(jeffa) Re: Poor Perl Idioms Explained (except not really)

An old manager of mine saw $|++ in some of my code and requested i change it to $| = 1. I asked why and he replied that it's better to explicitly set something than to assume it is, say, zero. I know that $| defaults to 0, you know that $| defaults to 0 ... but what if someday the default for $| is instead 1?

jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)

Comment on (jeffa) Re: Poor Perl Idioms Explained (except not really)

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Re^2: Poor Perl Idioms Explained (except not really) by robin (Chaplain) on Oct 26, 2005 at 17:00 UTC
what if someday the default for $\| is instead 1? That's not the problem: `$ perl -le '$\| = 1; $\|++; print $\|++' 1` [download] The problem is that it might confuse someone who doesn't know about this particular piece of DWIMmery. Update: removed unfunny joke	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: Poor Perl Idioms Explained (except not really) by QM (Parson) on Oct 26, 2005 at 17:28 UTC
Even more obvious: `$ perl -le '$\| = 42; print $\|;$\|--;print $\|' 1 0` [download] So `$\|++` always sets it to true, and `$\|--` toggles it. Useful to know, but not obvious, and not consistent. But then DWIMmery is not necessarily consistent. -QM -- Quantum Mechanics: The dreams stuff is made of	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: Poor Perl Idioms Explained (except not really) by jeffa (Bishop) on Oct 26, 2005 at 17:35 UTC
I can tell you didn't actually test this. Actually, i did test it. But you try telling contrary to a manager that won't listen to you. ;) Even if you show him such code. And no ... i don't work for him anymore. :) Anyways, the point was not what it is now, but what will it be if it changed sometime in the future. jeffa L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L-- -R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B-- H---H---H---H---H---H--- (the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)	[reply]


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