{"id":360,"date":"2026-10-13T21:01:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T21:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scmgalaxy.com\/tutorials\/2014\/07\/22\/commonly-used-sign-punctuation-and-their-name-in-perl\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T21:01:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T21:01:39","slug":"commonly-used-sign-punctuation-and-their-name-in-perl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/commonly-used-sign-punctuation-and-their-name-in-perl\/","title":{"rendered":"Perl Punctuation and Sigils: Practical Symbol Reference with Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Perl relies heavily on punctuation for variables, operators, regular expressions, and code structure. This guide is for engineers who want a quick but accurate reference to common symbols and how they are used in real Perl scripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally published on 2014-07-22; fully revised and updated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source post: Commonly Used Sign- Punctuation and their Name in Perl<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Perl<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quick reference: punctuation names and typical Perl usage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The table below focuses on symbols commonly seen in Perl code. Some marks from the original post are typographic symbols rather than core Perl syntax, and are marked as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symbol<\/th>Common name<\/th>Typical Perl use<\/th>Example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
=><\/td>Fat comma (comma arrow)<\/td>Readable key\/value pairs in hashes<\/td>team => \"platform\"<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
$<\/td>Dollar sign (scalar sigil)<\/td>Single scalar value<\/td>my $count = 3;<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
@<\/td>At sign (array sigil)<\/td>Ordered list values<\/td>my @hosts = (...);<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
%<\/td>Percent sign (hash sigil)<\/td>Key\/value map<\/td>my %cfg = (...);<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
;<\/td>Semicolon<\/td>Statement terminator<\/td>print \"ok\";<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
,<\/td>Comma<\/td>List separator<\/td>(1, 2, 3)<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
:<\/td>Colon<\/td>Ternary and labels<\/td>$a ? $b : $c<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
( )<\/td>Parentheses<\/td>Grouping, function arguments<\/td>print($msg)<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
[ ]<\/td>Square brackets<\/td>Array indexing and array refs<\/td>$arr[0]<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
{ }<\/td>Curly braces<\/td>Hash access, blocks, hash refs<\/td>$h{key}<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
\/<\/td>Slash<\/td>Regex delimiter and division<\/td>$s =~ \/err\/<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
\\<\/td>Backslash<\/td>Escaping in strings and regex<\/td>\"<\/code> and \\n<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
=~<\/td>Binding operator<\/td>Apply regex to a scalar<\/td>$line =~ \/timeout\/<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
!<\/td>Exclamation mark<\/td>Logical negation<\/td>if (!$ok) { ... }<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
?<\/td>Question mark<\/td>Ternary operator<\/td>$x ? \"yes\" : \"no\"<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
|<\/td>Pipe \/ vertical bar<\/td>Bitwise OR, regex alternation<\/td>\/warn|error\/<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
&<\/td>Ampersand<\/td>Bitwise AND, optional sub call style<\/td>$a & $b<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
^<\/td>Caret<\/td>Bitwise XOR, regex start anchor<\/td>\/^INFO\/<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
< , ><\/td>Less-than \/ greater-than<\/td>Numeric comparisons<\/td>$n > 10<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
–<\/td>Hyphen-minus<\/td>Subtraction, unary minus<\/td>$a - $b<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
_<\/td>Underscore<\/td>Common in identifiers<\/td>my $build_id<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
‘ and “<\/td>Quotation marks<\/td>String delimiters<\/td>'raw'<\/code> vs \"interp $x\"<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
\u2032 \u2033 \u3003<\/td>Prime \/ double-prime \/ ditto mark<\/td>Typographic marks; uncommon in Perl syntax<\/td>Prefer plain ASCII symbols in source<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Compare quoting forms in Perl<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Form<\/th>Interpolation<\/th>Best for<\/th>Example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Single quotes<\/td>No variable interpolation<\/td>Literal strings<\/td>'path\/$HOME'<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
Double quotes<\/td>Yes<\/td>Strings with variables or escapes<\/td>\"user=$user\\n\"<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
q{...}<\/code><\/td>No<\/td>Literal strings with fewer escapes<\/td>q{\/var\/log\/app}<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
qq{...}<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Interpolated strings with custom delimiters<\/td>qq{host=$host}<\/code><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Practical Perl examples<\/h2>\n\n\n
use<\/span> strict<\/span>;\nuse<\/span> warnings<\/span>;\n\nmy $service = \"api\"<\/span>;\nmy @ports   = (8080<\/span>, 8081<\/span>);\nmy %owner   = (\n    team => \"platform\"<\/span>,\n    lead => \"alex\"<\/span>,\n);\n\nprint<\/span> \"$service\\n\"<\/span>;\nprint<\/span> \"$ports[0]\\n\"<\/span>;\nprint<\/span> \"$owner{team}\\n\"<\/span>;<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n
my $count = 12<\/span>;\nif<\/span> ($count > 10<\/span> && $count < 20<\/span>) {\n    print<\/span> \"in range\\n\"<\/span>;\n}\n\nmy $line = \"error: timeout\"<\/span>;\nif<\/span> ($line =~ \/timeout\/) {\n    print<\/span> \"matched\\n\"<\/span>;\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n
perl<\/span> -c<\/span> script<\/span>.pl<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Decision flow: choosing the right sigil<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nflowchart TD\n    A[Need a variable] --> B{Data shape}\n    B -->|Single value| C[Use dollar sigil]\n    B -->|Ordered list| D[Use at sigil]\n    B -->|Key value map| E[Use percent sigil]\n    C --> F[Access scalar directly]\n    D --> G[Access by index]\n    E --> H[Access by key]\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Common pitfalls and best practices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  • Avoid smart quotes and look-alike Unicode punctuation in source files; Perl code is safest with plain ASCII symbols.<\/li>
  • Do not confuse sigils ($<\/code>, @<\/code>, %<\/code>) with operators; sigils identify variable type context.<\/li>
  • Use =><\/code> in hash literals for readability, especially in config-like data.<\/li>
  • Keep use strict;<\/code> and use warnings;<\/code> enabled to catch punctuation-related mistakes early.<\/li>
  • Run perl -c<\/code> before committing to catch syntax errors quickly.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    A clear reference to the punctuation marks you see most often in Perl code, including sigils, operators, delimiters, and quote forms. Includes usage tables, example snippets, and a quick decision flow for choosing the right sigil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1979,1987,1985,1122,507,1983,1984,175,1988,1990,1991,1992,1989,1982,938,1981,1986,1980],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-perl","tag-common","tag-common-punctuation-marks-in-perl","tag-commonly-used","tag-guide","tag-list","tag-marks","tag-name","tag-perl","tag-perl-common-sign-punctuation-marks","tag-perl-sign-punctuation-guide","tag-perl-sign-punctuation-list","tag-perl-sign-punctuation-marks","tag-perl-sign-punctuation-reference","tag-punctuation","tag-reference","tag-sign","tag-sign-punctuation","tag-use"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79234,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions\/79234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}