[comp.lang.perl] Pathologicly Eclectic

rbj@uunet.UU.NET (Root Boy Jim) (02/05/91)

In <1991Feb4.163023.2980@uvaarpa.Virginia.EDU> worley@compass.com writes:
>This leads me to wonder:  Is there a non-trivial Perl program that
>consists entirely of punctuation marks?  

Probably not, altho I can think of some perverted ways to get rid of
some functions. I'm sure Larry will give these all the consideration
they deserve :-)

It all started when I realized that assigning to $[<>()] would do
set[re][ug]id. So I figured that:

	++$$	is equivalent to fork
	$---	is write
	$.++	is read
	$?=#	is kill
	$]=#	ftp's to jpl, gets version #, recompiles perl,
		dumps script and restarts if # is negative
	
Now what about the array, assoc array, etc analogs of all the
special one char variables? My perl seems to allow @@ and %%
references, but refuses to let me define subroutine &@ or
use filehandle <%>. I had trouble with label ':' too.

I mean, how hard could it be to parse and evaluate && && && anyway?
Just run your grammar thru dyslex and trison.

>Dale Worley		Compass, Inc.			worley@compass.com
-- 

	Root Boy Jim Cottrell <rbj@uunet.uu.net>
	I got a head full of ideas
	They're driving me insane