Advanced Perl Programming: From Advanced to Expert

Table of Contents
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Command-Line Options
	Changing input record separator
	Create a loop around your script
	Looping and printing
	Looping and parsing
	Editing in place
	Flexibility in backup filenames
	Backing up to different directories
	Syntax checking
	Pre-appending to @INC
		Manipulate @INC at compile time
			Using the -I option
	Including modules
	Using -M to load specific identifiers from modules
	Alternative syntax to -M
	Command-line parsing
	Displaying configuration information
	Extracting scripts from messages
	Handling extra text after end of script
	Additional resources
	Lab exercises
Chapter 2: References
	Creating references
	Returning the value from a reference
		Other methods of referencing arrays
		Arrays of scalar references
		Another method of referencing hashes
	The ref function
	Making anonymous references
		Method #1
		Method #2
		Method #1
		Method #2
	References to functions
	use strict\'refs\'
		Making use of symbolic references
	Additional resources
	Lab exercises
Chapter 3: Advanced Data Types: Arrays
	What you should already know about arrays
		Creating arrays
		Returning values in arrays
		Adding and removing elements in an array
		Looping through the array
		Array operators
			The reverse operator
			The sort operator
			The qw operator
		Array separator variable
		Regular expression matching with grep
	What you might know about arrays
		Changing $#array changes the size of the array
		Arrays returned in scalar context returns the number of elements in the array
		Changing the variable in a foreach loop changes the array elements
		The $_ variable is used by default in a foreach loop
		The foreach loop and for loops are the same thing
	Arrays of arrays
		Method #1 – Make an array for each data type
		Method #2 – Make an array for each transaction
		Method #3 – Make an array of arrays
	Creating arrays of arrays
		Rows and columns
		Creating a multi-dimensional array from STDIN
	Accessing values in an array of arrays
	Adding a subarray (row)
	Adding a column
	Printing an array of arrays
	Additional resources
	Lab exercises
Chapter 4: Advanced Data Types: Hashes
	What you should already know about hashes
		Creating associative arrays
		Accessing values in an associative array
		Removing associative array keys and values
		exists vs. defined
	What you might know about hashes
		Keeping order in hashes
		Additional useful hash modules
		Inverting a hash: method #1
		Inverting a hash: method #2
	Hashes of hashes
		Approach #1 – Make four arrays, one for each student
		Approach #2 – Make three associative arrays, one for each test
		Approach #3 – Make a hash of hashes
	Creating hashes of hashes
	Accessing values in a hash of hashes
		Accessing one element
		Accessing the entire hash
	Other data structures
		Revisiting reversing a hash
	Additional resources
	Lab exercises
Chapter 5: Typeglobs
	Virtual representation of a symbolic table
	Typeglobs
	Using typeglobs
		Making a typeglob
		Accessing the original variables via the alias
		Removing the alias
	References vs. typeglobs
	Avoiding aliases to entire identifier
	Making constants
	Passing filehandles into functions
	Redefining a function
		Redefining functions without using other functions
	Temporarily redefining a function
	Nesting functions
	Additional resources
	Lab exercises
Chapter 6: Advanced Subroutine Handling
	What you should already know about subroutines
		Declaring subroutines
		Invoking subroutines
		Returning values from functions
		The explicit method
		The implicit method
		Passing parameters
		Parameters are passed as references
		Scope of variables
		The local statement
		The my statement
		use strict
		Pre-declaring subroutines
	What you might know about subroutines
		Functions vs. subroutines
		Parameters are passed in as a single flat list
		Return values are passed out in a single flat list
		Reassigning the @_ array breaks the references
		The @_ array can be inherited from the calling program
		my variables affect blocks, not just subroutines
		You can’t my all variables
		my variables are not created until after the statement is complete
		Nested functions have their own my variables
		Foreach loops use local variable, but they can be my variables
		While my is preferred, local is still useful
	Making persistent function variables
	Using the caller function
	Passing arguments by reference
	Determining functions return data
	Returning multiple values
	Exception handling
	Constant functions
	Prototypes
		Prototype characters
	Additional resources
	Lab exercises
Chapter 7: Packages and  Namespaces
	Creating namespaces with the package command
	Fully qualified package names
		Alternative method
	Nested packages
		Declaring \"nested\" packages
		Accessing identifiers from nested packages
	use strict\'vars\'
		use strict\'vars\'
		The \"use vars\" pragma
		use vars is obsolete
	Identifiers not affected by packages
	Determine the current package
	Packages vs. my variables
		The our statement
	Additional resources
	Lab exercises
Chapter 8: Building Modules
	Creating a module
	BEGIN and END blocks
		BEGIN blocks
		END blocks
	Symbol tables in modules
	Exporting identifiers from modules
	Private identifiers
	Oking symbols to export from modules
	Module version numbers
	use vs. require
	A note about library files
	Additional resources
		Online
	Lab exercises
Chapter 9: Installing CPAN Modules
	Accessing CPAN
	CPAN organization
		The menu bar
		The main page
		Searching for modules
		I found a good module, now what?
	Installing a CPAN module manually
	Installing CPAN modules using the CPAN module
		Listing available commands
		Listing available modules
		Installing modules
	Using the Perl Package Manager to install modules
		Starting ppm
		Displaying packages
		Accessing repositories
		Installing modules
		Deleting packages
	Listing what modules are currently installed
	Additional resources
		Books
		Online
	Lab exercises
Chapter 10: POD
	POD commands
		Using headings
		Starting and ending POD text
		Using other formats
		Using POD to create multi-line comments
		Creating a list
	POD text
	POD verbatim
	POD examples
	Common POD problems
	POD utilities
		podchecker
		perldoc
		Additional utilities
	POD style
	Additional resources
	Lab exercises
Chapter 11: Advanced Features
	Perl development environments
		*nix/Windows
		Which derivative for *nix?
		Which derivative for Windows?
		Pick your Perl development tools
	The power of the do statement
		Loop control with do
		Sourcing code
		An additional feature of the do statement
	autodie
		autodie scope
		Using eval with autodie
		Why not use Fatal?
		Humorous autodie side note
	String variables as files
	File::Spec
	Proper use of soft references
	Install modules from CPAN without admin privileges
		Bootstrapping
	Basic testing
	Advanced testing
	Using prove
		Useful prove options
		Additional test modules
	Benchmarking
		Basic benchmarking
		:hireswallclock
Chapter 12: Advanced Data Structures
	Use the Readonly module to create constants
	Make large numbers more readable
	Make use of Scalar::Util
		dualvar
		looks_like_number
	Make use of List::Util
		first
		max, maxstr, min, and minstr
		reduce
		shuffle
		sum
	Make use of List::MoreUtils
	List formatting
		On a related note...
	Understand slices
	Make use of Hash::Util
		lock_keys, unlock_keys, and lock_keys_plus
		lock_value and unlock_value
		lock_hash and unlock_hash
		hash_unlocked
		legal_keys, hidden_keys, and all_keys
	Make use of Hash::MoreUtils
	Smart use of subscripts
		Example #1 – Avoid array subscripts
		Example #2 – Avoid hash subscripts
		Example #3 – Proper use of subscript
	Understand the advantages and disadvantages of for, foreach, grep, and map
		Return based on regular expression matching
		Modifying the original array
		Using substitution to make a modified copy of the original
	Know different sort techniques
		Customized sorts
		Sort by file modification time
		Hash value sorting
		Complex sorting example
		The Orcish Maneuver
	Avoid using memory to store large data
		Creating temporary files
		OO nature of File::Temp
Chapter 13: New Features
	The latest, greatest?
	The feature pragma
		Example of use feature\'say\' and use feature\'state\'
		The given statement
		An alternative format for when
		Pattern matches with given
		The default comparison for given
		Using continue with given
		New foreach technique
		Using __SUB__
		Using all features of a specific Perl version
		features are lexically scoped
	Make use of the Smartmatch operator
		Using regex expressions
		Additional Smartmatches
			The given statement
			Use Perl 5.10.1 or higher
	The // operator
	The UNITCHECK block
	Small changes in Perl 5.10
	Yada yada
	Using each, keys, and values with arrays
	Small changes in Perl 5.12
	New regular expression modifiers
	Nondestructive substation
	Automating regular expression modifiers
	New feature for given
	Small changes in Perl 5.14
	Change in use feature
	The CORE namespace
	Overriding Perl keywords
	Small changes in Perl 5.16
	Changes beyond Perl 5.16
Index