Node:Dynamic Typing, Previous:Return Statement, Up:User-defined
awk is a very fluid language.
It is possible that awk can't tell if an identifier
represents a regular variable or an array until runtime.
Here is an annotated sample program:
function foo(a)
{
a[1] = 1 # parameter is an array
}
BEGIN {
b = 1
foo(b) # invalid: fatal type mismatch
foo(x) # x uninitialized, becomes an array dynamically
x = 1 # now not allowed, runtime error
}
Usually, such things aren't a big issue, but it's worth being aware of them.