╦  ╦╔═╗╔╗╔╦ ╦╔═╗
        ╚╗╔╝║╣ ║║║║ ║╚═╗
         ╚╝ ╚═╝╝╚╝╚═╝╚═╝
        ╔═╗╔═╗╔═╗╦═╗╔═╗╔╦╗╔═╗╦═╗
        ║ ║╠═╝║╣ ╠╦╝╠═╣ ║ ║ ║╠╦╝
        ╚═╝╩  ╚═╝╩╚═╩ ╩ ╩ ╚═╝╩╚═

============================================================================

Two characters. That's all it takes to force numeric context:

    0+

The Venus operator. Named because it looks like the astronomical
symbol for Venus (♀) if you squint and use your imagination.

It's the cleanest way to say "treat this as a number."

============================================================================

PART 1: THE TRICK
-----------------

    my $str = "42";
    my $num = 0 + $str;

Now $num is numerically 42, not the string "42".

Why does this matter? Perl usually handles string/number conversion
automatically. But sometimes you need to force it:

    my $json = '{"value": ' . (0 + $input) . '}';

Without 0+, you might get:

    {"value": "42"}    # String, wrong

With 0+:

    {"value": 42}      # Number, correct

============================================================================

PART 2: HOW IT WORKS
--------------------

Adding zero to anything forces numeric context. Perl converts the
value to a number, adds zero, and returns the result.

    0 + "42"        # 42
    0 + "3.14159"   # 3.14159
    0 + "007"       # 7 (leading zeros stripped)
    0 + "1e3"       # 1000
    0 + "0xFF"      # 0 (hex not parsed this way)
    0 + "abc"       # 0 (with warning if enabled)

It's the numeric equivalent of concatenating an empty string:

    "" . 42         # "42" (forces string context)
    0 + "42"        # 42 (forces numeric context)

          .--.
         |o_o |
         |:_/ |
        //   \ \
       (|     | )
      /'\_   _/`\
      \___)=(___/

============================================================================

PART 3: JSON OUTPUT
-------------------

This is where Venus shines. JSON distinguishes between:

    {"count": 5}       # Number
    {"count": "5"}     # String

Perl doesn't care. JSON parsers do.

    my $count = "5";
    print qq|{"count": $count}|;         # {"count": 5}
    # Looks right but it's misleading...

    print qq|{"count": "$count"}|;       # {"count": "5"}
    # Explicitly a string

    print qq|{"count": @{[0+$count]}}|;  # {"count": 5}
    # Explicitly a number using Venus + Babycart

============================================================================

PART 4: CLEANING MESSY DATA
---------------------------

User input is garbage. Venus cleans it:

    my @inputs = ('42', ' 3.14 ', '007', '  -5  ', '1,234');

    for (@inputs)
    {
        my $clean = 0 + $_;
        printf "%-10s -> %g\n", "'$_'", $clean;
    }

Output:

    '42'       -> 42
    ' 3.14 '   -> 3.14
    '007'      -> 7
    '  -5  '   -> -5
    '1,234'    -> 1

Note the last one: commas break the parse, so you get 1.
Venus isn't magic - it uses Perl's standard string-to-number rules.

============================================================================

PART 5: ARRAY LENGTH
--------------------

The Venus operator is a quick way to get array length:

    my @items = qw(apple banana cherry);
    my $count = 0 + @items;    # 3

But wait - scalar() does the same thing:

    my $count = scalar @items; # 3

So why Venus? In expressions where scalar() is awkward:

    print "Items: ", 0 + @items, "\n";
    # vs
    print "Items: ", scalar(@items), "\n";

Six characters vs twelve. In one-liners, brevity wins.

============================================================================

PART 6: BOOLEAN TO INTEGER
--------------------------

Perl booleans are empty string (false) or 1 (true). Sometimes you
need 0 or 1 explicitly:

    my $flag = $x > 5;        # 1 or ''
    my $bit  = 0 + ($x > 5);  # 1 or 0

Useful for bit manipulation or when interfacing with C code that
expects actual integers.

The expanded form (Venus Bang Bang) makes this even clearer:

    my $bit = 0 + !!$value;   # 0 or 1, always

============================================================================

PART 7: COMPARISON FUN
----------------------

Because Venus forces numeric context, it affects comparisons:

    my $a = "10";
    my $b = "9";

    print $a lt $b;    # 1 (string: "10" lt "9" is true!)
    print $a < $b;     # '' (numeric: 10 < 9 is false)

    # Force numeric comparison on variables of unknown type:
    print 0+$a < 0+$b; # '' (definitely numeric)

When you don't trust the data type, Venus makes intentions clear.

============================================================================

PART 8: IN ONE-LINERS
---------------------

Sum numbers from a file (each line is a number):

    perl -lne '$sum += 0+$_; END { print $sum }' numbers.txt

The 0+ ensures each line is treated as a number even if it has
trailing whitespace or weird formatting.

Convert file to JSON array:

    perl -lne 'push @a, 0+$_; END { print "[", join(",", @a), "]" }' nums.txt

Output: [1,2,3,4,5] with proper JSON numbers.

============================================================================

PART 9: VS OTHER CONVERSIONS
----------------------------

Multiple ways to force numeric context:

    0 + $str     # Venus - cleanest
    $str + 0     # Also works, less idiomatic  
    $str * 1     # Multiplication by 1
    $str / 1     # Division by 1
    $str - 0     # Subtraction of 0
    int($str)    # Forces integer (truncates decimals)
    1 * $str     # Seen in the wild, ugly

Venus (0+) is the convention because it's minimal and reads left to
right: "zero plus thing" = "thing as number."

============================================================================

PART 10: THE NAME
-----------------

Why Venus? The claim is that 0+ resembles the Venus symbol ♀.

    0+
    ♀

Yeah, you need imagination. The 0 is the circle, the + is the cross
below. Astronomers and astrologers would disagree.

But Perl's secret operators all have weird names. That's the fun.

============================================================================

                    0+
                    ♀
                  Venus

         Forcing numeric context, elegantly

============================================================================

japh.codes