On Fri, 4 Aug 2000 10:54:16 -0500, Jonathan Scott Duff wrote:
>> C<save>
>
>If I had my druthers, save() would be it.
I'm against it. Why? Because it suggests that all it does is save the
value for later retrieval. It does not: the value is cleared as well. It
masks the previous global value, as if it didn't exist before.
save $/ = "\n";
That doesn't quite say it, does it?
In PostScript, for example, there's a gsave and grestore, the "g"
standing for graphics state. It allows you to save the current state of
the graphics output device, on a stack, but it doesn't modify it. You
can continue from there. It's a different concept.
The name "local" is wrong, because it suggests a private value scoped in
space. It is not, that's lexical values. It is scoped in time. I think
it's name should refelect that. "temporary"?
temporary $/ = "\n";
It's a mouthful. But it's going where I'd want it to go.
--
Bart.
