Editing Sigil (computer programming) (section)

== Historical context ==
The use of sigils was popularized by the [[BASIC programming language]]. The best known example of a sigil in BASIC is the [[dollar sign]] ("<code>$</code>") appended to the names of all [[string (computer science)|string]]s. Many BASIC dialects use other sigils (like "<code>%</code>") to denote [[integer]]s and [[floating-point number]]s and their precision, and sometimes other types as well.

[[Larry Wall]] adopted [[shell script]]ing's use of sigils for his [[Perl]] programming language.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} In Perl, the sigils do not specify fine-grained data types like strings and integers, but the more general categories of [[scalar (computing)|scalars]] (using a prefixed "<code>$</code>"), arrays (using "<code>@</code>"), [[hash table|hashes]] (using "<code>%</code>"), and [[subroutine]]s (using "<code>&</code>"). [[Raku (programming language)|Raku]] also uses secondary sigils, or '''twigils''',<ref>[http://doc.perl6.org/language/variables#Twigils "Perl 6 variables:Twigils"], Perl 6 Documentation.</ref> to indicate the scope of variables. Prominent examples of twigils in Raku include "<code>^</code>" ([[caret]]), used with self-declared formal parameters ("placeholder variables"), and "<code>.</code>", used with object attribute accessors (i.e., instance variables).