I am not a fan.

Consider this code: 

use HugeObject;
my $result = 0;

{
  my $object = HugeObject->new();

  $result = $object->get_even_bigger();

  $object = undef;
}
# Phew, should free up memory now.

if ($result) {
  # code here
}

[download]

As the object was created inside the {} it should go out of scope and the memory should be cleared - a good thing. However as object returns a reference to itself it is not cleared, and stays in memory.

If the object had just returned true or false this would not be a problem.

This may not be a problem if you read the docs for HugeObject but why add the compication for some slightly shorter code?

--tidiness is the memory loss of environmental mnemonics

In reply to Re: chaining method calls by EvdB
in thread chaining method calls by perrin

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