On Friday, July 26, 2002, at 07:28 , Janek Schleicher wrote:
preliminary giggle:
if coding were a science
then it would not be as vulnerable to religious issues
so I take no offense at well reasoned counter arguments,
even if it tramples all over my dogma.... 8-)
[..]
> I don't want to offense you,
> all I'd like to say is that this programming style
> is not so bad that we should explain beginners
> not to use it.
[..]
p0: I think your argument is well formed and well argued.
since you expressly point out the problem of
> you want also to say something like
> if ($string =~ /(\d+)/ and $description =~ /(\w+)/) {
> # now $1 contains something very different
> }
>
> Writing like
> if (my ($var) = $string =~ /(\d+)/ and $description =~ /(\w+)/) {
> # doesnt have this problem
> # it's a little bit more sure
> }
[..]
which most folks don't run into until later on when they
have slovenly followed the path that I laid out...
p1: you are very correct to try and avoid the 'globals'
$1, $2, $3..... and to try to use them sparingly. On this
we fundamentally agree. So there is always the trade off
to be played here with forms like
my ($num, $string) = ($1,$2)
if ($line =~ /^(\d+)=(\w+)/ );
etc, etc, etc....
p2: but I will religiously stand by the driving thesis:
"would you really want to maintain that code?"
having come back and 'blanched' at code that was no longer
as 'readable' as it had once been.... made comical by the
fact that friends of mine who were once 'hot perlers' now
have to 'check the docs' to verify some sequence I have
whipped out - because they are no longer 'as in it every day'.
p3: No good general rule of advice will ever survive implementation.
Since it faults the thesis in p2 - as most folks will not have
the experience when starting out - to know what they will have
forgotten about 'cool tricks' when they too have 'grey beards'.
so they really can not answer the core question about 'maintainability'
of any given form or style....
Whereas you and I come to the table with our 'experience' to
guide us.... some of it well reasoned, some of it merely our
continuing knee jerk reaction to things we have seen go 'bad'...
p4: those being the basic Rules - beginner's will have to
pick and choose how they will build up the experience to
know when they are
doing it right
or merely
fighting the fears
ciao
drieux
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