Re: Re: Simplicity vs. Doing It Right

[dws]

Why do work that you don't need to? It takes me about 12 and a half seconds to type: use CGI; ...

Sure. After you've used CGI a few times it only takes a few seconds. But I'll wager the first time took a lot longer. It took me hours, because I wanted to understand what was going on under the covers. Ditto for the XML:: stuff. The first time can be a killer. If the only advice we give people is to use CGI, XML::*, etc., then we might be short-changing them. It might be the "right" way, but is it the only way? Heck no. Applying a regex to $ENV{'QUERY_STRING'} works just fine for some one-off problems. Do I do that anymore? No. But in some cases, it's O.K. to send people away with that as an option.

[jryan]

Sure, it can take hours the first time you use a module if you go it alone, especially if you read what is happening under the hood first (I often do this too). However, this isn't the case when you read: "You need to use module X, just like this: *short code snippet follows*." Why send people off with a solution that you know will cause them more work than necessary, especially when the "right way" is so much easier to implement?