As a general rule, write your code so that future maintainers (INCLUDING YOURSELF) can read it easily. Then, if you really think you need to release a version that's hard to read, run a copy through an automatic obfuscator[1] and release that. (I suspect code obfuscation isn't as useful as people think, but maybe it does a little "good", if making reverse-engineering more difficult is considered good.)
Of course, ALWAYS keep a non-obfuscated copy around for your own use and for future maintenance releases! [1] http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=php+obfuscator --- "Tucker, David" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Are you implying that you are intentionally trying to make your > code harder to understand? If so, I think most people will tell > you that is a BAD idea. > > dave > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Jacob Albretsen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 4:21 PM >> To: UUG Discuss >> Subject: [uug] Scripts vs Compiling >> >> >> My question is for coding "etiquette" for scripting vs that of >> code that will be compiled (C for example). Here, I am showing >> off that I am not a CS major so I don't know the "science" of >> all this. >> >> Basically, should things generally be passed by reference in >> scripting? >> >> Example with some PHP I am working on that has no relation to >> trying to get articles working for MUG: >> >> $categories = get_article_categories(); >> >> foreach( $categories as $category ) >> { >> $name = $category['name']; >> $id = $category['id']; >> // do stuff >> } >> >> Now, I did C a long time ago and I learned if you really wanted >> to confuse people and eliminate lines of code, I could do something >> like: >> >> foreach( get_article_categories() as $category ) >> { >> $name = $category['name']; >> $id = $category['id']; >> // do stuff >> } >> >> Note that I have not tried this in PHP to even know if it will >> work. In C, you compile, get 1's and 0's and never know where it >> came from. But PHP is scripting. So it is a good thing to try to >> code like my example above (assuming it would work) to confuse >> people, or is doing the reference thing a better idea for >> security, etc? >> >> -- >> Jacob Albretsen >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===== PGP Key ID: 071B173D Fingerprint: ED30 B048 6833 56B4 28C0 CE52 F12B 884A 071B 173D __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com ____________________ BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
