

         my $x = 10;
         *FOO = sub () { return $x };
         $x++;
     }
     print FOO(); # prints 11

 The easiest way to tell if a subroutine was inlined is by using
 B::Deparse.  Consider this example of two subroutines returning 1, one
 with a "()" prototype causing it to be inlined, and one without (with
 deparse output truncated for clarity):

  $ perl -MO=Deparse -le 'sub ONE { 1 } if (ONE) { print ONE if ONE }'
  sub ONE {
      1;
  }
  if (ONE ) {
      print ONE() if ONE ;
  }

  $ perl -MO=Deparse -le 'sub ONE () { 1 } if (ONE) { print ONE if ONE }'
  sub ONE () { 1 }
  do {
      print 1
  };

 If you redefine a subroutine that was eligible for inlining, you'll get a
 warning by default.  You can use this warning to tell whether or not a
 particular subroutine is considered inlinable, since it's different than
 the warning for overriding non-inlined subroutines:

     $ perl -e 'sub one () {1} sub one () {2}'
     Constant subroutine one redefined at -e line 1.
     $ perl -we 'sub one {1} sub one {2}'
     Subroutine one redefined at -e line 1.

 The warning is considered severe enough not to be affected by the --ww
 switch (or its absence) because previously compiled invocations of the
 function will still be using the old value of the function.  If you need
 to be able to redefine the subroutine, you need to ensure that it isn't
 inlined, either by dropping the "()" prototype (which changes calling
 semantics, so beware) or by thwarting the inlining mechanism in some
 other way, e.g. by adding an explicit "return", as mentioned above:

     sub not_inlined () { return 23 }

OOvveerrrriiddiinngg BBuuiilltt--iinn FFuunnccttiioonnss Many built-in functions may be overridden, though this should be tried only occasionally and for good reason. Typically this might be done by a package attempting to emulate missing built-in functionality on a non- Unix system.

 Overriding may be done only by importing the name from a module at
 compile time--ordinary predeclaration isn't good enough.  However, the
 "use subs" pragma lets you, in effect, predeclare subs via the import
 syntax, and these names may then override built-in ones:

     use subs 'chdir', 'chroot', 'chmod', 'chown';
     chdir $somewhere;
     sub chdir { ... }

 To unambiguously refer to the built-in form, precede the built-in name
 with the special package qualifier "CORE::".  For example, saying
 "CORE::open()" always refers to the built-in "open()", even if the
 current package has imported some other subroutine called "&open()" from
 elsewhere.  Even though it looks like a regular function call, it isn't:
 the CORE:: prefix in that case is part of Perl's syntax, and works for
 any keyword, regardless of what is in the CORE package.  Taking a
 reference to it, that is, "\&CORE::open", only works for some keywords.
 See CORE.

 Library modules should not in general export built-in names like "open"
 or "chdir" as part of their default @EXPORT list, because these may sneak
 into someone else's namespace and change the semantics unexpectedly.
 Instead, if the module adds that name to @EXPORT_OK, then it's possible
 for a user to import the name explicitly, but not implicitly.  That is,
 they could say

     use Module 'open';

 and it would import the "open" override.  But if they said

     use Module;

 they would get the default imports without overrides.

 The foregoing mechanism for overriding built-in is restricted, quite
 deliberately, to the package that requests the import.  There is a second
 method that is sometimes applicable when you wish to override a built-in
 everywhere, without regard to namespace boundaries.  This is achieved by
 importing a sub into the special namespace "CORE::GLOBAL::".  Here is an
 example that quite brazenly replaces the "glob" operator with something
 that understands regular expressions.

     package REGlob;
     require Exporter;
     @ISA = 'Exporter';
     @EXPORT_OK = 'glob';

     sub import {
         my $pkg = shift;
         return unless @_;
         my $sym = shift;
         my $where = ($sym =~ s/^GLOBAL_// ? 'CORE::GLOBAL' : caller(0));
         $pkg->export($where, $sym, @_);
     }

     sub glob {
         my $pat = shift;
         my @got;
         if (opendir my $d, '.') {
             @got = grep /$pat/, readdir $d;
             closedir $d;
         }
         return @got;
     }
     1;

 And here's how it could be (ab)used:

     #use REGlob 'GLOBAL_glob';      # override glob() in ALL namespaces
     package Foo;
     use REGlob 'glob';              # override glob() in Foo:: only
     print for <^[a-z_]+\.pm\$>;     # show all pragmatic modules

 The initial comment shows a contrived, even dangerous example.  By
 overriding "glob" globally, you would be forcing the new (and subversive)
 behavior for the "glob" operator for _e_v_e_r_y namespace, without the
 complete cognizance or cooperation of the modules that own those
 namespaces.  Naturally, this should be done with extreme caution--if it
 must be done at all.

 The "REGlob" example above does not implement all the support needed to
 cleanly override perl's "glob" operator.  The built-in "glob" has
 different behaviors depending on whether it appears in a scalar or list
 context, but our "REGlob" doesn't.  Indeed, many perl built-in have such
 context sensitive behaviors, and these must be adequately supported by a
 properly written override.  For a fully functional example of overriding
 "glob", study the implementation of "File::DosGlob" in the standard
 library.

 When you override a built-in, your replacement should be consistent (if
 possible) with the built-in native syntax.  You can achieve this by using
 a suitable prototype.  To get the prototype of an overridable built-in,
 use the "prototype" function with an argument of "CORE::builtin_name"
 (see "prototype" in perlfunc).

 Note however that some built-ins can't have their syntax expressed by a
 prototype (such as "system" or "chomp").  If you override them you won't
 be able to fully mimic their original syntax.

 The built-ins "do", "require" and "glob" can also be overridden, but due
 to special magic, their original syntax is preserved, and you don't have
 to define a prototype for their replacements.  (You can't override the
 "do BLOCK" syntax, though).

 "require" has special additional dark magic: if you invoke your "require"
 replacement as "require Foo::Bar", it will actually receive the argument
 "Foo/Bar.pm" in @_.  See "require" in perlfunc.

 And, as you'll have noticed from the previous example, if you override
 "glob", the "<*>" glob operator is overridden as well.

 In a similar fashion, overriding the "readline" function also overrides
 the equivalent I/O operator "<FILEHANDLE>".  Also, overriding "readpipe"
 also overrides the operators "``" and "qx//".

 Finally, some built-ins (e.g. "exists" or "grep") can't be overridden.

AAuuttoollooaaddiinngg If you call a subroutine that is undefined, you would ordinarily get an immediate, fatal error complaining that the subroutine doesn’t exist. (Likewise for subroutines being used as methods, when the method doesn’t exist in any base class of the class’s package.) However, if an “AUTOLOAD” subroutine is defined in the package or packages used to locate the original subroutine, then that “AUTOLOAD” subroutine is called with the arguments that would have been passed to the original subroutine. The fully qualified name of the original subroutine magically appears in the global $AUTOLOAD variable of the same package as the “AUTOLOAD” routine. The name is not passed as an ordinary argument because, er, well, just because, that’s why. (As an exception, a method call to a nonexistent “import” or “unimport” method is just skipped instead. Also, if the AUTOLOAD subroutine is an XSUB, there are other ways to retrieve the subroutine name. See “Autoloading with XSUBs” in perlguts for details.)

 Many "AUTOLOAD" routines load in a definition for the requested
 subroutine using eevvaall(()), then execute that subroutine using a special
 form of ggoottoo(()) that erases the stack frame of the "AUTOLOAD" routine
 without a trace.  (See the source to the standard module documented in
 AutoLoader, for example.)  But an "AUTOLOAD" routine can also just
 emulate the routine and never define it.   For example, let's pretend
 that a function that wasn't defined should just invoke "system" with
 those arguments.  All you'd do is:

     sub AUTOLOAD {
         our $AUTOLOAD;              # keep 'use strict' happy
         my $program = $AUTOLOAD;
         $program =~ s/.*:://;
         system($program, @_);
     }
     date();
     who();
     ls('-l');

 In fact, if you predeclare functions you want to call that way, you don't
 even need parentheses:

     use subs qw(date who ls);
     date;
     who;
     ls '-l';

 A more complete example of this is the Shell module on CPAN, which can
 treat undefined subroutine calls as calls to external programs.

 Mechanisms are available to help modules writers split their modules into
 autoloadable files.  See the standard AutoLoader module described in
 AutoLoader and in AutoSplit, the standard SelfLoader modules in
 SelfLoader, and the document on adding C functions to Perl code in
 perlxs.

SSuubbrroouuttiinnee AAttttrriibbuutteess A subroutine declaration or definition may have a list of attributes associated with it. If such an attribute list is present, it is broken up at space or colon boundaries and treated as though a “use attributes” had been seen. See attributes for details about what attributes are currently supported. Unlike the limitation with the obsolescent “use attrs”, the “sub : ATTRLIST” syntax works to associate the attributes with a pre-declaration, and not just with a subroutine definition.

 The attributes must be valid as simple identifier names (without any
 punctuation other than the '_' character).  They may have a parameter
 list appended, which is only checked for whether its parentheses
 ('(',')') nest properly.

 Examples of valid syntax (even though the attributes are unknown):

     sub fnord (&\%) : switch(10,foo(7,3))  :  expensive;
     sub plugh () : Ugly('\(") :Bad;
     sub xyzzy : _5x5 { ... }

 Examples of invalid syntax:

     sub fnord : switch(10,foo(); # ()-string not balanced
     sub snoid : Ugly('(');        # ()-string not balanced
     sub xyzzy : 5x5;              # "5x5" not a valid identifier
     sub plugh : Y2::north;        # "Y2::north" not a simple identifier
     sub snurt : foo + bar;        # "+" not a colon or space

 The attribute list is passed as a list of constant strings to the code
 which associates them with the subroutine.  In particular, the second
 example of valid syntax above currently looks like this in terms of how
 it's parsed and invoked:

     use attributes __PACKAGE__, \&plugh, q[Ugly('\(")], 'Bad';

 For further details on attribute lists and their manipulation, see
 attributes and Attribute::Handlers.

SSEEEE AALLSSOO #

 See "Function Templates" in perlref for more about references and
 closures.  See perlxs if you'd like to learn about calling C subroutines
 from Perl.  See perlembed if you'd like to learn about calling Perl
 subroutines from C.  See perlmod to learn about bundling up your
 functions in separate files.  See perlmodlib to learn what library
 modules come standard on your system.  See perlootut to learn how to make
 object method calls.

perl v5.36.3 2023-02-15 PERLSUB(1)