NAME

Perl::Critic::Policy::ValuesAndExpressions::ProhibitBarewordDoubleColon - don't use Foo:: style barewords

DESCRIPTION

This policy is part of the Perl::Critic::Pulp addon. It asks you not to use the double-colon bareword like

$class = Foo::Bar::;     # bad

but instead a plain string

$class = 'Foo::Bar';     # ok

This is intended as a building block for a restricted coding style, or a matter of personal preference if you think the :: is a bit obscure and that it's clearer to write a string when you mean a string. On that basis the policy is lowest priority and under the "cosmetic" theme (see "POLICY THEMES" in Perl::Critic).

Indirect Object Syntax

By default a double-colon is allowed in the indirect object syntax (see "Indirect Object Syntax" in perlobj).

my $obj = new Foo::Bar:: $arg1,$arg2;   # ok

This is because :: there is important to disambiguate a class name Foo::Bar from a function Foo::Bar(), ie. function Bar() in package Foo.

Whether you actually want indirect object syntax is a matter for other policies, like ProhibitIndirectSyntax. If you don't want the double-colon bareword then switch to arrow style Foo::Bar->new($arg,...).

Double-Colon Advantages

The :: bareword is for package names, not general bareword quoting. If there's no such package at compile time a warning is given (see "Bareword "%s" refers to nonexistent package" in perldiag)

my $class = No::Such::Package::;  # perl warning

This warning can help pick up typos, though it can't know if a package will be loaded at runtime and so will fire wrongly in that case. For reference, a warning isn't given for the indirect object syntax, which rather limits its benefit.

Disabling

If you don't care about this you can always disable ProhibitBarewordDoubleColon from your .perlcriticrc in the usual way (see "CONFIGURATION" in Perl::Critic),

[-ValuesAndExpressions::ProhibitBarewordDoubleColon]

CONFIGURATION

allow_indirect_syntax (boolean, default true)

If true then allow double-colon in the indirect object syntax as shown above. If false then report double-colons everywhere as violations

# bad under allow_indirect_syntax=false
my $obj = new Foo::Bar:: $arg1,$arg2;

This can be controlled from your ~/.perlcriticrc in the usual way. For example

[ValuesAndExpressions::ProhibitBarewordDoubleColon]
allow_indirect_syntax=no

SEE ALSO

Perl::Critic::Pulp, Perl::Critic, Perl::Critic::Policy::Objects::ProhibitIndirectSyntax, "Foo:: can be used as implicitly quoted package name" in perl5005delta

HOME PAGE

http://user42.tuxfamily.org/perl-critic-pulp/index.html

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2010, 2011 Kevin Ryde

Perl-Critic-Pulp is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option) any later version.

Perl-Critic-Pulp is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with Perl-Critic-Pulp. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses>.

cpanm Perl::Critic::Pulp

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Perl::Critic::Pulp