Re: [bug-gawk] On uninitialized variables

[arnold]

Hi.

M <address@hidden> wrote:

> Hello! When rereading the manual (v5.0.0), I noticed an inexact statement
> in Chapter 1:
> 
> 1.5 A More Complex Example
> 
> "(This works because awk variables are automatically initialized to
> zero.)"
> 
> It's true only in a numeric context.
> When used as strings, uninitialized variables are automatically
> initialized to an empty string.
> Although this peculiarity is emphasised throughout the rest of the manual,
> I think it would be useful to mention about it in the introduction
> chapter too (especially for novices).

Thanks for the note. Looking at the section as a whole, I think it
would be distracting to try to introduce information about initialization
to the empty string.  Sometimes it's better not to be fully complete.

So, I appreciate your making the suggestion, but I think it better to
leave that section alone.

Thanks!

Arnold