Yes, but not everyone programs in a vacuum. Sooner or later they'll start using code which does have prototypes. Imagine, for example, that they start using Test::More. Those functions all have prototypes and using the leading ampersand is sure to bring them woe. Imagine, for example, typing "is" instead of "ok":

&is(some_func(3,4));

The prototype is now disabled so they don't get the compile-time failure telling them that the test function has been called incorrectly. If you're new to testing or that's buried in bunch of other tests, it can be quite difficult to figure out.

Cheers,
Ovid

New address of my CGI Course.

In reply to Re^3: What's so bad about &function(...)? by Ovid
in thread What's so bad about &function(...)? by japhy

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.