The proper way to open()

[David Cantrell]

On 01/02/2012 13:34, Smylers wrote:
>> On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 9:12 AM, David Cantrell
>> <david at cantrell.org.uk> wrote:
>>> No.  The correct solution to buggy code caused by precedence is not
>>> to invent a new level of precedence, but to use parens.
> In particular, I don't look at a situation where OR behaviour is
> required and consider what precedence level is needed.

Nor do I.  I use ||, and parens around (most) functions' arguments.

> To me the above open line doesn't look like a precedence issue, but
> using an operator in a way which doesn't fit.

Use of || in situations like this isn't unheard of in other languages.
C, for example.

>                                               That the two operators
> happen to be different precedence variants of each other is an
> implementation detail, and that one can always be achieved with t'other
> doesn't seem a reason to avoid it any more than it would be to avoid ||
> because that Mr De Morgan showed it can be implemented with a
> combination of ! and &&.

Now you're being silly.

>>> I do realise that it was the p5p gang who invented the new level of
>>> precedence, but that doesn't mean you should play along.
> The sentiment of not blindly using a feature just because at some point
> it got added to core Perl sounds most sensible to me.

Still silly.  I have never suggested that we should never use things
added to perl since some arbitrary point.  I merely suggest not using
things that I think are stupid or pointless.  Such as 'or' in perl 5,
and the yen sign operator in perl 6.  On the other hand I quite like the
idea of 'state' variables.

While I agree that TIMTOWTDI is a Good Thing, many people don't seem to
understand what it means.  It means that you can phrase a sentence in
different ways.  It doesn't mean that there should be two different
words for "owl".

> And in general I find avoiding unnecessary parens is good, cos it means
> when I do have parens there are fewer of them, so it's easier to see at
> a glance how they match

Your editor can help with this.  Hit % in vim or C-M-S-H-iaiacthulhu
while kicking an aardvark in emacs.  There are no other editors.

Or more seriously, for complex expressions, no matter whether you use ||
or or or and or && a little bit of punctuation and indenting will make
it easier to read and less prone to bugs.  Or you could split it into
multiple expressions.

-- 
David Cantrell | London Perl Mongers Deputy Chief Heretic

    Deck of Cards: $1.29.
    "101 Solitaire Variations" book: $6.59.
    Cheap replacement for the one thing Windows is good at: priceless
        -- Shane Lazarus