in reply to
Data::Dumper and printf
For starters, printf is NOT a slide-in substitute for print.
C:\>perldoc -f printf
printf FILEHANDLE FORMAT, LIST
printf FILEHANDLE
printf FORMAT, LIST
printf Equivalent to "print FILEHANDLE sprintf(FORMAT, LIST)", ex
+cept
that $\ (the output record separator) is not appended. The
+ first
argument of the list will be interpreted as the "printf" f
+ormat.
See "sprintf" for an explanation of the format argument. I
+f you
omit the LIST, $_ is used; to use FILEHANDLE without a LIS
+T, you
must use a real filehandle like "FH", not an indirect one
+like
$fh. If "use locale" is in effect and POSIX::setlocale() h
+as
been called, the character used for the decimal separator
+in
formatted floating-point numbers is affected by the LC_NUM
+ERIC
locale setting. See perllocale and POSIX.
Don't fall into the trap of using a "printf" when a simple
"print" would do. The "print" is more efficient and less e
+rror
prone.
