Declaring variables at the beginning of your code is only very slightly better than not declaring them at all.

You should declare them just before you need them and only for the smallest possible block. IMHO of course.

Edit by castaway: Closed small tag in signature

I do declare variables in the smallest scope possible -- but I do also put them at the beginning of the block. I find it's easier to organize, and I tend to think about my code more before I write it.

I do declare variables in the smallest scope possible -- but I do also put them at the beginning of the block.

Either you have a lot of very small blocks, or you're contradicting yourself.

{
    my $foo;
    ...              # n1 lines
    $foo = bar();
    ...              # n2 lines
    print $foo;
}
[download]

Scope of $foo: n1 + n2 + 3 lines

{
    ...              # n1 lines
    my $foo = bar();
    ...              # n2 lines
    print $foo;
}
[download]

Scope of $foo: n2 + 2 lines.

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