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about (if)

makals
Novice

Jan 1, 2011, 11:29 PM

Post #1 of 9 (700 views)

about (if)	Can't Post

hello

i have a question ?

if ($numeric) {

@file = sort { $a <=> $b } @file;

} else {

@file = sort @file;

}

what is it mean by this (if) ,we didnt put any oprator or something in the ()?

please everybody give me direct answer.

Zhris
User

Jan 2, 2011, 6:16 AM

Post #2 of 9 (688 views)

Re: [makals] about (if) [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi,

In an "if" statement we test whether or not the condition within the parentheses is "true" before executing its child block of code. Therefore the condition "if ($numeric) {" checks if the variable $numeric has a "true" value. There are a number of values that can be equated as being "true":

Code

my $numeric; 
 
#some true values 
$numeric = 1; 
$numeric = "77"; 
$numeric = 'Hello world'; 
$numeric = true; 
 
if ($numeric) { #this condition WILL be executed because $numeric has a true value } 
 
#some false values 
$numeric = 0; 
$numeric = ''; 
$numeric = undef; 
$numeric = false; 
 
if ($numeric) { #this condition WILL NOT be executed because $numeric has a false value }

Its the same for common operator based "if" statements:

Code

my $numeric = 4; 
 
if ($numeric > 2) { #this condition WILL be executed because its true that $numeric is more than 2 } 
 
if ($numeric < 2) { #this condition WILL NOT be executed because its false that $numeric is less than 2 }

Hope this helps,

Chris

(This post was edited by Zhris on Jan 2, 2011, 6:17 AM)

BillKSmith
Veteran

Jan 2, 2011, 1:22 PM

Post #3 of 9 (674 views)

Re: [Zhris] about (if) [In reply to]	Can't Post

I disagree on one point. Strange as it seems, the condition should be TRUE when $numeric = false.

Without strictures, the bare word is treated as a string. The string 'false' is a true value because it is not one of the five false values.

Refer: perldoc perlsyn

Quote

Truth and Falsehood

The number 0, the strings '0' and '', the empty list (), and undef are all false in a boolean context. All other values are true. Negation of a true value by ! or not returns a special false value. When evaluated as a string it is treated as '', but as a number, it is treated as 0.

Good Luck,
Bill

makals
Novice

Jan 2, 2011, 11:05 PM

Post #4 of 9 (669 views)

Re: [Zhris] about (if) [In reply to]	Can't Post

thanks everybody.

Zhris
User

Jan 3, 2011, 4:21 PM

Post #5 of 9 (658 views)

Re: [BillKSmith] about (if) [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thats interesting. I've always used 1 or 0 as a boolean value and assumed that true or false would be acceptable.

Chris

rovf
Veteran

Jan 4, 2011, 7:40 AM

Post #6 of 9 (644 views)

Re: [Zhris] about (if) [In reply to]	Can't Post

1 is an example for true, and 0 is an example for false, so 1 and 0 work.

Other forms are possible too. For instance "0 but true" is true, while "0 but honestly true" is false (if you have in inclination to bizzarre coding).

BillKSmith
Veteran

Jan 4, 2011, 8:58 AM

Post #7 of 9 (642 views)

Re: [rovf] about (if) [In reply to]	Can't Post

Your second example appears to contradict the documentation that I quoted above. That tempted me to try the "bizarre coding." I cannot make it work as you describe. Please post a sample of this code to help us see how this behavior can work and still be consistent with the documentation.
Good Luck,
Bill

rovf
Veteran

Jan 4, 2011, 10:14 AM

Post #8 of 9 (641 views)

Re: [BillKSmith] about (if) [In reply to]	Can't Post

You caught me. I didn't think carefully enough. I was mislead by the convention that, if you need a zero which evaluates to true in a logical context, you use the string "0 but true":

Code

my $c="0 but true"; 
if($c) { 
  say 'true'; 
} else { 
  say $c+5 
}

prints 5. However, this is just a convention. Any string starting with 0, followed by a space, would serve the same purpose.

So, less bizzarre than I hoped. Sigh.

Zhris
User

Jan 4, 2011, 2:55 PM

Post #9 of 9 (635 views)

Re: [rovf] about (if) [In reply to]	Can't Post

I often use "0 but true" particularly whilst returning the result of a mathematical sum from a subroutine (0 is a valid result), and where I can't be certain that the return value is defined, therefore I check whether the value is true/defined after it has been returned. If that makes sense.

Chris

(This post was edited by Zhris on Jan 4, 2011, 2:57 PM)

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