Re: Re: Why CGI::Application?

[derby]

[DrHyde]

As another poster stated, it started me thinking about my webapps as state machines and that has been a good thing.

It most certainly is a good thing!

Maybe your apps don't need that, if you have a simple CGI that does one thing only - then probably not. But once you get into a multi-step, multi-form, webapp, CGI::Application is definetly a plus.

CGI::Application makes it no easier to write multi-form applications as far as I can tell. All my form submissions have an action=foo parameter. The various foos have sensible names and simply make the big if ... elsif ... else block call the appropriately named subroutine. This is exactly the same as CGI::Application's "run modes"

If you have the time or inclination, please write up what irritated you.

It irritates me because it provides nothing useful, while wrapping itself up in grandiose language about how it will make the web application world a better place.

Give us examples of how your approach is better ...

I can't give you the code, but I consider it to be better because it has fewer dependencies while requiring me to do just as much work, and because it's one less thing for someone else to have to learn before maintaining my code.

are you sure it wasn't the small learing curve for CGI::Application that just got in the way of you delivering the product.

What learning curve? CGI::Application is far simpler than some of the other modules I'm using.

I should write this up as a review for cpanratings.

[demerphq]

I can't give you the code, but I consider it to be better because it has fewer dependencies while requiring me to do just as much work, and because it's one less thing for someone else to have to learn before maintaining my code.

Your logic is horribly flawed. You just _added_ to the code that your maintainance crew will have to work with. Not only that but your code almost certainly doesnt work the way the other project coded in your firm that used similar rationale. Now they have to know how two different rolled-yer-own systems handle things.

If you had stuck to CGI::Application, your maintainence crew would have the support of thousands of programmers with considerable experience in using it, they would have recourse to an external party with considerable skill (and from my experience a desire to help) to resolve ongoing issues in the code. Simply upgrading to the latest release would probably resolve all the maintainence issues associated with the handler. Not to mention other issues like security patches etc.

Just to rub the point in, did you roll your own CGI as well?

PS: I am not a knee jerk, use the modules kind of guy. But if you are going to reinvent a well established, tried and tested wheel, it had better be superior to the wheel you rejected. And frankly given your response Im doubtful.

[DrHyde]

Your logic is horribly flawed. You just _added_ to the code that your maintainance crew will have to work with.

Don't be stupid. I had to write just as much code. Not more code.

Not only that but your code almost certainly doesnt work the way the other project coded in your firm that used similar rationale.

Yes, quite possibly, although this is the first large webby app we have and IME using the same techniques for titchy apps and large apps is not always a good thing anyway. Not that that is important. This uses an if statement rather than a not-particularly-mainstream perl module. If someone finds maintaining an if statement too complex for his poor little brane, then he shouldn't be maintaining code at all, and would certainly find a CGI::Application solution (which would of course use if statements elsewhere in it anyway) far too difficult.

If you had stuck to CGI::Application, your maintainence crew would have the support of thousands of programmers with considerable experience in using it

Yes, there's so many people using CGI::Application that I hadn't even heard of it until a couple of months ago.

they would have recourse to an external party with considerable skill (and from my experience a desire to help) to resolve ongoing issues in the code.

If they have trouble with if statements then they also have recourse to external parties with considerable skill (and from my experience a desire to help). Such as the perl-beginners mailing list, this august forum, their local perl mongers, and the Llama book.

Simply upgrading to the latest release would probably resolve all the maintainence issues associated with the handler. Not to mention other issues like security patches etc.

What CGI::Application does is so damned simple that having any security issues in it should be a shooting offence. It's just a glorified if statement. I am quite certain that I have not introduced any security bugs into my code through my use of an if statement. If I have, I promise to eat my hat and post a link to the video here.

Just to rub the point in, did you roll your own CGI as well?

Yes! I also decided that I didn't like Mr. Wall's implementation of perl, and so wrote my own in lovingly hand-crafted assembler! Next, I'll be replacing that nasty operating system thing! I think I'll write it in Postscript!