FAQ 5.40 Why do I get weird spaces when I print an array of lines?
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From: PerlFAQ Server on 18 Jul 2010 12:00 This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq5.pod, which comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org . -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.40: Why do I get weird spaces when I print an array of lines? (contributed by brian d foy) If you are seeing spaces between the elements of your array when you print the array, you are probably interpolating the array in double quotes: my @animals = qw(camel llama alpaca vicuna); print "animals are: @animals\n"; It's the double quotes, not the "print", doing this. Whenever you interpolate an array in a double quote context, Perl joins the elements with spaces (or whatever is in $", which is a space by default): animals are: camel llama alpaca vicuna This is different than printing the array without the interpolation: my @animals = qw(camel llama alpaca vicuna); print "animals are: ", @animals, "\n"; Now the output doesn't have the spaces between the elements because the elements of @animals simply become part of the list to "print": animals are: camelllamaalpacavicuna You might notice this when each of the elements of @array end with a newline. You expect to print one element per line, but notice that every line after the first is indented: this is a line this is another line this is the third line That extra space comes from the interpolation of the array. If you don't want to put anything between your array elements, don't use the array in double quotes. You can send it to print without them: print @lines; -------------------------------------------------------------------- The perlfaq-workers, a group of volunteers, maintain the perlfaq. They are not necessarily experts in every domain where Perl might show up, so please include as much information as possible and relevant in any corrections. The perlfaq-workers also don't have access to every operating system or platform, so please include relevant details for corrections to examples that do not work on particular platforms. Working code is greatly appreciated. If you'd like to help maintain the perlfaq, see the details in perlfaq.pod. |