Functions like stat() and get*ent() return long lists of mysterious
values. The implementation is assumedly easy: just push some values
out of C structs into the Perl return stack.
. . .
Firstly, who can remember which one of the stat() return values was
the atime is or which is the 4th
[cc to perl6-announce removed]
On Sun, 6 Aug 2000 04:54:03 +1000 (EST), Damian Conway wrote (in part):
Damian I've proposed that the want() function will be able to
Damian distinguish a HASHREF context (there the return value is
Damian used as a hash reference).
Damian $subname =
=head1 TITLE
Positional Return Lists Considered Harmful
The solution is simple: return hashes instead of lists. Yes, one
still has to know how the fields are named, so the proposed solution
is still not perfect.
I *fully* support this idea. A suggestion though:
This and other RFCs are available on the web at
http://tmtowtdi.perl.org/rfc/
=head1 TITLE
Positional Return Lists Considered Harmful
=head1 VERSION
Maintainer: Jarkko Hietaniemi [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: 04 Aug 2000
Version: 1
Mailing List: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Number: 37
=head1
