use Perl

• maybe... (Score:1)

  by jdavidboyd (3251)

  the original author wanted to be able to view @$keywords in a debugger, to see the result of the split.
  
  I've split up operations sometimes, placing an intermediary step in between, to facilitate debugging.
  
  Just a thought.
  • Re:maybe... (Score:2)

    by vsergu (505)

    But why @$keywords instead of plain old @keywords? What's the point of the reference?
    • Re:maybe... (Score:1)

      by jdavidboyd (3251)

      Hmm, good point. Oh well, it was just a swag, anyway...
• Depends on who's reading it (Score:1)

  by cbrandtbuffalo (4462)

  Both examples make sense to me, but if you've got Perl coders who don't code Perl *all* the time, I think the second example would require a few more brain cycles than the the first. This is especially true if there's one part they don't remember--like the fact that split returns a list. The temporary variable re-enforces this by showing it. Besides, memory is cheap :)
  • Re:Depends on who's reading it (Score:2)

    by schwern (1528)

    Don't remember that split returns a list?
    
    ?
    
    Furthermore, ?!
  • Re:Depends on who's reading it (Score:2)

    by gav (2710)

    If somebody doesnt't know that split returns a list then they're not a Perl coder and I don't want them touching code.
    
    I don't buy the theory that code should be readable by an average programmer. I code so that a competent programmer can understand it.
• Temp variables == clarity... sometimes. (Score:2)

  by schwern (1528)

  Folks advocate well named temp variables for clarity, similar to well named functions. Its not obvious from glancing at just a split that you're getting a list of keywords. It is obvious from "my @keywords = split ...". However, "foreach my $keyword (split ...)" works just as well.

  I have seen this concept abused.

  sub foo {
      my $thing = shift;
      my $foo = ...some simple calc...;
      return $foo;
  }

  Other times folks start out with the long hand version using temp variables
  • Re:Temp variables == clarity... sometimes. (Score:2)

    by Dom2 (2981)

    Whilst I try to avoid extra variables where I can, I'm not fastidious about it. I will frequently use an extra one if it stops the code leaking over 80 columns...

    -Dom
    • Re:Temp variables == clarity... sometimes. (Score:2)

      by gav (2710)

      Good point. Lines over 80 columns long are evil.
      • Re:Temp variables == clarity... sometimes. (Score:2)

        by Dom2 (2981)

        People often forget that whilst their monitor does more than 80 colunms, their printer usually doesn't.

        I know it's not fashionable to print code, but sometimes it's easier to take away and read.

        -Dom