my (Perl function)

The built-in function my() in Perl creates a variable that is local to the current scope. That is, it is defined:

• within the current set of curly braces {}
• within any further curly braces that are within that current set (as one would expect)

If a variable of the same name exists outside of the current scope, my() creates a new variable and ignores/preserves the older variable. Query: is there a way to access the older variable from inside this scope? The older variable is once again accessible when execution leaves the current scope.

my() is very similar to local(), except that my() does not do dynamic scoping. my() is generally recommended over local(). (You may hear the saying "Don't use local()" from experienced Perl programmers.)

Versions

• my() was introduced in Perl 5.

Examples

• my($avar,$anothervar);
• my($arg1,$arg2) = @_;
• my(%hashvar);
• my %anotherhash;
• my $justonevar;
• my @anArray;