Re: C<strict> as default (was Re: RFC 16 (v1))

At 02:27 PM 8/6/00 -0400, [email protected] wrote:

> > Because perl is for the lazy. I want an easy way to arrange for all my
> > programs to run under strict/warnings, should that be my inclination.
>
>It already has a run-time option; You can set the environment variable
>PERL5OPTS to contain '-Mstrict -W'.
>
>Now, do you, Michael Stevens, actually *have* PERL5OPTS set to contain
>'-Mstrict'?  Or is this lazy person you're talking about totally
>hypothetical?
>
> > Can't we make everyone happy by making it a build-time option?
>
>No, and I explained at great length yesterday why I think that's a
>stupid idea.

I think we're talking about two different things here.  There was a 
proposal to make -w -Mstrict the default, but that proposal did not say you 
couldn't turn it off.  I suggested just that as a build-time option for 
sites that wanted it, but I haven't RFCed it and I doubt I will; I can't 
see it being approved.

>But I think it would be extremely valuable research if someone would
>actually try living with PERL5OPTS='-Mstrict -W' for a month or two.

I don't use the environment variable (I think it's PERL5OPT without the S), 
but I do run everything, yes, everything, with -w -Mstrict, with the 
exception of most -e one-liners.  If I used PERL5OPT then it would get in 
the way of the one-liners.  I've worked this way for at least three years.

I think we need the RFCs to be updated to make each position clear, then 
wind up this religious issue.  Here's my proposal for the RFC countering #16:

     -w -Mstrict to be the default, for whatever values of warnings and
     strictness make sense in P6.  They'll be different by then, to be sure,
     in ways I can't anticipate; but if they were the same as they are right
     now, I would move for them to be the default.  That at least enables the
     spirit of the proposal to be captured.

     -w -Mstrict not to be the default for -e.  Obvious reason.

     -w -Mstrict also not to be the default for a new flag, -z.  This is so
     people concerned about typing can put it on the #! line and get the
     behavior they want at the expense of one to three characters.  This part
     sounds less elegant to me than I would like but it is very practical.
     People who prefer pragmas can do no warnings; no strict.


--
Peter Scott
Pacific Systems Design Technologies