Subject: Re: [PATCH RFC 0/5] Patches to avoid reporting conversion changes.

From: Jari Aalto <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:32:39 +0300

[email-masked] (Randal L. Schwartz) writes:

>>>>>> "Jari" == Jari Aalto <[email-masked]> writes:
>
> Jari>     if ( $OS_ERROR ) ...
>
> Right, but without looking, is it $OS_ERROR or $OSERROR?

I don't see any difference, because that variable is always within the
close context of previous statements. The reader would consult the lines
above.

And if that's the only problem, which I don't believe it is for a Perl
programmer, there is also $ERRNO.

> You're trading a list of single punctuation characters, pretty
> unambiguous, for things that could have been named a dozen different
> ways each.

A typical Perl program used those "single puctuation variables" and they
are not immediately understandable; unless you know them by heart.

They are cute for one-liners, but not suitable for maintainable
programs, edited by N developers, with different backgrounds and skills.

To make the code actually readable by anyone, not just by a Perl coder
breathing the language 24/7, is what software, any software would be
better off.

It's akin to the opening "magic values" in a program:

    100
    130
    140

Good programmers write instead (pseudo code):

    ERROR_MINOR = 100
    ...

    return ERROR_MINOR

Jari