[comp.lang.perl] Rampant eval's

tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) (06/27/90)

In article <1990Jun27.101219.11357@comp.vuw.ac.nz> Andrew.Vignaux@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Andrew Vignaux) writes:
>I've always been a little wary about using the "eval-the-loop" trick
>because it will probably mean that the whole perl compiler/interpreter
>will get sucked into my executable when (not if :-) a "perl to C
>translator" comes along.  [Note: ispell thinks that "eval" is "evil"
>-- so it's not just my opinion :-]

It also interferes with the debugger, which steps over the entire eval
as one statement no matter how much code you have in there.

For this reason I look at "eval <<'EOF'" as a post hoc optimization tool
that should be saved for situations where you REALLY need it (in a script
you already know works properly).
-- 
'We have luck only with women -- not spacecraft!'     \\  Tom Neff
 -- R. Kremnev, builder of failed Soviet FOBOS probes //  tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM

dgg@ksr.com (David Grubbs) (07/07/90)

   In article <1990Jun27.101219.11357@comp.vuw.ac.nz> Andrew.Vignaux@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Andrew Vignaux) writes:
   >I've always been a little wary about using the "eval-the-loop" trick
   >because it will probably mean that the whole perl compiler/interpreter
   >will get sucked into my executable when (not if :-) a "perl to C
   >translator" comes along.  [Note: ispell thinks that "eval" is "evil"
   >-- so it's not just my opinion :-]

I can't resist:  No, ispell does not think "eval" is "evil"; it thinks the
only alternative to "eval" is "evil".
--
David G. Grubbs				Kendall Square Research Corp.
{harvard,uunet}!ksr!dgg			dgg@ksr.com