List::Util

...is a handful of functions lumped together, which provide useful functions not common enough for the core. It is implemented in XS, and is blazingly fast.

The following functions are defined:

first BLOCK LIST

Similar to grep in that it evaluates BLOCK setting $_ to each element of LIST in turn. first returns the first element where the result from BLOCK is a true value. If BLOCK never returns true or LIST was empty then undef is returned.

    $foo = first { defined($_) } @list    # first defined value in @list
    $foo = first { $_ > $value } @list    # first value in @list which
                                          # is greater than $value

This function could be implemented using reduce like this

    $foo = reduce { defined($a) ? $a : wanted($b) ? $b : undef } undef, @list

for example wanted() could be defined() which would return the first defined value in @list

max LIST

Returns the entry in the list with the highest numerical value. If the list is empty then undef is returned.

    $foo = max 1..10                # 10
    $foo = max 3,9,12               # 12
    $foo = max @bar, @baz           # whatever

This function could be implemented using reduce like this

    $foo = reduce { $a > $b ? $a : $b } 1..10

maxstr LIST

Similar to max, but treats all the entries in the list as strings and returns the highest string as defined by the gt operator. If the list is empty then undef is returned.

    $foo = maxstr 'A'..'Z'          # 'Z'

    $foo = maxstr "hello","world"   # "world"
    $foo = maxstr @bar, @baz        # whatever

This function could be implemented using reduce like this

    $foo = reduce { $a gt $b ? $a : $b } 'A'..'Z'

min LIST

Similar to max but returns the entry in the list with the lowest numerical value. If the list is empty then undef is returned.

    $foo = min 1..10                # 1
    $foo = min 3,9,12               # 3
    $foo = min @bar, @baz           # whatever

This function could be implemented using reduce like this

    $foo = reduce { $a < $b ? $a : $b } 1..10

minstr LIST

Similar to min, but treats all the entries in the list as strings and returns the lowest string as defined by the lt operator. If the list is empty then undef is returned.

    $foo = minstr 'A'..'Z'          # 'A'

    $foo = minstr "hello","world"   # "hello"
    $foo = minstr @bar, @baz        # whatever

This function could be implemented using reduce like this

    $foo = reduce { $a lt $b ? $a : $b } 'A'..'Z'

reduce BLOCK LIST

Reduces LIST by calling BLOCK multiple times, setting $a and $b each time. The first call will be with $a and $b set to the first two elements of the list, subsequent calls will be done by setting $a to the result of the previous call and $b to the next element in the list.

Returns the result of the last call to BLOCK. If LIST is empty then undef is returned. If LIST only contains one element then that element is returned and BLOCK is not executed.

    $foo = reduce { $a < $b ? $a : $b } 1..10       # min
    $foo = reduce { $a lt $b ? $a : $b } 'aa'..'zz' # minstr
    $foo = reduce { $a + $b } 1 .. 10               # sum
    $foo = reduce { $a . $b } @bar                  # concat

shuffle LIST

Returns the elements of LIST in a random order

    @cards = shuffle 0..51      # 0..51 in a random order

sum LIST

Returns the sum of all the elements in LIST.

    $foo = sum 1..10                # 55
    $foo = sum 3,9,12               # 24
    $foo = sum @bar, @baz           # whatever

This function could be implemented using reduce like this

    $foo = reduce { $a + $b } 1..10

Links

• List::Util