List::Util(3)

NAME
List::Util - A selection of general-utility list subroutines

SYNOPSIS
    use List::Util qw(first max maxstr min minstr reduce shuffle sum);

DESCRIPTION
"List::Util" contains a selection of subroutines that people have expressed would be nice to have in the perl core, but the usage would not really be high enough to warrant the use of a keyword, and the size so small such that being individual extensions would be wasteful.

By default "List::Util" does not export any subroutines.

LIST-REDUCTION FUNCTIONS
The following set of functions all reduce a list down to a single value.

  $result = reduce { BLOCK } @list
Reduces @list by calling "BLOCK" in a scalar context 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 the "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.

The following examples all demonstrate how "reduce" could be used to implement the other list-reduction functions in this module. (They are not in fact implemented like this, but instead in a more efficient manner in individual C functions).

    $foo = reduce { defined($a)            ? $a :
                    $code->(local $_ = $b) ? $b :
                                             undef } undef, @list # first

    $foo = reduce { $a > $b ? $a : $b } 1..10       # max
    $foo = reduce { $a gt $b ? $a : $b } 'A'..'Z'   # maxstr
    $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

    $foo = reduce { $a || $code->(local $_ = $b) } 0, @bar   # any
    $foo = reduce { $a && $code->(local $_ = $b) } 1, @bar   # all
    $foo = reduce { $a && !$code->(local $_ = $b) } 1, @bar  # none
    $foo = reduce { $a || !$code->(local $_ = $b) } 0, @bar  # notall
       # Note that these implementations do not fully short-circuit

If your algorithm requires that "reduce" produce an identity value, then make sure that you always pass that identity value as the first argument to prevent "undef" being returned

  $foo = reduce { $a + $b } 0, @values;             # sum with 0 identity value

The remaining list-reduction functions are all specialisations of this generic idea.

  any
    my $bool = any { BLOCK } @list;

Since version 1.33.

Similar to "grep" in that it evaluates "BLOCK" setting $_ to each element of @list in turn. "any" returns true if any element makes the "BLOCK" return a true value. If "BLOCK" never returns true or @list was empty then it returns false.

Many cases of using "grep" in a conditional can be written using "any" instead, as it can short-circuit after the first true result.

    if( any { length > 10 } @strings ) {
        # at least one string has more than 10 characters
    }

  all
    my $bool = all { BLOCK } @list;

Since version 1.33.

Similar to "any", except that it requires all elements of the @list to make the "BLOCK" return true. If any element returns false, then it returns false. If the "BLOCK" never returns false or the @list was empty then it returns true.

  none

  notall
    my $bool = none { BLOCK } @list;

    my $bool = notall { BLOCK } @list;

Since version 1.33.

Similar to "any" and "all", but with the return sense inverted. "none" returns true only if no value in the @list causes the "BLOCK" to return true, and "notall" returns true only if not all of the values do.

  first
    my $val = 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

  max
    my $num = 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

  maxstr
    my $str = 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

  min
    my $num = 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

  minstr
    my $str = 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

  product
    my $num = product @list;

Since version 1.35.

Returns the numerical product of all the elements in @list. If @list is empty then 1 is returned.

    $foo = product 1..10            # 3628800
    $foo = product 3,9,12           # 324

  sum
    my $num_or_undef = sum @list;

Returns the numerical sum of all the elements in @list. For backwards compatibility, if @list is empty then "undef" is returned.

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

  sum0
    my $num = sum0 @list;

Since version 1.26.

Similar to "sum", except this returns 0 when given an empty list, rather than "undef".

KEY/VALUE PAIR LIST FUNCTIONS
The following set of functions, all inspired by List::Pairwise, consume an even-sized list of pairs. The pairs may be key/value associations from a hash, or just a list of values. The functions will all preserve the original ordering of the pairs, and will not be confused by multiple pairs having the same "key" value - nor even do they require that the first of each pair be a plain string.

  pairgrep
    my @kvlist = pairgrep { BLOCK } @kvlist;

    my $count = pairgrep { BLOCK } @kvlist;

Since version 1.29.

Similar to perl's "grep" keyword, but interprets the given list as an even-sized list of pairs. It invokes the "BLOCK" multiple times, in scalar context, with $a and $b set to successive pairs of values from the @kvlist.

Returns an even-sized list of those pairs for which the "BLOCK" returned true in list context, or the count of the number of pairs in scalar context. (Note, therefore, in scalar context that it returns a number half the size of the count of items it would have returned in list context).

    @subset = pairgrep { $a =~ m/^[[:upper:]]+$/ } @kvlist

As with "grep" aliasing $_ to list elements, "pairgrep" aliases $a and $b to elements of the given list. Any modifications of it by the code block will be visible to the caller.

  pairfirst
    my ( $key, $val ) = pairfirst { BLOCK } @kvlist;

    my $found = pairfirst { BLOCK } @kvlist;

Since version 1.30.

Similar to the "first" function, but interprets the given list as an even-sized list of pairs. It invokes the "BLOCK" multiple times, in scalar context, with $a and $b set to successive pairs of values from the @kvlist.

Returns the first pair of values from the list for which the "BLOCK" returned true in list context, or an empty list of no such pair was found. In scalar context it returns a simple boolean value, rather than either the key or the value found.

    ( $key, $value ) = pairfirst { $a =~ m/^[[:upper:]]+$/ } @kvlist

As with "grep" aliasing $_ to list elements, "pairfirst" aliases $a and $b to elements of the given list. Any modifications of it by the code block will be visible to the caller.

  pairmap
    my @list = pairmap { BLOCK } @kvlist;

    my $count = pairmap { BLOCK } @kvlist;

Since version 1.29.

Similar to perl's "map" keyword, but interprets the given list as an even-sized list of pairs. It invokes the "BLOCK" multiple times, in list context, with $a and $b set to successive pairs of values from the @kvlist.

Returns the concatenation of all the values returned by the "BLOCK" in list context, or the count of the number of items that would have been returned in scalar context.

    @result = pairmap { "The key $a has value $b" } @kvlist

As with "map" aliasing $_ to list elements, "pairmap" aliases $a and $b to elements of the given list. Any modifications of it by the code block will be visible to the caller.

See "KNOWN BUGS" for a known-bug with "pairmap", and a workaround.

  pairs
    my @pairs = pairs @kvlist;

Since version 1.29.

A convenient shortcut to operating on even-sized lists of pairs, this function returns a list of ARRAY references, each containing two items from the given list. It is a more efficient version of

    @pairs = pairmap { [ $a, $b ] } @kvlist

It is most convenient to use in a "foreach" loop, for example:

    foreach my $pair ( pairs @KVLIST ) {
       my ( $key, $value ) = @$pair;
       ...
    }

Since version 1.39 these ARRAY references are blessed objects, recognising the two methods "key" and "value". The following code is equivalent:

    foreach my $pair ( pairs @KVLIST ) {
       my $key   = $pair->key;
       my $value = $pair->value;
       ...
    }

  pairkeys
    my @keys = pairkeys @kvlist;

Since version 1.29.

A convenient shortcut to operating on even-sized lists of pairs, this function returns a list of the the first values of each of the pairs in the given list. It is a more efficient version of

    @keys = pairmap { $a } @kvlist

  pairvalues
    my @values = pairvalues @kvlist;

Since version 1.29.

A convenient shortcut to operating on even-sized lists of pairs, this function returns a list of the the second values of each of the pairs in the given list. It is a more efficient version of

    @values = pairmap { $b } @kvlist

OTHER FUNCTIONS

  shuffle
    my @values = shuffle @values;

Returns the values of the input in a random order

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

KNOWN BUGS

  RT #95409
<https://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=95409>

If the block of code given to "pairmap" contains lexical variables that are captured by a returned closure, and the closure is executed after the block has been re-used for the next iteration, these lexicals will not see the correct values. For example:

 my @subs = pairmap {
    my $var = "$a is $b";
    sub { print "$var\n" };
 } one => 1, two => 2, three => 3;

 $_->() for @subs;

Will incorrectly print

 three is 3
 three is 3
 three is 3

This is due to the performance optimisation of using "MULTICALL" for the code block, which means that fresh SVs do not get allocated for each call to the block. Instead, the same SV is re-assigned for each iteration, and all the closures will share the value seen on the final iteration.

To work around this bug, surround the code with a second set of braces. This creates an inner block that defeats the "MULTICALL" logic, and does get fresh SVs allocated each time:

 my @subs = pairmap {
    {
       my $var = "$a is $b";
       sub { print "$var\n"; }
    }
 } one => 1, two => 2, three => 3;

This bug only affects closures that are generated by the block but used afterwards. Lexical variables that are only used during the lifetime of the block's execution will take their individual values for each invocation, as normal.

SUGGESTED ADDITIONS
The following are additions that have been requested, but I have been reluctant to add due to them being very simple to implement in perl

  # How many elements are true

  sub true { scalar grep { $_ } @_ }

  # How many elements are false

  sub false { scalar grep { !$_ } @_ }

SEE ALSO
Scalar::Util, List::MoreUtils

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1997-2007 Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com>. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

Recent additions and current maintenance by Paul Evans, <leonerd@leonerd.org.uk>.