in reply to Re: Do good Perl practices carry over to other coding?
in thread Do good Perl practices carry over to other coding?

I've enjoyed reading all the replies here, but revdiablo makes a couple of important distinctions.

My original intent in this mediation falls somewhere between "should we follow good practices in whatever code we right?" and "shouldn't we be using the most up-to-date methods for HTML mark-up as we would do in Perl?". However, I never said "tricks." XHTML and CSS are not tricks, they are new standards and options for newer browsers, the myriad of incompatibilities and bugs notwithstanding (IMHO,in a perfect world, CSS would be a non-brainer). I would never suggest "the latest" over the one that makes the most sense for the application.

I am now building sites that are table-less, for instance, but never at the expense of the design, functionality, deadline, or budget. If I can do it, and it works in the right browsers, I find CSS faster, cleaner, and easier.

It didn't take me long after coming to PM to realize that my Perl code was terrible. And since then I have learned tons about making it better, on all counts. I feel that the monks here really push themselves as Perl coders, and to make things work. Shouldn't we push ourselves even if it's "lowly" HTML?

Update: Added quotes to "lowly"--I don't think it's lowly, but serious coders might.

—Brad
"A little yeast leavens the whole dough."
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Re: Re: Re: Do good Perl practices carry over to other coding?
by duff (Parson) on Jan 20, 2004 at 22:49 UTC
    Shouldn't we push ourselves even if it's lowly HTML?

    Hmm. Your phrasing strikes a chord in me somewhere. The answer is a resounding yes. As the old adage goes, "anything worth doing is worth doing well". But what makes HTML "lowly"? Is it that it's not a programming pursuit?

    I believe that the fundamentals of good programming practice (simplicity, clarity, generality as the tpop mantra goes) have more to do with the programmer than the language they are programming in. If it's these "best practices" that you were referring to in your OP, then again, certainly they should carry over to other areas of your life (even non-programming ones). For instance, many programmers have highly organized minds that can cut right through the chaff to the heart of a problem. This ability has more to do with their general problem solving skills than with how they chose to implement a solution. (though how to implement a solution might be an interesting sub-problem)

    duff

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      For instance, many programmers have highly organized minds that can cut right through the chaff to the heart of a problem.

      Which is something that drives most women crazy.

      Well maybe in a few years I'll unlearn this habit and will be able to spend some time with 'em in the chaff.

      Jenda
      Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.
         -- Rick Osborne

      Edit by castaway: Closed small tag in signature

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Re: Re: Re: Do good Perl practices carry over to other coding?
by revdiablo (Prior) on Jan 20, 2004 at 23:06 UTC
    Shouldn't we push ourselves even if it's lowly HTML?

    Absolutely. I didn't mean to imply using that clean, semantic markup and CSS for layout were "tricks." I was simply quoting perrin's reply. I agree with you completely. To me, writing good HTML is important. Using CSS when applicable is important. Tables should be used to store tabular data, not to position elements. Using tables for layout is, in my opinion, something like using map in void context: it works, and sometimes that's all that matters, but it's really not the best in terms of style.

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