Why should I use the -w argument with my Perl programs?
Question: Why should I use the -w argument with my Perl programs?
Answer:
Many Perl developers use the -w option of the interpreter, especially during the development stages of an application. This warning option turns on many warning messages that can help you understand and debug your applications.
To use this option on Unix systems, just include it on the first line of the program, like this:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
If you develop Perl apps on a DOS/Windows computer, and you're creating a program named myApp.pl, you can turn on the warning messages when you run your program like this:
perl -w myApp.pl
(You can also use that option on Unix and Linux systems, but I think it's more typicaly to include the -w option on the first line of your Perl script on Unix systems.)
Give this warning option a try the next time you think you're having any problems with your Perl programs, and see how it helps.
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