Redundant function calls in constructor?

nemesdani has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Laudetur, monks. I'm still learning to use OOP in Perl, as I inherited a small bunch of code.
I've got a class, configContainer. In the contructor there is:

    $commonConfig_tmp->{ 'DAY' } = ${configContainer->getLocalTime}[3]
+;
    $commonConfig_tmp->{ 'MONTH' } = ${configContainer->getLocalTime}[
+4];
    $commonConfig_tmp->{ 'YEAR' } = ${configContainer->getLocalTime}[5
+];
[download]

There is a sub getLocalTime, quite self-explanatory:

sub getLocalTime {
    my @timeData = localtime(time);
    @timeData[5] += 1900; 
    @timeData[4] += 1;
    return \@timeData;
[download]

Now my question is: in the constructor getLocalTime, thus localtime() is called 3 times. I see this as unnecessary, I could assign the values with 1 call. Or am I missing someting concerning objects / constructors? Thank you for your help.

I'm too lazy to be proud of being impatient.

Comment on Redundant function calls in constructor? Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Redundant function calls in constructor? by GrandFather (Saint) on Apr 02, 2012 at 10:00 UTC
Assign an array slice to a hash slice: `@{$commonConfig_tmp}{'DAY', 'MONTH', 'YEAR'} = @{configContainer->get +LocalTime}[3 .. 5];` [download] True laziness is hard work	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Redundant function calls in constructor? by tinita (Parson) on Apr 02, 2012 at 10:30 UTC
I could assign the values with 1 call. You even should. Theoretically, the first call could happen at the end of a day, month or year. Let's say 2012-01-31 23:59:59. and the next one one second later, 2012-02-01 00:00:00. in which case you'll end up with wrong data (DAY=31, MONTH=02, YEAR=2012). oops	[reply]
Re^2: Redundant function calls in constructor? by nemesdani (Friar) on Apr 02, 2012 at 12:23 UTC
Indeed. The application is not time-crtical, but why insert a bug when you can avoid it. Thanks! I'm too lazy to be proud of being impatient.	[reply]
Re^3: Redundant function calls in constructor? by AnomalousMonk (Archbishop) on Apr 02, 2012 at 14:28 UTC
The application is not time-crtical, but why insert a bug when you can avoid it. [emphasis added] `<rant>` The tone of this sentence implies that avoidance of this particular bug is essentially cosmetic and more or less optional. It's not just theoretically possible; it will eventually happen that successive calls to `localtime` occur on successive days. This will produce impossible dates (e.g., 31 April) or dates that are 'off' by a month or as much as a year (e.g., 31 Dec 2012 vice 31 Dec 2011). But if the application can tolerate dates that are impossible or wildly inaccurate, why bother with dates at all? `</rant>`	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: Redundant function calls in constructor? by nemesdani (Friar) on Apr 02, 2012 at 17:29 UTC
Re: Redundant function calls in constructor? by roboticus (Chancellor) on Apr 02, 2012 at 10:01 UTC
nemesdani: You can use slicing to eliminate the redundant calls: `$ cat foo.pl use strict; use warnings; use Data::Dump 'dump'; my %h; @h{'A', 'B', 'C'} = @{foo()}[0,1,2]; print dump(\%h); sub foo { [3, 2, 1]; } $ perl foo.pl { A => 3, B => 2, C => 1 }` [download] The `@h{'A', 'B', 'C'}` is a hash slice, and the right uses an array slice. You'll find hash and array slicing described in `perldoc perldata`. Update: Fixed link to docs. ...roboticus When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Redundant function calls in constructor? by nemesdani (Friar) on Apr 02, 2012 at 10:14 UTC
Thank you for your answers! I'm too lazy to be proud of being impatient.	[reply]
A reply falls below the community's threshold of quality. You may see it by logging in.