Re^2: RFC: Data::Dumper::Simple

[Ovid]

Generally I would agree with you regarding using a source filter. It certainly isn't my first choice. However, it works in this case because this code is merely a very useful aid in quick debugging. It is not intended to be used for any sort of production work. As such, your interface would be good for a new Data::Dumper interface, but it does not satisfy my "quick debugging" need.

warn Dump {
    foo   => $foo,
    this  => \%this,
    array => \@array,
    that  => \%that,
};

# versus

Dumper($foo, %this, @array, %that);

I certainly know which one I'd rather type :)

Side note: it's on it's way to the CPAN (with a version number that I need to fix -- darn it!), but in the interim, you download it from my site and tell me how buggy it is.

[Aristotle]

Maybe there's a way to fugde it with PadWalker or something similar, instead.

[Ovid]

OK. That's pretty darned funny. PadWalker was my first attempt :) However, I wound up with some very strange bugs with PadWalker while I was holding aliases to variables in an outer lexical scope. It was very weird. Do you really prefer mucking around in the scratchpads better than a source filter?

[Aristotle]

Not by much, but yes, I do. Of course, the real solution would be a real macro system, but it's going to be a while before we can play with that…