You tell it that it's indicative by appending $!. That's why we made $! such a short variable name, after all. :-)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- He explains that the variable $! signals an error condition, and its short name reflects that purpose.
- In plain terms
- Appending $! marks an error; the name is short on purpose.
- What can you take from it?
- Use concise variable names for common signals.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does $! differ from other error indicators?
- When should you rely on $!?
Another view
Only applies to Perl; not universal.
More from Larry Wall
Well, that's more-or-less what I was saying, though obviously addition is a little more cosmic than the bitwise operators.
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