Is there anything wrong/bad about declaring $self outside the scope of a constructor?

my $self = {};

sub new {
    my $proto = shift;
    my $class = ref($proto) || $proto;
    bless $self, $class;
    return $self;
}
[download]

Why did I do this? Because it allows me to access $self in the class's 'private' methods without having to pass it:

sub public_method {
    my ($self,$args) = @_;
    $self->{foo} = $args;
    _do_private_stuff();
}

sub _do_private_stuff {
    print $self->{foo};
}
[download]

as opposed to:

sub public_method {
    my ($self,$args) = @_;
    $self->{foo} = $args;
    $self->_do_private_stuff();
}

sub _do_private_stuff {
    my $self = shift;
    print $self->{foo};
}
[download]

but since I have _NEVER_ seen this done before, I am led to believe that it is baaaaaad. . . (/me thinks about subclassing)

Now that I think about, this is one of those little quirks that has always confused me about Perl's OO: the fact the the class's properties are tucked away in an anonymous data structure (conventionally named self) which is in turn, conveniently tucked away inside a constructor.

Contrast that to Java's OO model where the properties are defined OUTSIDE of the constuctor:

//avert your eyes - Java code ahead
class Ball {
    private Color color;

    public Ball(Color c) {
        this.color = c;
    }
}
[download]

Also, if defining $self outside the constuctory is bad, does anyone know of another way to access $self in 'private' function without having to pass it around, or should I just bit the bullet and define a vi macro for '$self->'?

Thanks,
Jeff

p.s. when I say 'private', please don't think that I am trying to fake private methods in Perl - I am not concerned about that, I am just trying to find new ways to type less :P

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