Re: Re: Re: Perl Idioms Explained - $|++

[BrowserUk]

In larger scripts, I simultaneously handle that and the clarity issue by writing code like this

001 use IO::Handle;
002 STDOUT->autoflush;

I got kinda turned off of IO->Handle when I read this comment in the pod

 use IO::Handle;     # thousands of lines just for autoflush :-(

When I read the authors name, it strengthened the feeling.

Update: To clarify, the author to which I referred was the author of the comment I quoted above--from the pod of perlipc not IO->Handle--Tom Christiansen, who comments are to be valued.

I have absolutely nothing against Graham Barr (the author of IO::Handle), nor even much against that module.

My only reservation was of the practice of using IO->Handle only for the purposes of turning on autoflush.

If $|=1; $|=0; is deemed to cryptic, you could use something like:

sub autoflush (*$) { 
# Set the state of autoflush for 
# the handle supplied as $_[0] 
# to the boolean state supplied as $_[1]
    select( 
        do{ 
            my $old = select( $_[0] ); 
            $| = $_[1]; 
            $old; 
        } 
    ) 
}
...
autoflush( STDOUT, 1 ); # autoflush on
...
autoflush( STDOUT, 0 ); # autoflush off

---

Examine what is said, not who speaks.

"Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." -Richard Buckminster Fuller
If I understand your problem, I can solve it! Of course, the same can be said for you.

[sauoq]

My only reservation was of the practice of using IO->Handle only for the purposes of turning on autoflush.

I agree. I said "longer scripts" and most of my longer scripts already pull use IO::Handle somewhere along the line anyway. I probably should have said that it's not a good idea to use it just for autoflush.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

[BrowserUk]

Here's intriguing:) ??

perl -e"autoflush STDOUT, 1;"
Can't locate object method "autoflush" via package "IO::Handle" at -e 
+line 1.

---

Examine what is said, not who speaks.
"Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." -Richard Buckminster Fuller
If I understand your problem, I can solve it! Of course, the same can be said for you.

[sauoq]

This will clear that up some:

$ perl -le 'print ref *STDOUT{IO}'
IO::Handle

The note in the BUGS section of the IO::Handle pod is explanatory too:

BUGS
       Due to backwards compatibility, all filehandles resemble object
+s of
       class "IO::Handle", or actually classes derived from that class
+.  They
       actually aren't.  Which means you can't derive your own class f
+rom
       "IO::Handle" and inherit those methods.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";