RE: Yet Another Cargo Cult non-use of CGI.pm

whoops. i don't know what to say. i hereby swear to tatoo CGI.pm on my forehead and to look in the mirror every time i'm tempted to roll my own. although i guess i don't understand the problem with using code like this if it does the job correctly for me. Not that i doubt the inherent goodness of CGI.pm, but would rewriting old scripts that i use once every 6 months be worth it just for stylistic correctness? I mean, if it's not broke and not mission-critical, is it worth the time?

BlueLines

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RE: RE: Yet Another Cargo Cult non-use of CGI.pm by Ozymandias (Hermit) on Aug 01, 2000 at 00:20 UTC
Don't worry about it, BlueLines. merlyn is correct that CGI.pm is better than doing it the way that you did, but that doesn't mean you HAVE to do it that way. Nor does it mean that it is always wrong to roll your own. How do you learn what not to do without trying it? In this case, merlyn is right; you SHOULD use CGI.pm. It won't break, most likely, if you upgrade to a newer version of CGI.pm later, although that is possible. And it is more secure than hand-rolling, for many reasons, including that CGI.pm doesn't make typo's, while humans do. Finally and most importantly, you and your team members are the ONLY people who can decide what is and is not appropriate to your situation. merlyn is no more a god than any of us here. He has good advice, usually; that doesn't mean you must always do as he demands. - email Ozymandias	[reply]
(jeffa) RE: RE: Yet Another Cargo Cult non-use of CGI.pm by jeffa (Bishop) on Aug 01, 2000 at 00:18 UTC
Is it worth the time? Depends on how much time it takes. If you feel like you are playing Phil Hartman's The Anal Retentive Coder ("I like to use a space, then a tab - space tab space tab - makes the characters happy and playful, don't you think?"), then no - it's not worth the time. If you are going to re-invent the wheel, take a look at the source for the wheel (i.e. CGI.pm) - there's a lot of good stuff in there.	[reply]