http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=395206

Hello, I am a novice Perl user but so taken with it I have decided to have it permanently inscribed upon my very living flesh. Just shows you what some people do for kicks. Anyway, what I was looking for is critique and even inspiration regarding the syntax and symbolism of my chosen inscription:

s/classes/masses/gi;

Short, simple, political. Maybe too much so. It's a big of a shout out to the Manic Street Preachers classic "The masses against the classes", and it will go underneath my hammer and sickle tat.

So, as a final plea, if there are any incredibly obvious syntax errors, or suggestions to enhance the symbolism or efficacy of the code, I would love to hear them. If the intended meaning is too obtuse, please tell me that as well. RESPOND, OH YE MASSES, RESPOND. BE NOT AFRAID. Now, please. Do tell me what you think.

Particularly, I wonder if there's some way not to have to repeat the "asses" portion of the code, if there's some way I didn't think of to search of that but tell the interpreter I want only the "cl" part replaced. I don't know, just an idea.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Tattoo question
by atcroft (Abbot) on Sep 30, 2004 at 01:48 UTC
    s/cl(asses)/m$1/ is one way.
        that's good, although now that I look at it, to the uninitiated I would have some gibberish plus the word "asses" tattooed on my skin. Kind of a drawback.
Re: Tattoo question
by zentara (Archbishop) on Sep 30, 2004 at 13:51 UTC
    I think the average member of the "masses" wouldn't "get it". So your audience would probably focus on the asses. Maybe you would be better off with
    $fat_cats->destroy

    I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. flash japh

      Assuming $fat_cats is an object without circular references, undef $fat_cats; should be enough to trigger its DESTROY method.

      DEAR GODS! I'M DEBUGGING TATTOOS NOW! AT THIS RATE I'LL NEVER GET A DATE!

      -- Rocco Caputo - http://poe.perl.org/

        DEAR GODS! I'M DEBUGGING TATTOOS NOW! AT THIS RATE I'LL NEVER GET A DATE!
        ++ Sorry, this was so good, I had to reply, even though it's not fresh.

        Do what I did, find another geek. Our favorite romantic destination: a technical bookstore with a coffee shop!

        -QM
        --
        Quantum Mechanics: The dreams stuff is made of

Re: Tattoo question
by DrHyde (Prior) on Sep 30, 2004 at 08:58 UTC
    purely for aesthetic reasons you might want to use the /x modifier, so that you can add whitespace to the pattern and not have it change the meaning. For example, if you don't want to tat to be so wide ...
    s/classes /masses/gix
      Or without the /x:
      s[classes] [masses]gi
      I myself would take a tattoo of a flying squirrel.
Re: Tattoo question
by jbware (Chaplain) on Oct 01, 2004 at 17:11 UTC
    If you really want to make a statement, put the camel 45213 on your back. Although I pity the tattoo artist that has to code that...

    -jbWare
Re: Tattoo question
by monarch (Priest) on Nov 28, 2005 at 04:02 UTC
    Tattoos are forever, so perhaps adding:
    use 5.006_001;
    ..would be prudent? At least anyone digging up your grave will know which compiler to use..
Re: Tattoo question
by Anonymous Monk on Sep 30, 2004 at 16:32 UTC
    Risking hepatitis for Perl, are we? Something like 1:3 tatoo'd people have hep, no?
    Doesn't seem worth the risk to me...
    And you're an admitted Perl novice, what if you decide you like Ruby better in 6 months?
    I can see Randal or Larry getting a Perl tatoo, but a novice, why?
    Right now you're just a wanna-be..
    But, if you must, I suggest the sentence "Just Another Perl Hacker,", a real JAPH, or just the letters JAPH.
    Definitely post a picture.

      Joost is right. Almost everyone I know has ink, as the kids say, including me. None of us has ever had hepatitis. No reputable studio will give you any disease.

      On the subject of the content, though, I tend to agree. An obfu might be nicer. And something else to keep in mind, spelt out tats don't weather fashion and time well and tats, like jokes, that have to be explained aren't usually worth the effort.

      Update for drama: more of my friends have had bubonic plague than hepatitis.

        thankyou for reassuring me on the tattoo safety front, those two who did. I've reconsidered to perhaps wait until I know Perl better so I can think of something more interesting to the mighty and knowledgable residents of this eerie monastary. My basic idea with the tattoo BTW, is that I want to have a band of characters surrounding my arm for each language I get familiar with.. so there'll be one Korean, French, Perl, ... anyway, right now the only band is a binary one. So I'm trying to think of ways to aesthetically extend the effect. Maybe I should just stick with the binary. It's more.. pattern-y. Thanks anyways for the suggestions. La.
      what?? one moment you're condemning me to death by T-cell obliteration, the next you're asking for pictures?
Re: Tattoo question
by johndageek (Hermit) on Oct 05, 2004 at 16:38 UTC
    So would this be the anti-oop movement?

    Enjoy!
    Dageek
Re: Tattoo question
by ambrus (Abbot) on Nov 27, 2005 at 23:06 UTC

    While I'm a bit late for this node, I'd like to point out to the C program tattooes mentioned in the IOCCC News.

    On a slightly different kind of programming tattoo, see export-a-crypto-system sig.