Interesting question. The compelling criteria for me is consistency. A function/method call is a function/method call regardless of the number of parameters passed. So I include the () even if no parameters are passed in the call.

However, like Athanasius I use the Perl built in functions like length without parens. If pressed for a justification for the inconsistency I'd suggest functions like length are more like operators.

Very likely my long C++ experience biases what "looks right" to my eye in this case. My path to my current Perl style almost exactly mimics Athanasius's tale. I would make pretty much the same arguments, except in this small case where I'd apply the "make things that are the same look the same" rule - a call is a call regardless of the number of parameters.

Premature optimization is the root of all job security

In reply to Re: To parens or not parens in chained method calls by GrandFather
in thread To parens or not parens in chained method calls by stevieb

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