Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return"

Damian Conway <damian@cs.monash.edu.au> writes:

> 	sub {
> 		...
> 		return $yadda_yadda;
> 	}
> 	always { close F }

Let's try not to fall into the Java trap.
If exception handling gets too wordy, programmers will try to reduce
the overhead by combining many statements. In Java, one often sees
things like:

    try {
        ... enormous amount of statements ...
    }
    catch ( Exception e ) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

As a result, error messages become utterly useless. I almost never see
a Java program that reports "Cannot open file foo". Instead, it
reports a java.lang.ioerrorexception and a stracktrace of several
pages. Useless if you do not have the source, often even if you have.

And no, don't call this just a programmer's habit. It is significantly
induced by the formality and verbosity of the language. Compare:

    open my $f, $thefile or die ("$thefile: $!\n");

with

    try {
        File f = new File (theFile);
    }
    catch ( FileNotFoundException e1 ) {
        System.err.println (theFile + ": Not found");
	System.exit();
    }
    catch ( IOErrorException e2 ) {
        System.err.println (theFile + ": IO error");
	System.exit();
    }
    catch ( ... ) {
        ...
    }

-- Johan

• assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by David L. Nicol
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Branden
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by James Mastros
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by abigail
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Damian Conway
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Bart Lateur
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Johan Vromans
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• more POST recitation by David L. Nicol
• Re: more POST recitation by Ken Fox
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Ariel Scolnicov
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Damian Conway
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Jarkko Hietaniemi
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by David L. Nicol
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Damian Conway
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Edward Peschko
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Johan Vromans
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by abigail
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Tony Olekshy
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of"return" by Peter Scott
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of"return" by Peter Scott
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of"return" by David L. Nicol
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of"return" by Peter Scott
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by David L. Nicol
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Nicholas Clark
• POST blocks (like END, but in a sub or sub-like scope) by David L. Nicol
• Re: POST blocks (like END, but in a sub or sub-like scope) by John Porter
• Re: POST blocks (like END, but in a sub or sub-like scope) by Nicholas Clark
• Re: POST blocks (like END, but in a sub or sub-like scope) by Bart Lateur
• Re: POST blocks (like END, but in a sub or sub-like scope) by John Porter
• Re: POST blocks (like END, but in a sub or sub-like scope) by David L. Nicol
• Re: POST blocks (like END, but in a sub or sub-like scope) by Nicholas Clark
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Glenn Linderman
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Glenn Linderman
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Glenn Linderman
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Branden
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Simon Cozens
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Simon Cozens
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Branden
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Branden
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Branden
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by abigail
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by David L. Nicol
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Branden
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of"return" by Peter Scott
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by David L. Nicol
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by James Mastros
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Johan Vromans
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by James Mastros
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Bart Lateur
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by James Mastros
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by James Mastros
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by abigail
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by James Mastros
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by Branden
• Re: a name for the currently executing sub by Dan Sugalski
• Re: a name for the currently executing sub by David L. Nicol
• Re: a name for the currently executing sub by Dan Sugalski
• Re: a name for the currently executing sub by Nicholas Clark
• Re: a name for the currently executing sub by Peter Scott
• a name for the currently executing sub by David L. Nicol
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by John Porter
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by David L. Nicol
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by James Mastros
• Re: assign to magic name-of-function variable instead of "return" by David L. Nicol