Re^2: 'Required' config file produces error if last entry sets variable to zero?

There's a few pitfalls with do:

do doesn't do the error checking that require does regardling the loading of a file (you need to check the return value)
do forces a load/execute of the file, even if it's already loaded (require doesn't load/execute files more than once)

See do in the documentation (do EXPR is what you're interested in).

Comment on Re^2: 'Required' config file produces error if last entry sets variable to zero?

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Re^3: 'Required' config file produces error if last entry sets variable to zero? by rblasch (Monk) on Jun 12, 2006 at 10:29 UTC
Whether those pitfalls are a good or a bad thing probably depends on the requirements. For example, if one would like to support config reloading the second pitfall would actually be a good thing. I guess the issue is more a matter of style than any technical reason. It might be best to choose whatever one feels comfortable with. It may even depend on how you view the configuration: If the configuration feels like part of the program, `require` or `use` might be better because it's heaviliy associated with module loading. That way, the final `1;` in the configuration won't feel awkward, too. If the configuration is more external, and Perl is mostly used for syntactic convenience, I'd prefer `do`.	[reply] [d/l] [select]

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Re^3: 'Required' config file produces error if last entry sets variable to zero?
by rblasch (Monk) on Jun 12, 2006 at 10:29 UTC

Whether those pitfalls are a good or a bad thing probably depends on the requirements. For example, if one would like to support config reloading the second pitfall would actually be a good thing.

I guess the issue is more a matter of style than any technical reason. It might be best to choose whatever one feels comfortable with.

It may even depend on how you view the configuration: If the configuration feels like part of the program, require or use might be better because it's heaviliy associated with module loading. That way, the final 1; in the configuration won't feel awkward, too. If the configuration is more external, and Perl is mostly used for syntactic convenience, I'd prefer do.

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