Perl: List, Array

Create a List

• List is enclosed by parenthesis “()”.
• To assign a list to a variable, the variable must have a “@” sign in front.
• To print a list, use the “Dumper” function in the package “Data::Dumper”.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

@a = (0, 1, 2, 'three', 4, 5, 6, 7); # assigns a list to @a.

use Data::Dumper;   # loads the list-printing module

print '@a is:', Dumper(\@a);

The backslash in front of @a is necessary. It returns the “reference” of the array @a, and the argument to Dumper must be a reference. Once a list is assigned to a variable, it's called array.

Counting Elements

To find the number of elements in a list, use “scalar”.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

@a = (4, 5, 6);   # a list

print scalar(@a); # prints 3. The length.

print @a + 0; # prints 3. The 「+」 forces a scalar context.

Perl has a “list context” and “scalar context”. How things are evaluated depends on whether the thing is in list or scalar context. “Context” basically means what's adjacent.

When a list/array is in a scalar context, it returns its length. The function scalar forces things in a scalar context.

Adding Elements

To add a element, or join two lists, use push(array, new_item).

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@b = (1, 9);
push(@b, 3);  # add a element to @b, at the end

print Dumper(\@b);  # [1, 9, 3]

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@a = (1, 9);
@b = (3, 4);
@c = ();

push(@c, @a, @b);   # @c is the joined list of @a and @b

print Dumper(\@c);  # [1, 9, 3, 4]

Nested List

Perl automatically flatten array/lists, even if the new item added to list is a list. To force creating a nested list, you have to use square brackets, like this:

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@a = (1, 9);
@b = (5, 6);

# create nested list
push(@a, [@b]);

print Dumper(\@a);  # [1, 9, [3, 4]]

Square brackets actually creates a reference to a array.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@a = (1, 8);  # array
$b = [1, 8];  # reference to array

print Dumper(\@a);  # [1, 8]
print Dumper($b);   # [1, 8]

Technically, the backslash forces the list into a reference.

Getting Elements

To extract list element, use @array[index]. The index can be several integers separated by comma, for getting multiple elements.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@a = (0, 1, 2, 'three', 4, 5, 6, 7);
@b = @a[3, 1, 5]; # ['three', 1, 5]
$c = @a[2];   # gets 2

print Dumper \@b; # ['three', 1, 5]

print $c, "\n";   # 2

Here a example of extracting sublist (aka slice).

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@a = (0, 1, 2, 'three', 4, 5, 6, 7);
@b = @a[1..4];  # the 1..4 creates a range

print Dumper \@b;   # [1, 2, 'three', 4]

Changing Elements

To replace parts, just assign them. For example, $myarray[3] = 'rabbit';.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@a = (0, 1, 2, 'three', 4);
$a[3] = 'new';

print Dumper(\@a);  # [ 0, 1, 2, 'new', 4 ]

Note the dollar sign $ above. This tells Perl that this data is a “scalar” as opposed to a “multiple”.

In Perl, a variable of “scalar” type (such as numbers and strings) starts with a $. A variable for array (aka list) starts with the sign @. A variable for harshes/dictionaries starts with %. All Perl variables must start with one of {$ @ %}. (this is a simplified story)

Nested List

To create a nested list, use square brackets for the inner list.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@b = (4, 5, [1, 2, [9, 8]], 7); # nested list

print Dumper \@b; # [ 4, 5, [ 1, 2, [ 9, 8 ] ], 7 ]

You can embed a array as a nested list into another array. For example, @b = (4, 5, \@myarray, 7).

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@a=(1, 2, 3);
@b = (4, 5, \@a, 7);  # embed @a as sublist.

print '@b', Dumper \@b;# [ 4, 5, [ 1, 2, 3 ], 7 ]

To extract element from nested list, use the form $array[index1]->[index2]->[index3]….

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# perl

use Data::Dumper;

@b = (1, 2, ['x', 'y'], 3);
$c = $b[2]->[1];
print $c; # 'y'

@b = (1, 2, ['x', [4, 5], 7], 3);
$c = $b[2]->[1]->[1];
print $c; # 5

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