You keep saying this, and I keep not understanding what you mean. What do you think there is about P::C that makes people turn off their brains and keep generating oatmeal-bland code? Is it the default ruleset (which I agree is definitely not perfect for all purposes, but is highly customizable)? Or is it the idea that someone might criticize code that's not bog-standard shop-standard baby Perl and rewrite it that way?

I don't say that people turn their brains off using P::C. I say it is not useful to gain the knowledge. That is done else-wise. P::C can be used to test whether you have it, but doesn't give it, like a school test. Generalized school tests are wonderful instruments to truncate interest for a subject in children. I know, because I have gone through that hell. Then, in an older post in this thread I said

Perl::Critic alienates what has to be a programmer's internal state into a technical instrument, which is wrong.

What is your opinion on that particular quote?

So I really don't understand why you say there are so many people promoting dangerous things with it, at least anyone worth listening to.

I think I've written succinctly about the danger in my post to which your post is an answer

I have a tank. Sometimes I use it to drag cars out of the mud. Everyone should have a tank and use it.

Employing Perl::Critic, following the rules until it is silent gives a false sense of security of having "right best practice" perl code. Not to you, not to me, but maybe to the maintainer of bugzilla, and who knows how many others. So I'm more concerned about they not turning their brain on.

But in the end it is all about perception. While I support much of the "Perl Best Practice" content, I strongly disagree with it's title, and I object to it for the same reasons I criticize Perl::Critic. From the pod:

DESCRIPTION

Perl::Critic is an extensible framework for creating and applying coding standards to Perl source code. Essentially, it is a static source code analysis engine. Perl::Critic is distributed with a number of Perl::Critic::Policy modules that attempt to enforce various coding guidelines. Most Policy modules are based on Damian Conway's book Perl Best Practices. However, Perl::Critic is not limited to PBP and will even support Policies that contradict Conway. You can enable, disable, and customize those Polices through the Perl::Critic interface. You can also create new Policy modules that suit your own tastes.

(emphasis mine)

Enforcement of coding guidelines. How are people - not you! - taking this? To what end will they use Perl::Critic? I have a tank...

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