in reply to How Critical is Critic?

I was surprised it didn't like this use of eval: 
our $VERSION = '0.1_1';
$VERSION = eval $VERSION;

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I wasn't. During many years of code reviewing inexperienced Perl coder's efforts over the years, I've noticed that block eval tends to be under-used, stringy eval over-used.

Bod, I would certainly grill you during our code review meeting to "please explain" why on earth you're resorting to the dreaded stringy eval for such a simple chore, and to please describe the alternatives you'd considered and rejected before doing so. :)

For more background on this topic see: string eval vs block eval

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Re^2: How Critical is Critic?
by Bod (Parson) on May 29, 2023 at 18:03 UTC
    I would certainly grill you during our code review meeting to "please explain" why on earth you're resorting to the dreaded stringy eval for such a simple chore

    The answer would be because I understand that is what I am supposed to do because Perl uses underscores in the version number to indicate a development release. This release is currently a development release 0.1_1 with an underscore.

    I strongly suspect that it was you eyepopslikeamosquito who directed me towards this practice as you were the one who helpfully provided the information I needed to publish my first module Business::Stripe::WebCheckout. I used almost exclusively the links you provided to do that which included adding $VERSION.

    I cannot find the original code but here is an article that advises using this technique...

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        I would conclude our code review meeting by reaching for a towel to wipe the egg off my face. :)

        ...and I would ensure you save face by asking for your expert opinion on what you would do if you were me when this situation recurs...

        Which of these do you suggest I use and why? I am not entirely sure of the practical differences. 

        our $VERSION = '0.1_1';
$VERSION = eval $VERSION;

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        or perhaps 
        our $VERSION = '0.1_1';
$VERSION = eval { $VERSION };

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        or maybe 
        use version;

our $VERSION = version->parse('0.1_1');

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        or something else entirely...

        I believe that eval { ... }; is compiled just once whereas eval ...; is compiled each time the module is instantiated. This may make a difference if the module is created for each use like MIME::Lite. However, this module should only be created once and subsequent method calls achieve everything it does.

        I don't see the point in fetching in the version module (even though it is core) to do something that can be done in two lines of simple code. Perhaps it does something more that I'm not aware of?

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