> So if Perl Best Practices is too much, and you could only have 5 rules > for any perl script, what would they be?
Can I have six, please Sir??? These are in decreasing order of "bang for your buck" [and with PBP references, in case PBP *isn't* too much]... 1. Commenting: Code in commented paragraphs. [Ch2: "Chunking"] 2. Layout: Agree upon a single coherent layout style and automate it with 'perltidy'. [Ch2: "Automated Layout"] 3. Strictures: Always 'use strict' (and 'use warnings' during development) and explicitly state your minimum Perl version requirement. (e.g. 'use v5.10') [Ch18: "Strictures", "Warnings"] 4. Naming: Use grammatical templates of at least two words when forming identifiers (or at least those whose scope extends beyond a single block). (e.g. '<adj>_<noun>' for vars, '<verb>_<noun>' for subs) [Ch3: "Identifiers"] 5. Subroutine APIs: In a subroutine, always unpack @_ first (using named args if there are more than three parameters), and always return via an explicit 'return'. [Ch9: "Argument Lists", "Named Arguments", "Implicit Returns"] 6. Regexes: Always use the '/x' flag and named captures, and if the regex is complex, factor components out into independent named subpatterns. [Ch12: "Extended Formatting", no refs for the named stuff (which post-dates PBP)] Damian