Re^2: A new idiom -or- I Hate Unless

The main reason for my dislike is the puzzlement factor that a newcomer to Perl will have when encountering the statement.

Why should that be a concern? Do you use sequential alphanumeric identifiers for variables and subroutines to avoid the puzzlement that newcomers to English will have when encountering idiomatic words?

I agree with you about avoiding unless {} else {}, but that's because it's confusing to native English speakers as well. I don't believe that avoiding idioms -- where they'd otherwise be appropraite -- in deference to hypothetical unexperienced maintenance programmers is a good idea.

Update: I misread the parent post the first time, with which I agree. Sorry about that.

Comment on Re^2: A new idiom -or- I Hate Unless Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^3: A new idiom -or- I Hate Unless by kappa (Chaplain) on Aug 23, 2004 at 12:52 UTC
I agree with you about avoiding unless {} else {}, but that's because it's confusing to native English speakers as well. Is it? I'm not native (Russian) and the whole concept of `unless` is alien to me. But I got over it, and even got used to it and even became fond of it (due to Perl) :) Never thought that `unless {} else {}` does not look like real English. Thanks for education!	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: A new idiom -or- I Hate Unless by demerphq (Chancellor) on Aug 24, 2004 at 16:19 UTC
I think the 'else' following an 'unless' in english is often spelled 'otherwise'. As in, `unless its raining i will go to the swimming pool, otherwise ill watch + a movie.` [download] 'else' in the context wouldn't be wrong, but it wouldnt be particularly idiomatic. All IMO of course. --- demerphq _{First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Gandhi}	[reply] [d/l]


We don't bite newbies here... much
	PerlMonks