4.12.1. Problem

4.12.2. Solution

# remove $N elements from front of @ARRAY (shift $N)
@FRONT = splice(@ARRAY, 0, $N);

# remove $N elements from the end of the array (pop $N)
@END = splice(@ARRAY, -$N);

4.12.3. Discussion

The splice function allows you to add elements, delete elements, or both, at any point in an array, not just at the ends. All other operations that modify an array's length can also be written as a splice:

Unlike pop and unshift, though, which always delete and return just one element at a time—and from the ends only—splice lets you specify the number of elements. This leads to code like the examples in the Solution.

It's often convenient to wrap these splice s as functions:

sub shift2 (\@) {
    return splice(@{$_[0]}, 0, 2);
}

sub pop2 (\@) {
    return splice(@{$_[0]}, -2);
}

This makes their behavior more apparent when you use them:

@friends = qw(Peter Paul Mary Jim Tim);
($this, $that) = shift2(@friends);
# $this contains Peter, $that has Paul, and
# @friends has Mary, Jim, and Tim

@beverages = qw(Dew Jolt Cola Sprite Fresca);
@pair = pop2(@beverages);
# $pair[0] contains Sprite, $pair[1] has Fresca,
# and @beverages has (Dew, Jolt, Cola)

The splice function returns the elements it removed from the array, so shift2 replaces the first two elements in @ARRAY with nothing (i.e., deletes them) and returns the two elements deleted. In pop2, the two elements at end of the array are removed and returned.

$line[5] = \@list;
@got = pop2( @{ $line[5] } );

This is another example of where a proper array and not a mere list is called for. The \@ prototype requires that whatever goes in that argument slot be an array. $line[5] isn't an array, but an array reference. That's why we need the "extra" @ sign.

4.12.4. See Also