Python-Perl cheatsheet

Cheatsheet

This is so far based on my study of Learning Perl (O'Reilly), also known as "the llama book", plus stuff I found on the web.

See also the Perl Phrasebook on wiki.python.org

what	Python	Perl	notes
null type	None	undef	not exactly identical
String concatenation	"py"+"thon"	"pe"."rl"
	if x == y	if ( $x == $y ) and if ( $x eq $y)	Perl requires parenthesis in a comparison (same for while). Perl uses different comparators for numbers and strings
Arrays
declare a list	[1,2,3]	(1,2,3)	note that arrays contain only scalars! (1,2, (3,4), 5) becomes (1,2,3,4,5)
array length	len(array)	$#array + 1	Python returns the length of array. Perl gives me the index of the last element. Also, the array value in a scalar context is (usually) its size.
	range(1,100)	(1..100)
create a list from whitespaced values	"fred barney wilma dino".split()	qw( fred barney wilma dino);	You can use separators others than parenthesis, e.g. qw ! fred barney wilma dino !
multiple assignment	fred, barney, dino = "flintstone", "rubble", None	($fred, $barney, $dino) = ("flintstone", "rubble", undef);
pretty-print array	print array	print "@array\n";	Simply using print @array will print the contents but without spacing, so that (1,2,3) becomes 123.
array concatenation	a+b	(@a, @b)	you can also mix like (@a, 3, @b, undef)
	array.append(item)	push @array, item;	See also Perl's unshift() for attaching to the front of array
	val = array.pop()	val = pop @array;	See also Perl's shift() for removing from the front of array
List iteration	for item in array	foreach $item (@array)	Note that $item is the real element of @array, so if you modify $item, you modify the array content
	list.reverse()	@list = reverse @list;	Python is in place, Perl is not. Same for sort.
Check if item in list	if item in list :...	if ( grep {$_ eq $element} @array ) { ...	TIMTOWDI; see also using hashes and exists()
Index of item	list.index(item)	my( $index )= grep { $array[$_] eq $search_for } 0..$#array;	See Perlmonks.org
Mappings (dictionaries / hashes)
Define hash	dict = { 'a':1 , 'b':2 }	hash = ( 'a'=> 1, 'b'=> 2, )
Retrieve value	dict[key]	$hash{$key}
Invert a hash	inverted_dict = dict([[v,k] for k,v in mydict.items()])	%inverted_hash = reverse %hash;
Keys	keys = dict.keys()	@keys = keys %hash;
Values	vals = dict.values()	@vals = values %hash;
Iterating a hash	for key in dict.keys(): dict[key]...	while ( ($key, $val) = each %hash) {...}	Notice the each function -iterates and the assigment is false when there are no more couples. Notice also, if you want keys sorted, you can use foreach $key (sort keys %hash) {...} , which is similar to the Python case.
Creating an hash from two arrays	for key,val in zip(keys,vals): dict[key]=val	@dict{@keys} = @vals	See hash slicing.
Functions and subroutines
Subroutine/function declaration	def function(): ...	sub function { ... }
	return x	return x or [last evaluated expression is return value]	Perl has an explicit return statement, but it's facultative. A return-less sub won't return "undef", but the last expression evaluated!
Arguments of a function	def function(arg1,arg2...)	sub function { ... $_[0] , $[1] ... }	Perl doesn't have explicit arguments; args are stored in the @_ default array.
Name of argument variables	def function(arg1,arg2...)	sub function { my($arg1, $arg2) = @_; }	You can name arguments by declaring them using the @_ default array
Static variables in function scope	(define a generator ; see yield ) ; (use namespace within function, like def foo(): foo.myvar=1)	state $myvar=1;	Defines a variable which is statically defined but within function namespace -so it's not resetted when function is called, it maintains its state.
Returning more than one array/dictionary	return a,b	return \@array, \%hash;	In Perl, functions collapse all input in a single array and all output in a single array. You have to play with references.
Input / output
	x = raw_input()	$x = <STDIN>;	Interestingly if you use a list context, like in @x = <STDIN> , you get multiline stdin input.
	sys.argv	@ARGV
Program's own name	sys.argv[0]	$0
Multiple file arguments stream	see fileinput module	<>	Comntains sequentially all the file stream from all files in program arguments, like ./script.pl file1 file2 file3
Open a file stream for reading	f = open('test.txt')	open TEST, "test.txt";	Use uppercase, it's good practice.
Open a file stream for writing	f = open('test.txt','w')	open TEST, ">test.txt";
Open a file stream for appending	f = open('test.txt','a')	open TEST, ">>test.txt";
Close file	f.close()	close TEST;
Error handling
Raise exception	raise	die
Catch exception	try: ... except: ...	eval { ... } or do {...}
Operating system interaction
Environment variables	os.environ	%ENV
Miscellaneous
Save data structures to disk	pickle module	Storable module	Perl has a quite long list of modules to save data structures to disk

Traps

Static arrays

To have a valid

state @array

you need to

use 5.010;

while/foreach memory consumption

This:

while (<STDIN>) { ...

reads one line at a time.

This:

foreach (<STDIN>) { ...

instead loads all STDIN into memory before processing it!

Print a hash

• If you do

print "%hash";

it will NOT interpolate and write the hash! it will dumbly write the string "%hash".

You can unwind the array by @unwind_hash = %hash (but it is difficult to read) or you have to write your helper function.