Can't find a string in array - perl

Question

I have a file with almost 1,500 names of Marvel heroes, each name in new line. I have to ask user what his favourite hero is and find out if it's a hero from the list or not. Here's what I have right now. It doesn't work: I can guess only the last hero from the list. For the rest it just prints that they are not on the list.
print "Whats your favourite hero?\n";
my $hero = <stdin>;
chomp $hero;
open FILE, "<list_marvel.txt";
my #marvel = <FILE>;
chomp(#marvel);
my $result = 0;
foreach (#marvel) {
if ($_ eq $hero);
}
if ($result == 1) {
print "That hero is on the list";
}
else {
print "$hero is not on the list.\n";
}
Here are two files:
-Perl code : Perl Code
-List of heroes : List

Answer 1

Your program has a syntax error and won't compile. It certainly won't find only the last name on the list
The main problem is that you never set $result, and if($_ eq $hero) should be something like $result = 1 if($_ eq $hero)
You must always use strict and use warnings at the top of every Perl program you write. It is an enormous help in finding straighforward problems
Here's a working version
use strict;
use warnings;
my $filename = 'list_marvel.txt';
open my $fh, '<', $filename or die qq{Unable to open "'list_marvel.txt'": $!};
print "Whats your favourite hero? ";
my $hero = <>;
chomp $hero;
my $found;
while ( <$fh> ) {
chomp;
if ( $_ eq $hero ) {
++$found;
last;
}
}
print $found ? "$hero is on the list\n" : "$hero is not on the list";

Answer 2

You don't set $result anywhere to true.
Make your foreach loop like this:
foreach(#marvel){
$result = $_ eq $hero;
}
or
foreach (#marvel){
$result = 1 if $_ eq $hero
}

Answer 3

You forgot to increment your $result. If you indent your code properly, it is easier to see.
foreach (#marvel) {
# here something is missing
if ( $_ eq $hero );
}
Add $result++ if $_ eq $hero; in the foreach.
You should always use strict and use warnings. That would have told you about a syntax error near );.
Also consider using the three argument open with lexical filehandles.
Rewritten it looks like this:
use strict;
use warnings;
use feature 'say'; # gives you say, which is print with a newline at the end
say "What's you favourite hero?";
my $hero = <STDIN>;
chomp $hero;
# alsways name variables so it's clear what they are for
my $found = 0;
# die with the reason of error if something goes wrong
open my $fh, '<', 'list_marvel.txt' or die $!;
# read the file line by line
while ( my $line = <$fh> ) {
chomp $line;
if ( $line eq $hero ) {
# increment so we know we 'found' the hero in the list
$found++;
# stop reading at the first hit
last;
}
}
close $fh;
# no need to check for 1, truth is enough
if ( $result ) {
say "That hero is on the list.";
}
else {
say "$hero is not on the list.";
}

Answer 4

First, you miss setting the $result at around if($_ eq $hero).
Then, you may wish to make you comparison case insensitive. This would require a regular expression, e.g.:
$result = 1 if (/^$hero$/i);

Answer 5

Just modified your code. After if condition increment $result. Always use use strict and use warnings and always use 3 arguments to open a file.
use strict;
use warnings;
print "Whats your favourite hero?\n";
my $hero = <stdin>;
chomp $hero;
open FILE, "<", "list_marvel.txt" or die $!;
chomp (my #marvel = <FILE>);
close FILE;
my $result = 0;
foreach my $name (#marvel)
{
if($name eq $hero)
{
$result++;
}
}
if ($result == 1)
{
print "That hero is in the list.\n";
}
else
{
print "$hero is not in the list.\n";
}

Answer 6

This will take a single user entry from STDIN. It will run through the file of hero names, and if one matches the user entry it will print the name and exit the loop. If the name is not found it will tell you:
use warnings;
use strict;
open my $file1, '<', 'input.txt' or die $!;
print "Enter hero: ";
chomp(my $hero = <STDIN>);
my $result = 0;
while(<$file1>){
chomp;
if (/$hero/){
print "$_\n";
$result++;
last;
}
}
print "hero not in list\n" if $result == 0;