Perl 6 also allows specifying the default values of the sub’s arguments. Syntactically, this looks like an assignment.
sub i-live-in(Str $city = "Moscow") {
say "I live in $city.";
}
i-live-in('Saint Petersburg');
i-live-in(); # The default city
It is also possible to pass values that are not known at the compile phase. When the default value is not a constant, it will be calculated at runtime.
sub to-pay($salary, $bonus = 100.rand) {
return ($salary + $bonus).floor;
}
say to-pay(500, 50); # Always 550 net.
say to-pay(500); # Any number between 500 and 600.
say to-pay(500); # Same call but probably different output.
The “default” value will be calculated whenever it is required. Please also note that both rand and floor are called as methods, not as functions.
It is also possible to use previously passed parameters as default values:
sub f($a, $b = $a) {
say $a + $b;
}
f(42); # 84
f(42, -1) # 41
Optional parameters or parameters with default values must be listed after all the required ones because otherwise, the compiler will not be able to understand which is which.