Andrei Zmievski wrote:
On Jan 9, 2006, at 4:09 AM, Aidan Lister wrote:
As useful functions tend to increase in complexity over time, often so
does the number of parameters.
It soon gets to the point where function calls look like:
foo(true, false, false, false, false, true)
The rest of the parameters being required to be supplied, with their
default value, when the user is only interested in changing the last
option.
If you get to the point where your function has a dozen parameters, I
would suggest re-thinking the purpose and design of such a function,
because you are likely trying to make it do too much.
-Andrei
In a simple highlighting function I wrote (which at 16k hits is probably
considered useful) I needed most of the following parameters:
$text
$needle
$strip_links
$case_sensitive
$whole_word_only
$simple_text_only
$highlight_pattern
$return_or_print
$use_xhtml
$tooltips_or_divs
I imagine any function dealing with html may use a significant portion
of these. Obviously some of these are for effect, but I think my point
is clear enough.
We've discussed other options at developers disposal like associative
arrays, setOpt and getOpt functions in a class, but again each have
their drawbacks and named parameters solve the problem elegantly.
Could we properly discuss the pros and cons of a name parameters
implementation - even if it's only to put the whole issue to bed once
and for all?
Best wishes,
Aidan
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