On Wed, 30 Oct 2002 11:39:07 -0500 "Jesse Erlbaum" wrote: > Hi John -- > > > Quasi-seriously, as someone who has had to maintain mountains of bad > > perl code, I know TMTOWTDI can have a downside; but the openness of the > > language is what has lead to its greatness ... > > This doesn't have to be as big a problem as it often is. Having coding > standards makes a big difference no matter WHICH language you use. > Have you > ever seen bad Java code? Java has reached parity with Perl in that area, > for sure! This is a problem in ANY language. You just can't "hire smart > people" and send them out there without direction.
Amen. I came to Perl from a language called IDL (Interactive Data Language, not Interface Definition Language). It's an array-based language that has inspired PerlDL (though I've not used PerlDL). I came to IDL from Ada and C. Ada and C are strongly typed, whereas Perl is loosely typed, though nowehere near as loose as IDL. The variable "a" in IDL can be changed between an array, scalar, function, etc., with no indication, or even concern, about how it's being used from line to line in your program. TMTOWTDI applies to IDL even more than it does to Perl. After trying to follow some IDL-based NASA code years ago, I posted an IDL Style Guide on my site that's seen some use in the IDL community. If nothing else, it keeps me from stepping all over myself when I'm coding in IDL. It's also easier to figure out when I've accidentally assigned a string to a variable when I planned to use it for an array, or whatever. > At my company we base all our work on CGI::Application and > HTML::Template to > solve exactly this problem. And I'm moving towards the same thing as I've spent a lot of time developing CGI code in the last couple of years. Mike Schienle Interactive Visuals, Inc. http://www.ivsoftware.com --------------------------------------------------------- This message sent using EMUmail -- http://www.emumail.com --------------------------------------------------------- Jumping through hoops to get E-mail on the road? You've got two choices: Join the circus, or use MollyMail. Molly Mail -- http://www.mollymail.com
