http://qs321.pair.com?node_id=19419


in reply to RE: RE: Get those parameters without CGI.pm
in thread Get those parameters without CGI.pm

I didn't write great code right away. Sometimes, I don't even write good code now, and I'm always looking for feedback about what I could have done different or better.

The point is that a beginner does not rewrite an expert's code (CGI.pm here) and say "I have a better way". This is not hubris. This is arrogance.

Only when you understand why CGI.pm is the size that it is, can you build upon the art as an improvement. There are a lot of things that have to be done right to handle security; and a lot of others that also have to be done to handle portability. There's a cost to that, and you gotta pay the piper at some point; not cheat and pretend you can get away without it.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

  • Comment on RE: RE: RE: Get those parameters without CGI.pm

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
RE: RE: RE: RE: Get those parameters without CGI.pm
by j.a.p.h. (Pilgrim) on Jun 23, 2000 at 02:54 UTC
    I never said I have a better way. I said, "this is what I use." Show me where that says it's better than CGI.pm. No where. Did I rewrite an experts code? Anything I write has probably already been written by somebody, somewhere. Does that mean I'm trying to prove I'm better than someone else? No. I'm trying to learn how to program something for myself.

    Is my code not portable? Is it insecure? How about actually giving me a few pointers on how to program better instead of cutting me down.

[reply]

      I, for one, feel this defensiveness is unjustified. merlyn wasn't insulting you, he was warning you not to do work or reinvent the wheel when it wasn't necessary. He was pointing out that there are some amazing modules available and that you probably shouldn't rewrite them, just to say you did.

      This isn't cool. 

      J. J. Horner
Linux, Perl, Apache, Stronghold, Unix
jhorner@knoxlug.org http://www.knoxlug.org/
[reply]
        Merlyn said all that. But he DID insult the code - there are less blunt and offensive ways to make a point.
[reply]
Re^4: Get those parameters without CGI.pm
by rongoral (Beadle) on Oct 31, 2004 at 11:43 UTC
    I am a basic newbie, but I agree with Randal. It is, however, sometimes quite necessary to "reinvent the wheel" for yourself to really understand why things are done the way they are. You learn anatomy by sticking your hands into a cadaver not by simply reading a book. The true path to knowledge is sometimes read and gui. Blind acceptance does not build knowledge. But open minded exploration does.
[reply]
      And when you do that, you keep it to yourself, or you show people only within a frame of "I'm attempting to recreate a masterpiece... how am I doing?", not "Here's my new improved masterpiece" - that would be the arrogance I referenced earlier.

      -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
      Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

[reply]

In Section Code Catacombs