Re: What the heck does $|++; do?

Idiomatic? Needlessly obfuscated, I'd say, without even a gain in keystrokes. $|=1 takes four keystrokes, $|++ as well, but has more shifted keys. And it gives the false impression that you can turn buffering off by doing $| -- as often as you've given $| ++.

    $| = 0;
    $| ++; $| ++; $| --; $| --;
    print $|;   # prints 1, not 0!
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If I were to code review production code, someone writing $| ++ instead of $| = 1 better have a pretty damn good reason for doing so.

Abigail

Comment on Re: What the heck does $\|++; do? Download Code

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Re^2: What the heck does $\|++; do? by PhilHibbs (Hermit) on Apr 13, 2004 at 17:35 UTC
Idiomatic? Needlessly obfuscated, I'd say, I would say both. Part of me dislikes the peculiar ++ behaviour, but in it's defence, it is idiomatic. Come to think of it, this is another of those cargo cults, isn't it? People doing `$\|++` without thinking of the consequences, such as non-nestability. If you know that there will not be any nested $\| accesses for the same handle, then it's ok. A minor point, ++ is easier to type than =1 in this case, as you already have your finger on the shift key from the \|, so it requires two less actions (release Shift, move finger across keyboard to 1).	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Re^2: What the heck does $\|++; do? by Chady (Priest) on Apr 13, 2004 at 19:16 UTC
...move finger across keyboard to 1 It is already there, you pressed 4 for the $ with your other hand, so your pinky is right above 1 ;-) He who asks will be a fool for five minutes, but he who doesn't ask will remain a fool for life. Chady \| http://chady.net/	[reply]
Re^4: What the heck does $\|++; do? by PhilHibbs (Hermit) on Apr 15, 2004 at 08:23 UTC
Ah, but you still have to let go of the Shift key, your left hand is still positioned low down on the keyboard from pressing the \| key, and pressing two different keys is still slower than pressing the same key twice! Hah! >:-> Of course, on a French keyboard, you don't press shift to get the $ but you have to shift to get the 1, so I'm not sure which would be "most efficient". This requires further dilligent study.	[reply]

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: What the heck does $\|++; do? by PhilHibbs (Hermit) on Apr 13, 2004 at 17:35 UTC
Idiomatic? Needlessly obfuscated, I'd say, I would say both. Part of me dislikes the peculiar ++ behaviour, but in it's defence, it is idiomatic. Come to think of it, this is another of those cargo cults, isn't it? People doing `$\|++` without thinking of the consequences, such as non-nestability. If you know that there will not be any nested $\| accesses for the same handle, then it's ok. A minor point, ++ is easier to type than =1 in this case, as you already have your finger on the shift key from the \|, so it requires two less actions (release Shift, move finger across keyboard to 1).	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Re^2: What the heck does $\|++; do? by Chady (Priest) on Apr 13, 2004 at 19:16 UTC
...move finger across keyboard to 1 It is already there, you pressed 4 for the $ with your other hand, so your pinky is right above 1 ;-) He who asks will be a fool for five minutes, but he who doesn't ask will remain a fool for life. Chady \| http://chady.net/	[reply]
Re^4: What the heck does $\|++; do? by PhilHibbs (Hermit) on Apr 15, 2004 at 08:23 UTC
Ah, but you still have to let go of the Shift key, your left hand is still positioned low down on the keyboard from pressing the \| key, and pressing two different keys is still slower than pressing the same key twice! Hah! >:-> Of course, on a French keyboard, you don't press shift to get the $ but you have to shift to get the 1, so I'm not sure which would be "most efficient". This requires further dilligent study.	[reply]