perlvar: Add link to remaining legal $# use #23252
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| @@ -2626,7 +2626,8 @@ using it now triggers a compilation error: C<$# is no longer supported>. | |||
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| This is not the sigil you use in front of an array name to get the | |||
| last index, like C<$#array>. That's still how you get the last index | |||
| of an array in Perl. The two have nothing to do with each other. | |||
| of an array in Perl. (See L<perldata/Scalar values>.) | |||
| The two have nothing to do with each other. | |||
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The paragraph about $#array in perldata... :
- is a page or more into the
Scalar valuessection - doesn't mention that there used to be a
perlvarwith a similar name - doesn't have a heading, it can't be linked to
- is difficult to identify as being the part of the doc the link from
perlvarwants me to read about
Since I generally think it makes more sense for docs to tell you what something is, not what it isn't, it might be a good idea to move the whole conversation to a =head2 confusion between $# and $#array† section in perldata
The perlvar section should just be "$# is could easily be confused with the $#array sigil - please see L<perldata/confusion between $# and $#array>"‡ followed by the current explanation of $# used to be.
The perlvar entry should just be a tomb stone for anthropology and pub trivia purposes.
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†. Not exactly that, but like that.
‡. reading this section means either you're working on code that's more than 15 years old, or you're confusing the perlvar with the sigil
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I think the confusion will be limited as there has never been much usage of the variable $#, and those users will find the perlvar section quite readily, so I don't think it's worth reorganizing perldata on its behalf. On the other hand, a more explicit section or subsection on the $#foo variable form may be useful (but is a matter for another issue/PR).
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My main point is that the link does not go to the place it should - it links to a full 7 paragraphs before the intended documentation...
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That was the closest place to link in perldata. And I agree that it is very much less than ideal. The other place this variable is described is perlintro, and it didn't seem to me like I should be linking to a tutorial as opposed to a reference document. But, the perlintro link is much better, so I have changed to point to that |
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That's way better! |
Fixes #21682