I would have different responses to this, depending on whether the person making the comment knows Perl well or not.

If your boss knows the language, you have something to defend, since you want good recommendations and repeat business. Point out that you are writing code at the level of those most likely to read it, good maintainable code that doesn't require a knowledge of the choicest idioms to understand.

If on the other hand he's somehow suggesting you are padding the job by writing bulky code, tell him the same thing but add that you can tighten up the work in further assignments, now that you understand the coding practices better.

In either case you've done the write thing, as you seem to know already.

The line between efficiency and readability depends on the function of the code and the person who has to read it next. I write example scripts differently than profound object code that only I'm likely to read. Both make me happy, if they serve both function and audience well.

In reply to Re: Code for readablity or fewer lines? by TheoPetersen
in thread Code for readablity or fewer lines? by Tuna

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.