Is it necessary to wear safety restraints when driving a car or operating machinery? I mean, if you don't plan on getting in an accident, then who needs safety equipment, right?

What happens, though, when you are diving perfectly safely, then someone comes along and runs a light, smashing into you? Now is when you _need_ the safety belt. The problem is, it's too late to put it on.

So, what happens when you write a perfect 10,000 line program without scoping? It's a perfect program. What happens in six months when you need to help track down a typo someone else made in the code and you don't quite recall what each of those 10,000 lines does (because you've worked on two new major projects and four major maintenance projects in the meantime, as well as daily tweaks and bug hunts)? Now is when you _need_ scoping...

Chris