Re: [PEPr] Comment on RFC::EvalForbiddance

Ian Eure wrote:

On Tuesday 16 August 2005 12:22 pm, Travis Swicegood wrote:

In my opinion, fear of a function/method is what causes the problem. If there's nothing online but "don't use that!" discussions about a function, it's that much harder for someone new to PHP to figure out why they're doing what they're doing. If, instead, there's a repository of discussions about why and when they're appropriate, it'll help them understand why and when eval() (or any other method) should and shouldn't be used.

I completely agree with you. I think it's dumb to simply forbid something (in most cases), since there are almost certainly valid uses for it if you're careful. Perhaps writing up a "best practices" section for CS would be a good idea. I don't think this should be a requirement like the rest of CS, but a repository of helpful approaches and techniques. It could contain info on: - eval() - register_globals and globals in general - Common patterns (factory, singleton, accept, etc) - Variable/method naming consistency - Single vs. double quotes - String concatenation vs. sprintf() - Error handling (Exceptions? PEAR_Error? ErrorStack?) - Internationalization approaches - magic_quotes / input validation

- preg_* vs. string functions

I'd be glad to write up some of these if there's interest. +1 on volunteering your time ;-)

Of course some would simply be linked to existing PEAR manual sections (or 3rd party web sites), but it would be very good to have a "Best Practices" section easily accessible. -Philippe