Re^3: GOTO or not GOTO

I'd write that as (untested)

while ( uninteresting() ) {};

    :
    :

sub uninteresting
{                       # I assume $file and $max_tries are globals
  my $url    = ask_url();
  my $status = getstore($url, $file);
  return ( $status == 200 && !-s $file && --$max_tries > 0 ); 
}
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Comment on Re^3: GOTO or not GOTO Download Code

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Re^4: GOTO or not GOTO by JavaFan (Canon) on Jan 27, 2009 at 12:16 UTC
Well, neither $file nor $max_tries are globals. During the live time of the program the routine is called hundreds of times, and for each new call, I've a new file name, and 10 new tries. Besides, isn't using global variables a sin as bad as a goto? But more importantly, the reason I wrote the code with the goto is that I need the $status afterwards. And I need to know whether the download eventually succeeded or not. Now, you can achieve all that by having `uninteresting` returning a list of two things (the status code, and whether it succeeded or not), but the code gets more complex that way. I prefer the simplicity of the goto solution.	[reply]

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Re^4: GOTO or not GOTO
by JavaFan (Canon) on Jan 27, 2009 at 12:16 UTC

But more importantly, the reason I wrote the code with the goto is that I need the $status afterwards. And I need to know whether the download eventually succeeded or not. Now, you can achieve all that by having uninteresting returning a list of two things (the status code, and whether it succeeded or not), but the code gets more complex that way.

I prefer the simplicity of the goto solution.

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