CGI::Application is not the end all do all module for building large web applications when using mod_perl. I started using the module and saw that in some places it fit the bill perfectly. However since I was using mod_perl , it didn't quite fit in for the whole picture. I love the concept though. I need something that's meant for mod_perl so I can use the
Apache::Request module for getting the parameters and cookie as well as outputting the headers with the cookie already in it. I shouldn't have to hop through hoops in order to do what needs to be done at the end of the script. But this could be due to hubris and being set in my ways (read - more stubborn than a Jackass).
I think what Jesse had in mind as far as
run-modes were concerned was that it enabled the programer to keep everything simple and organized instead of overly complicating the dispatch table. I thought using
Multiple::Dispatch for what I needed was overkill, considering Damian's explanation of the module in the book. It was meant more for GUI stuff created from Perl Tcl/Tk. I wish that Conway had provided another example using
Multiple::Dispatch other than the one that was in
Object Oriented Perl. I think in this case that my inexperience shows or this section of the book explaining that module was poorly written. I do learn well by both example and book. But some things take better when I see it in action.
Some occasions do call for a multiple parameter dispatch. Most can be easily solved using a single dispatch and referring to the run modes with plain English. The only bad result that I can see from this is creating a huge list of run modes within the table. Using multiple parameters would only truncate this list. The only benefit that I see from using
Multiple::Dispatch is if you need to do something polymorphically. Do this if you see foo and do that if you see foo and bar and the list goes on.
I do hope that Jesse answeres
princepawn's question. I'm curious as to what he says.
Just my usual dotty observations,
BMaximus
I think I have learned more from PM than I could ever imagine.