I almost always prefer the my ($self) = @_; style in general, but there are circumstances where you really want to use shift, such as when you're going to pass your own arguments down to another routine: 

my ($self) = shift;
helper_sub(@_);

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It's really a question of judicious choices: function first, performance second. Cargo-cult programming third ;-)

In reply to Re: Shift versus Sanity by VSarkiss
in thread Shift versus Sanity by tadman

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