The point of keeping it easier is what if i want to give my script to a
friend, do you REALLY want to explain to a non-programmer how to add another
if statement or condition when they could simply add the field to the array?
And actually you only have to change the name in 2 places.
1. you define the variable as an input from a form
2. in the required fields array
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Whiffen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 7:28 AM
Subject: Re: [PHP] How do I convert from perl to php? - Reality Check &
Taxation
> So I would have to write a seperate if condition for each form input field
i wanted to require? that doesn't make for a very dynamic script...
>
> > if(!(isset($name) && isset($address) && isset($phone)) {
> > echo "You left one empty.";
> > }
Reality Check: We write code to solve real world problems!
The parts of our code which are essential to the describe the real world
problem we want solved are
essential. All the rest of our code is an unfortunate "tax" on the rest of
the world. The code can
be as complex, dynamic, interesting or clever as it likes, it's still tax!
"Very dynamic script"s
have to be JUSTIFIED, they are not, repeat not, intrinsically good!
In this case, the essential elements are the names of the fields required
and the message to be sent
if they are not present i.e. the following 38 characters
"name address phone You left one empty."
Rasmus code consists of 92 characters i.e. 44 extra characters or around
110% tax. Does that sound
a lot? Your original perl had 192 characters i.e. over 400% tax.
What about maintainability/reusability? Lets look at the tax element of
some likely changes:
1. Change in the name of one of the required fields e.g. name should now be
lastname
Rasmus : 0% TAX: (You change "name" to "lastname" once)
Perl : 200% TAX: (You change "name" to "lastname" in 3 places)
2. Remove one of the fields from the required list
Rasmus : 12 characters TAX (You have to remove "&& isset($) " as well as the
field name itself)
Perl : 13 characters + 200% TAX (You must remove "$ = param($);\n" and the
field name 3 times)
3. Add a new field
As per 2. above.
4. Modify the conditions for the error message e.g. change to name and
either address or phone
required
Rasmus : 4 characters TAX (change && to "or" and add two brackets) i.e.
if(!(isset($name) && (isset($address) or isset($phone)) {
Perl : Rewrite required....unknown cost!
Well, I hope that resolves the question of which is the more world-friendly
code (i.e. more "tax"
efficient).
Personally, and all views on simplicity, elegance and beauty of code are
subjective, I also find
Rasums php version much simpler and easier to understand. It involves far
fewer commands and is
therefore much more accessible to the novice programmer. It has much less
extraneous structure and
is clearly focussed on the task in hand. It can very easily be extended and
modified to provide
richer functionality. What more do we want? (Well personally, I'd rather he
used "and" instead of
"&&" and "not" instead of "!" and put the separate conditions on separate
lines and generally had
more white space ;).
George
P.S. Is this a characteristic example of the difference beteeen Perl and
PHP or an extreme
example? Is Perl really so "geeky" in style and application? Or am I just
too stupid, stubborn,
ignorant to see that Perl is better than php?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> So I would have to write a seperate if condition for each form input field
i wanted to require? that doesn't make for a very dynamic script...
>
> > if(!(isset($name) && isset($address) && isset($phone)) {
> > echo "You left one empty.";
> > }
> >
> > On Tue, 20 Nov 2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> >
> > > I am a perl user trying to convert to php
> > >
> > > how would i turn this perl into php?
> > >
> > > use CGI;
> > >
> > > $name = param(name);
> > > $address = param(address);
> > > $phone = param(phone);
> > >
> > > @required = qw( name address phone );
> > >
> > > foreach $key($required)
> > > {
> > > if (!$$key) { &out("You left one empty."); }
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