Quick Perl Question

[MiniStephan]

I'm starting to learn OOP Perl, and I came across this line of code when learning methods:


sub name {
my $self = shift;
if (@_) { $self->{NAME} = shift }
return $self->{NAME};
}

What's the if (@_) line used for?

[myrtle1908]

I'm starting to learn OOP Perl, and I came across this line of code when learning methods:


sub name {
my $self = shift;
if (@_) { $self->{NAME} = shift }
return $self->{NAME};
}

What's the if (@_) line used for?

It's checking if parameters were passed to the subroutine. In this case, if there are parameters, it is shifting off the parameter list and setting NAME.

[MiniStephan]

Oh yeah, that helps, thanks. I really should have seen that >.<