Section 1.2. This Book


1.2. This Book

To help you develop that consistent and coherent approach, the following 18 chapters explore a coordinated set of coding practices that have been specifically designed to enhance the robustness, efficiency, and maintainability of Perl code.

Each piece of advice is framed as a single imperative sentencea "Thou shalt..." or a "Thou shalt not...", presented like this:

Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.

Each such admonition is followed by a detailed explanation of the rule, explaining how and when it applies. Every recommendation also includes a summary of the reasoning behind the prescription or proscription, usually in terms of how it can improve the reliability, performance, or comprehensibility of your code.

Almost every guideline also includes at least one example of code that conforms to the rule (set in constant-width bold) as well as counterexamples that break it (set in constant-width regular). These code fragments aim to demonstrate the advantages of following the suggested practice, and the problems that can occur if you don't. All of these examples are also available for you to download and reuse from http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlbp.

The guidelines are organized by topic, not by significance. For example, some readers will wonder why use strict and use warnings aren't mentioned on page 1. But if you've already seen the light on those two, they don't need to be on page 1. And if you haven't seen the light yet, Chapter 18 is soon enough. By then you'll have discovered several hundred ways in which code can go horribly wrong, and will be better able to appreciate these two ways in which Perl can help your code go right.

Other readers may object to "trivial" code layout recommendations appearing so early in the book. But if you've ever had to write code as part of a group, you'll know that layout is where most of the arguments start. Code layout is the medium in which all other coding practices are practised, so the sooner everyone can admit that code layout is trivial, set aside their "religious" convictions, and agree on a coherent coding style, the sooner your team can start getting useful work done.

As you consider these pieces of advice, think about each of them in the context of the type of coding you typically do. Question your current practice in the particular area being discussed, and compare it against the recommended approach. Evaluate the robustness, efficiency, and maintainability of your current coding habits and consider whether a change is justified.

But remember that each of piece of advice is a guideline: a fellow programmer gladly telling you what his programming style is, and where he thinks other styles are unclear or make him jump through mental hoops. Whether or not you agree with all of them doesn't matter. What matters is that you become aware of the coding issues these guidelines address, think through the arguments made in their favour, assess the benefits and costs of changing your current practices, and then consciously decide whether to adopt the solutions offered here.

Then consider whether they will work for everyone else on your project as well. Coding is (usually) a collaborative effort; developing and adopting a team coding style is too. Mainly because a team coding standard will stay adopted only if every member of your team is willing to sign off on it, support it, use it, and encourage other team members to follow it as well.

Use this book as a starting point for your discussions. Negotiate a style that suits you all. Perhaps everyone will eventually agree thatalthough their personal style is self-evidently superior to anything else imaginablethey are nevertheless graciously willing to abide by the style suggested here as a reasonable compromise. Or perhaps someone will point out that particular recommendations just aren't appropriate for your circumstances, and suggest something that would work better.

Be careful, though. It's amazing how many arguments about coding practice are actually just rationalizations: carefully constructed excuses that ultimately boil down to either "It's not my present habit!" or "It's just too much effort to change!" Not changing your current practices can be a valid choice, but not for either of those reasons.

Keep in mind that the goal of any coding style is to reduce your development costs by increasing the maintainability, robustness, and efficiency of your code. Be wary of any argumenteither for or against changethat doesn't directly address at least one of those issues.



Perl Best Practices
Perl Best Practices
ISBN: 0596001738
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 350
Authors: Damian Conway

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