use Perl

• Why not use namespace? (Score:2)

  by samtregar (2699)

  Why would I use your module instead of the namespace module? It seems like your module solves a sub-set of the problem solved by the namespace module. I read your docs but they didn't seem to answer the question. Maybe I missed something...

  -sam
  • Re:Why not use namespace? (Score:2)

    by Ovid (2709)

    First, if you just want the last part of the class name, aliased has the simpler syntax:

    use aliased "Really::Long::Class::Name::For::Customer";
    my $cust = Customer->new;
    
    # versus
    
    use namespace Customer => "Really::Long::Class::Name::For::Customer";
    my $cust = Customer->new;

    Second, compare the implementations. I am just exporting a single subroutine. namespace jumps through a lot of weird hoops, diddles the aliased @ISA array, and has rather coplicated code. Further, it will die if the target n
    • Re:Why not use namespace? (Score:2)

      by samtregar (2699)

      Yes, I think you should document it, particularly since you mention a good reason that I would use namespace: it works for :: in addition to ->. I find the point about tests to be particularly compelling, personally.

      -sam
      • Re:Why not use namespace? (Score:2)

        by Ovid (2709) on 2005.01.07 13:53 (#37326) Homepage Journal

        I was mistaken. namespace also does not allow function calls. In trying this with my test suite, I have this:

        #!/usr/local/bin/perl
        use warnings;
        use strict;
        use lib 't/lib';
        
        use namespace 'This::Name' => 'Really::Long::Module::Name';
        
        use Data::Dumper;
        print Dumper( This::Name::new('This::Name') );

        It says that This::Name::new is an undefined subroutine. But, it turns out the problem is worse than that!

        #!/usr/local/bin/perl
        use warnings;
        use strict;
        use lib 't/lib';
        
        use namespace 'This::Name' => 'Really::Long::Module::Name';
        
        use Data::Dumper;
        print Dumper This::Name->new;

        This results in:

        Can't locate object method "Dumper" via package "This::Name"

        My code, on the other hand, works as expected:

        #!/usr/local/bin/perl
        use warnings;
        use strict;
        use lib 't/lib';
        
        use aliased 'Really::Long::Module::Name' => 'This::Name';
        
        use Data::Dumper;
        print Dumper This::Name->new;

        I don't mean this a slam against namespace. The author wrote some really nifty code. Unfortunately there are unwanted side-effects from making it more complicated than it needs to be.

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