8.1 References and complex data structures

8.2 An associative array (or simply – a hash) is an unordered set of key=>value pairs. Each key is associated with a value. A hash variable name always start with a “%”: my %h = ("a"=>5, "bob"=>"zzz", 50=>"Johnny"); You can access a value by its key: print $h{50}.$h{a};Johnny5 $h{bob} = "aaa"; (modifying an existing value) $h{555} = "z"; (adding a new key-value pair) Hash – an associative array

8.3 To iterate over the keys in %h foreach $key (keys(%h))... For example: foreach $key (keys(%h)) { print "The key is $key\n"; print "The value is $h{$key}\n"; } The elements are given in an arbitrary order, so if you want a certain order use sort: foreach $key (sort(keys(%h)))... Iterating over hash elements

8.4 So far, we know two types of data structures: An Array is an ordered list of scalar values: = ("Shmuel", "Moti", "Rahel"); A Hash is an unordered set of pairs of scalar values: my %phoneBook = ("Shmuel"=>5820, "Moti"=>2745); However, in many situations we may need to store more complex data records. For example – how to keep the phone number, address and list of grades for each student in a course? We would like a data record that looks like this: "Shmuel" => (5820, "34 HaShalom St.", (85,91,67)) For this to work we’re going to need references… Why do we need complex data structures?

8.5 Variable types in PERL ScalarArrayHash $number $string %hash => $array[0] $hash{key} $reference 0x225d14 @array3

8.6 A reference to a variable is a scalar value that “points” to the variable: $nameRef = = (85,91,67); $gradesRef = $phoneBookRef = \%phoneBook; References $phoneBookRef %phoneBook $gradesRef$nameRef$name

8.7 A reference to a variable is a scalar value that “points” to the variable: $nameRef = = (85,91,67); $gradesRef = $phoneBookRef = \%phoneBook; We can make an anonymous reference without creating a variable with a name: [ITEMS] creates a new, anonymous array and returns a reference to it; {ITEMS} creates a hash: $arrayRef = [85,91,67]; $hashRef = {85=>4,91=>3}; (These are variables with no variable name) $gradesRef$arrayRef

8.8 $nameRef = \$name; $gradesRef = $phoneBookRef = \%phoneBook; print $gradesRef;ARRAY(0x225d14) To access the data from a reference we need to dereference it: print $$nameRef;Yossi print $$gradesRef[3] = 100; print $phoneNumber = $$phoneBookRef{"Yossi"}; De-referencing 100 was added to the original $gradesRef

8.9 $gradesRef = $phoneBookRef = \%phoneBook; print $$gradesRef[3] = 100; $phoneNumber = $$phoneBookRef{"Yossi"}; The following notation is equivalent, and sometimes it is more readable: $gradesRef->[3] = 100; $phoneNumber = $phoneBookRef->{"Yossi"}; $gradesRef

8.10 Because a reference is a scalar value, we can store a reference to an array\hash in as an element in another = (85,91,67); %students = (Yossi => $students{Yossi} = $students{Shmuel} = [83,76]; Now the key “Yossi” is paired to a reference value: print $students{Yossi};ARRAY(0x22e714) print print ${$students{Yossi}}[1];91 print $students{Yossi}->[1];91 This form is more readable, we strongly recommend it… References allow complex structures %students NAME => [GRADES] %students =>

8.11 Now we can do it: “how to keep the phone number, address and list of grades for each student in a course?” $students{Yossi} = {phone=>3744, address=>"34 HaShalom St.", grades=>[93,72,87]}; $students{Rahel} = {phone=>5732, address=>"5 Bazel St.", grades=>[91,86,88]}; References allow complex structures %students NAME => {phone => PHONE address => ADDRESS grades => [GRADES]} %students =>

8.12 Now we can do it: “how to keep the phone number, address and list of grades for each student in a course?” $students{Yossi} = {phone=>3744, address=>"34 HaShalom St.", grades=>[93,72,87]}; print $students{Yossi}->{grades}->[2]; 87 It is more convenient to use a shorthand notation: print $students{Yossi}{grades}[2] But remember that there are references in there! References allow complex structures %students NAME => {phone => PHONE address => ADDRESS grades => [GRADES]} %students =>

8.13 The following code is an example of iterating over two levels of the structure – The top hash (each student) and the internal arrays (lists of grades): foreach my $name (keys(%students)) { foreach my $grade { print $grade; } } References allow complex structures %students NAME => {phone => PHONE address => ADDRESS grades => [GRADES]} %students =>

Now we can also create a 2-dimensional array (a table or a = ([1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9]); print $table[1]->[0];4 Or: print $table[1][0];4 Two dimensional arrays