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in reply to Re^2: Why doesn't Perl provide %_ as the hash equivalent of @_ in subs? (ugly++)
in thread Why doesn't Perl provide %_ as the hash equivalent of @_ in subs?

Why not apply the same principle to %_?

Because $_ costs (almost) nothing to provide; so people not using it do not pay a penalty for those that do.

Setting up a hash from an arbitrary list of value would require substantial extra validation to see if doing so made any sense -- are there an even number; does the first of each pair make sense as a key etc. -- then building the hash and aliasing the hash values to the input arguments etc.

That is a substantial penalty for everyone who doesn't used that hash to pay, for the convenience of the few that would.

If you want that facility, do it yourself, cos I have no use for it and I don't want to pay the penalty.


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