push to a referenced array

This useful function performs 'push' into a referenced array. It creates the array if it doesn't exist.

SYNOPSIS:
my $a={};
ref_push $a->{ARRAY}, "some", "list";

But the code is a bit obfuscated... %)

sub ref_push{$_[0]?push@{+shift},@_:shift@{$_[0]=[@_]}}
[download]

Comment on push to a referenced array Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: push to a referenced array by moritz (Cardinal) on Sep 27, 2008 at 20:21 UTC
Is there any advantage over `push @{$a->{ARRAY}}, "some", "list";`? I for one can't see any...	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: push to a referenced array by biga (Sexton) on Sep 28, 2008 at 07:09 UTC
Looks like the only benefit of this function is that you can omit surrounding @{}, which makes code cleaner. You may also add a ref check to this function for debug purposes.	[reply]
Re^3: push to a referenced array by jasonk (Parson) on Sep 28, 2008 at 14:15 UTC
Hiding implentation details by writing tiny functions instead of just using references the way everybody else does rarely makes code cleaner. This is doubly true when the function you replace it with is obfuscated. If you really need a golf function to do it though, it can be made shorter... `sub ref_push{push@{$_[0]\|\|=[]},@_[1..$#_]}` [download] www.jasonkohles.com We're not surrounded, we're in a target-rich environment!	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: push to a referenced array by biga (Sexton) on Sep 28, 2008 at 17:42 UTC
Re^3: push to a referenced array by moritz (Cardinal) on Sep 28, 2008 at 09:00 UTC
... but you have to write a wrapper for every built-in list function. To me it feels more like this function would be used by people not confident with references and autovivification, in which case I recommend reading perldata and perlreftut instead of writing wrappers.	[reply]
Re: push to a referenced array by biga (Sexton) on Sep 27, 2008 at 20:19 UTC
And if you want a "normal" variant: `sub ref_push { if ( !$_[0] ) { $_[0] = [ @_[1..$#_] ]; } else { push @{$_[0]}, @_[1..$#_]; } }` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: push to a referenced array by Tux (Canon) on Sep 29, 2008 at 06:46 UTC
Not safe enough: `sub ref_push { if (ref $_[0] eq "ARRAY") { push @{$_[0]}, @_[1..$#_]; } elsif (ref $_[0]) { warn "Cannot push onto non-ARRAY ref"; } elsif (!defined $_[0]) { $_[0] = [ @_[1..$#_] ]; else { warn "Cannot push: Variable already defined as something else" +; } } # ref_push` [download] Enjoy, Have FUN! H.Merijn	[reply] [d/l]


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