Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks
XP is just a number
 
PerlMonks  

(OT) Re^2: Returning undef: The point I would like Damian to reconsider

by Argel (Prior)
on Jun 22, 2007 at 19:40 UTC ( [id://622894]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Re: Returning undef: The point I would like Damian to reconsider
in thread Returning undef: The point I would like Damian to reconsider

I ++'d your post but I disagree about your comments on the title of PBP. The book is full of well thought out recommendations that have been vetted by several members of the Perl community so I really do not see a problem with the name. Yes there will be some cargo cult type followers and yes, incompetent management will want to use it as a style guide. But really, given the choice between PBP and an in-house standard cobbled together by said incompetent management which would you prefer!? Overall I think the Perl community has needed something like PBP for a long time and the benefits of its existence far outweigh the negatives (including the name).

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^3: Returning undef: The point I would like Damian to reconsider
by shmem (Chancellor) on Jun 23, 2007 at 16:24 UTC
    I disagree about your comments on the title of PBP.
    ...
    the benefits of its existence far outweigh the negatives (including the name).

    Don't you see a contradiction here? So far you have defended the book, and I agree. You did not, though, explain why you disagree with me saying the title is bad - you just say it doesn't matter.

    Well, for me, it matters.

    But really, given the choice between PBP and an in-house standard cobbled together by said incompetent management which would you prefer!?
    What choice is that? Given the choice between a burger from <insert-junk-food-company-here> and your own fried shoe soles without salad and no onion, what would you prefer?

    I would see this most excellent book from Damian Comway as a style guide or vade mecum to gain perl insight and develop a good inhouse coding standard, rather than having the book as a whole imposed as such, without reading it, and merely because of its title.

    Which means: if anybody, including the PHB, after reading it gets enlightened and shouts "hey, these are really jolly well best perl practices!" and goes to introduce a subset or all as standard, that's perfectly fine.
    It is not ok if someone comes and says "here, have Perl Best Practices. It's standard now." - "Why?" - "Because they are. Can't read the title?"

    --shmem

    _($_=" "x(1<<5)."?\n".q·/)Oo.  G°\        /
                                  /\_¯/(q    /
    ----------------------------  \__(m.====·.(_("always off the crowd"))."·
    ");sub _{s./.($e="'Itrs `mnsgdq Gdbj O`qkdq")=~y/"-y/#-z/;$e.e && print}
      Does the title matter? I think given any good to great choice that it doesn't (while I'm here I'll throw out "Writing Perl with Style"). Why? Because the people that blindly follow it and the people that force it on others without due consideration would do so anyway!

      Okay, so maybe the title does matter a little bit. You are concerned about management using the title to justify using it as a coding standard. But what about the reverse? Developers could just as easily use the title to help finally get a coding standard in place.

      As for choice, I think the better analogy is a gourmet hamburger from say Blueberry Hill here in St. Louis vs. one from a fast food chain, but that's dependant on one's opinion of the book.

      Lets face it, a book like PBP has been long overdue. That coupled with the high quality of it leads me to believe we will not see something similar to it for some time. Throw in the input from several members of the Perl community and, well, quite frankly, I think the title fits.

Log In?
Username:
Password:

What's my password?
Create A New User
Domain Nodelet?
Node Status?
node history
Node Type: note [id://622894]
help
Chatterbox?
and the web crawler heard nothing...

How do I use this?Last hourOther CB clients
Other Users?
Others goofing around in the Monastery: (4)
As of 2024-03-29 01:41 GMT
Sections?
Information?
Find Nodes?
Leftovers?
    Voting Booth?

    No recent polls found