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) on 2005.01.07 13:31 (#37323) Homepage Journal

    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 namespace is already defined, but if that namespace gets defined later, your code is much more likely to break.

    Third, I have tests :)

    Maybe I should document this?

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    Parent

    • 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)

        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' => 'Real