I've used attributes productively a few times.

In a client server application, I used attributes on methods of the model classes to implement access controls. The syntax was something like :Access( rw ) to mark a method as needing read and write access. The actual server class performed authorization and authentication and knew the permissions of remote users. Before delegating any method call to a model object, it would check the permissions.

I could have done this without attributes, but it seemed like a nice way to keep the metadata (what does this method accomplish) in the same place as the actual code of the method.

In a recent journal entry (Dark, Dark Corners of Perl), I speculated that it's possible to use attributes on methods to simplify declaring and accessing parameters. I'm not ready to demonstrate my proof of concept yet, but I really like how the syntax works. It's nice to be able to manipulate subroutines at the appropriate time without resorting to source filters.

In reply to Re: How Are Attributes Useful? by chromatic
in thread How Are Attributes Useful? by Limbic~Region

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