Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!convex!news
From: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: suggestion for dbmopen
Message-ID: <1991Jan29.163953.15953@convex.com>
Date: 29 Jan 91 16:39:53 GMT
References: <11205@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> <281@sran84.sra.co.jp> <COMPOSER.91Jan29102909@chem.bu.edu>
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Reply-To: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
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From the keyboard of composer@chem.bu.edu:
:or
:	$prog = "do $foo[$num]();";
:	eval $prog;
:

That could actually be

	$prog = $foo[$num];
	do $prog();

and skip the costly eval entirely.    But don't try to 
cheat and do this:
	
	do ($prog = $foo[$num])();

Now, I admit that I've sometimes wanted 

    do $jump_table{$command}($arguments);

There are other things that want simple scalar variables 
instead of expressions, too, like sort.  I once wanted this:

	sort &foo @bar

well actually this:

	sort &foo('$x{$a} <=> $x{$b}' @bar;

as a work-around to the illegal

	sort { $x{$a} <=> $x{$b}; } @bar;

but Perl was unamused -- it'll take

	sort $foo @bar;

and that's it.  Eventually, you know, one of these things
is going to be the proverbial straw that sends the beast
off to a dromedarian chiropractor. :-)

--tom
--
"Hey, did you hear Stallman has replaced /vmunix with /vmunix.el?  Now
 he can finally have the whole O/S built-in to his editor like he
 always wanted!" --me (Tom Christiansen <tchrist@convex.com>)