G'day Alex,

++ I just wanted to add my agreement with, and recommendation of, this method of coding.

I started doing this many years ago — in fact, possibly a couple of decades ago — and it's made my (programming) life a whole lot easier.

Nowadays, without really having to think about it, I start sections of code like: 

while (<$fh>) {
}

[download]

or

if ($condition) {
}
else {
}

[download]

I then don't have to remember to add closing braces. I also don't need to worry about aligning the closing braces to get the proper indentation: auto-indent has already done that for me.

The same works for other balanced characters. Building up a complex expression incrementally like this: 

if () {

if (is_whatever()) {

if (is_whatever(get_whatever())) {

if (is_whatever(get_whatever(get_options()))) {

[download]

almost never results in a "mis-matched parentheses" type error.

Attempting to type that final expression all at once, often will; and leaves you having to scan back and forth over the expression, counting opening and closing parentheses.

I also use this method for building up complex regular expressions (using the x or xx modifiers).

This may not work for everyone; for example, perhaps syntax-highlighting is set up to indicate mis-match problems. However, it certainly works for me and clearly works for you. I would recommend people at least try it.

— Ken

In reply to Re^2: Isolating DNA cont. by kcott
in thread Isolating DNA cont. by undergradguy

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