Sheesh…

I guess you need to dereference a variable somewhere, so something like passing @{$whatever} instead of $whatever. Then again… maybe you just need to make it a reference, so pass \@whatever instead of @whatever. At least you should search in that direction.

That’s why you should never use Perl.

Actually Matt, that’s why people who are not programmers should not program.

That’s an interesting statement Jeff, since if followed strictly, it would mean that no new programmers would ever be created. Probably a bad thing.

“That’s why people who are not programmers should not program.”

No, actually; this is why programmers who accept this sort of thing as being normal should not be allowed to program. You do not need to use error-prone programming languages when error-resilient ones are available.

I’ve never figured out why someone who can see enough of the flaws of C to use Perl can’t recognise Perl’s flaws.

Programmers who do not do their best to migrate to systems that reduce errors and increase productivity are being professionally irresponsible. Unfortunately, I’d say that most programmers are.

I’ve never figured out why someone who can see enough of the flaws of C to use Perl can’t recognise Perl’s flaws

We can, but Perl allows one to be so incredibly productive compared with any other language (that I’ve used) that we’re prepared to overlook them for the time being.