There are many times when you want it to ignore the rest of the string just like atof() does. Oddly enough, Perl calls atof(). How convenient. :-)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Perl provides a function that behaves like C's atof(), making conversion convenient.
- In plain terms
- Perl calls atof() just like C, which is handy.
- What can you take from it?
- Use Perl's built-in conversion for numeric strings.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When should I prefer Perl's conversion over manual parsing?
- Are there locale issues?
Another view
Behavior may differ for edge cases.
More from Larry Wall
Sorry. My testing organization is either too small, or too large, depending on how you look at it. :-)
Permalink to quote #41 We all agree on the necessity of compromise. We just can't agree on when it's necessary to compromise.
Permalink to quote #43 Perl itself is usually pretty good about telling you what you shouldn't do. :-)
Permalink to quote #40
Related quotes
It's there as a sop to former Ada programmers. :-)
Larry WallLarry Wall quote #35 Although the Perl Slogan is There's More Than One Way to Do It, I hesitate to make 10 ways to do something. :-)
Larry WallLarry Wall quote #1