Re^2: Pearls (not really) of Perl programming

[hardburn]

in reply to Re: Pearls (not really) of Perl programming
in thread Pearls (not really) of Perl programming

This is at the beginning of a script that I must have written shortly after I learned about use strict.

I think everyone goes through a phase like that. I certainly have code with "global lexicals" from my early use strict days.

$start =~ s/^\s+//g;

Is there a reason for the /g?

[revdiablo]

Is there a reason for the /g?

Since the code is several years old (perhaps 5 or 6), I don't remember exactly. But the most likely explanation is that I used to be a pretty bad cargo-cult programmer.

[exussum0]

An obvious reason. Habit. I'm always typing ~s/.../.../g out of habit, never thinking of doing a replace only once.