Alternate regexp delimiters trigger a warning

[scottchiefbaker]

Consider the following code to remove https:// from a string

my $str = "https://google.com";

# Triggers a warning (but is must more readable)
$str =~ s|https://||;

# No warning, but a lot harder to read
$str =~ s/https:\/\///;

I think alternate regexp delimiters should be considered standard. At least some primary chars like: |, /, !', and maybe @` should be OK.

[rabbiveesh]

If you're making a list of quote delimiters, {} should be supported too.

…

On Mon, Jun 29, 2020, 03:34 Scott Baker ***@***.***> wrote: Consider the following code to remove https:// from a string my $str = "https://google.com"; # Triggers a warning (but is must more readable) $str =~ s|https://||; # No warning, but a lot harder to read $str =~ s/https:\/\///; I think alternate regexp delimiters should be considered standard. At least some primary chars like: |, /, !', and maybe @` should be OK. — You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#89>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AFURPKWVKTLZETW6WSF2RADRY7ORTANCNFSM4OKY75RA> .

[xsawyerx]

s can use the following additional delimiters:

• s{}{}
• s[][]
• s()()
• s!!!

Pipe is possible but I'm not a fan because it's a fairly distance character for non-Perl devs who aren't used to other Perl devs using it. (I never used it personally.) Will s!!! not work?

[scottchiefbaker]

I dunno why but I've always used | as an alternate delimiter. it's not a huge deal breaker though. I can switch to !.

Not really clear what this means:

I'm not a fan because it's a fairly distance character for non-Perl devs who aren't used to other Perl devs using it

[jeffreykegler]

FWIW I favor being extremely liberal in delimiters. |, for example, is visually quite distinct, and can have the right 'look' in some cases. Of course, if the strings to be delimited contain ! but not | , then | is a superior choice. And I can imagine some application which has painted itself into a corner where the only character that is not in a delimited string is '3' is, in which case the digit 3 is the ideal delimiter. I personally like to have any printable character available as a delimiter, just in case.

[scottchiefbaker]

I took an informal poll on #perl and | was a popular delimiter. I'm fine if we want to exclude it, but bear in mind it's used in a lot of "real" code.

[gonzus]

I think the point here is to restrict this and get back some sanity. I remember seeing code that used \0 as delimiters... which is great for war stories, but is totally bonkers. I am personally also against # because I want my brain to think "comment" when I see a #.

FWIW, I personally like using | as a delimiter. But I will go along with any restricted list that excludes crazy shit.

[xsawyerx]

I dunno why but I've always used | as an alternate delimiter. it's not a huge deal breaker though. I can switch to !.

Not really clear what this means:

I'm not a fan because it's a fairly distance character for non-Perl devs who aren't used to other Perl devs using it

Sorry, this is my poor phrasing.

I meant that, if you're not a Perl developer who saw a different Perl developer use the pipe operator as a delimiter, you wouldn't even think about using it. Of course, this is a presumption on my part.

I'm okay adding the pipe symbol as a delimiter. I'll try to add it this week. (I want to add a bunch of docs and merge other stuff too for a release this weekend.)

[scottchiefbaker]

Sounds good. Thank you for being flexible on this issue.

[xsawyerx]

Honestly, no reason here for me to be stubborn. The pipe symbol still gives us all we want. Also, I'm not likely to argue a point that is in opposition to both @gonzus and @jeffreykegler. :)

[xsawyerx]

PR now available.

[xsawyerx]

This is now available in 0.005, on CPAN: https://metacpan.org/pod/standard.

[scottchiefbaker]

This is issue is resolved after testing with 0.005.