Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar);

How many modules have you run across that do this?

package Foo;
our @ISA = qw(Bar);
[download]

I believe that clobbering @ISA is wrong (though I'm occasionally guilty of it myself). The problem arises in that we sometimes may not know how @ISA has been modified before we clobber it. This is highly unlikely in the example above, but it could be an issue in a more complex class. Even if our current class won't give us problems, future changes could create problems.

Fortunatly, the use base pragma is just as easy to code for:

package Foo;
use base 'Bar';
[download]

base will take care of munging @ISA for us, and has the additional effect of requireing the inherited package for us.

So please, leave @ISA alone. It might feel good, but it could bite you in the long run.

----
I wanted to explore how Perl's closures can be manipulated, and ended up creating an object system by accident.
-- Schemer

Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated

Comment on Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar); Select or Download Code

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Re: Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar); by chromatic (Archbishop) on Jul 14, 2003 at 18:07 UTC
As Randal hints, `@ISA` is a package variable. If it's set somewhere else and you whack it with your code above, the other code is wrong. I'd dearly love to see an example of where this has bitten you. Update: If "assuming it's empty" is really a problem (if it's not empty, I'll continue to argue that there's a problem elsewhere in your code), use push or unshift, as base does. Of course, if that gets the ordering wrong, you still have problems and I don't think anything you do will solve them, short of finding out where the real problem is and fixing it.	[reply] [d/l]
•Re: Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar); by merlyn (Sage) on Jul 14, 2003 at 18:04 UTC
I'm not sure what you're trying to avoid. It's is precisely necessary to set @ISA to declare inheritance. What problem do you think you're trying to solve? -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.	[reply]
Re: •Re: Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar); by hardburn (Abbot) on Jul 14, 2003 at 18:07 UTC
I want an extra layer of indirection between me and `@ISA`, because I don't like assuming that `@ISA` was already empty when I said `our @ISA = qw(Foo);`. `use base` provides that layer and gives you a little extra stuff. ---- I wanted to explore how Perl's closures can be manipulated, and ended up creating an object system by accident. -- Schemer Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated	[reply] [d/l] [select]
•Re: Re: •Re: Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar); by merlyn (Sage) on Jul 14, 2003 at 18:08 UTC
Yes, but who else would set it, other than your definition of your module? You need to have one place in your program with a clear declaration of the inheritance of that class. -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.	[reply]
Re: Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar); by dws (Chancellor) on Jul 14, 2003 at 18:14 UTC
I'm with merlyn on this. Except in the odd case of someone writing `package A; use base qw(B); @ISA=(C);` [download] there's no opportunity for @ISA to have been initialized prior to it being set explicitly. You're trying to warn people off from a demon that isn't there. Or at least I've never seen it. I do agree, though, that `use base` is a better way to go.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar); by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Jul 14, 2003 at 20:29 UTC
Eh, if I define a class, I sure don't want someone else to define what I am inheriting. If someone has set `@INC` I surely don't want to be beaten by that - so I set `@INC`. You know, if you start giving out advice of the form "don't use this extremely common idiom, because it might bite you", it sure helps your case by given examples or carefully explaining how it can bite you. Abigail	[reply]
Re: Re: Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar); by Juerd (Abbot) on Jul 15, 2003 at 06:58 UTC
Eh, if I define a class, I sure don't want someone else to define what I am inheriting. It's nice to be able to do so, though. Some classes are a pain to inherit from and adding your own class to its @INC sometimes saves a lot of time. And IMHO, it's less ugly than defining subs in the other package (and the @ISA solution adds nice ->isa() magic, which can come in handy). Manipulating someone else's @ISA makes fun things like http://use.perl.org/~Matts/journal/12896 possible :) Juerd # { site => 'juerd.nl', plp_site => 'plp.juerd.nl', do_not_use => 'spamtrap' }	[reply]
Re: Avoiding the Use of @ISA = qw(Foo::Bar); by perrin (Chancellor) on Jul 14, 2003 at 19:09 UTC
Sounds to me like you are thinking of @ISA as a "true" global, like @INC. It's actually a package variable, so @Foo::ISA is not the same as @Bar::ISA.	[reply]


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