John Nichel wrote:
Jay Blanchard wrote:
[snip]
if($bars == 3)
{
define('BAR', 1);
}
then:
if(BAR)
{
That's an incorrect use for constants. Use variables for that =]
WHY?
[/snip]
Because the constant can be variable in this case. Consider (this is old
school, and we all know that I am the definition of old school) the
definition of the words themselves...variable and constant. You may want
to use a constant to determine a variable;
$myVar = CONSTANT + 3;
But you would never want to use a variable to determine a constant
because the variable is not likely to be the same (that is why we call
them variables) on any iteration. Using constants in expressions is OK,
for instance
if(BAR == $foo){
...stuff...
}
But modifying a constant is a no-no.
I may be misunderstanding you here, but I don't see why you would not
want to use a variable to define a constant. I do it from time to time,
most common would be in a config document where I'll check if the page
is being accessed via http or https, and define a constant based on
that. I know I could use a variable for this, but I like using the
constant for it's global scope in that case.
now that was exactly my reasoning ... but I very much appriciate the input
of the more experienced/older/classically-trained (as apposed to my completely
-self-taught-not-backed-up-with-any-solid-computer-science-theory-skills)
guys out there (hey Jay it's a compliment ;-)
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