Re: [code-review] Hello!

On Wednesday, February 4, 2004, at 04:45  AM, Jean-Michel Hiver wrote:

> Dan MacNeil wrote:
>
>>> It'd say anybody who's got anything < 5.6.1 _really_ needs an 
>>> upgrade.
>>> use vars... yuk!
>>>
>>
>>
>> I regularly use a tru64 unix system using perl 5.004_03, from back in
>> 1997, I don't administer the system so I don't have much choice about
>> which perl to use.
>>
>> I imagine folks still using VMS are in a similar situation.
>>
> That's fine. But then people with antique versions of Perl don't 
> really need _new_ modules such as Tie::Hash::Expire do they?
>
> I understand why modules such as CGI.pm or DBI need to maintain 
> backwards compatibility with older Perls, but putting the same legacy 
> burden on new modules is just crazy.
>
> Why not ask all new modules to maintain compatibility with Perl 4 
> while you're at it? I'm sure some machines still run it as well :)

Yuk indeed.  For example, Mac OS X 10.3 ("Panther") comes with 
5.8.something but previous versions came with 5.6.0 and some people are 
still stuck with that combination.

Using 'use vars' instead of 'our' is an easy concession to people with 
older Perls.

Paul.

--
Paul Hoffman :: Taubman Medical Library :: Univ. of Michigan
[email protected] :: [email protected] :: http://www.nkuitse.com/