in reply to Re^2: The Accessor Heresy
in thread The Accessor Heresy

Suppose you have a circle, and now its area needs to be changed.

That's a requirement that would mean a new feature. Something like: 

# Perl:
sub set_area_to {
    my $self = shift;
    my ($area) = @_;

    $self->{radius} = sqrt( $area / $PI );

    return;
}

# Ruby
def area= (new_area)
    @radius = Math.sqrt( new_area / @@PI )
end

# Note, this means that the Ruby version allows for:
#   circle.area = 22
# And it will DWIM

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I fail to see the problem.

My criteria for good software:
  1. Does it work?
  2. Can someone else come in, make a change, and be reasonably certain no bugs were introduced?

In Section Meditations