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Here is a list of deprecated functions along with their recommended alternatives if available:

Deprecated

Preferred

UNIVERSAL::can()

object can() method

UNIVERSAL::isa()

object isa() method

die()

Carp::croak()

warn()

Carp::carp()

-t

IO::Interactive

format()

Template, Perl6::Form

The following modules are also deprecated:

Deprecated

Preferred

base

parent

Noncompliant Code Example (die())

This noncompliant code example tries to open a file and invokes the obsolete die() method if it fails.

Code Block
bgColor#ffcccc
langperl

my $file;
open(FILE, "<", $file) or die "error opening $file: stopped";
# work with FILE

The die() method is considered deprecated because it prints the file name and line number in which it was invoked. This might information might be sensitive information.

Compliant Solution (croak())

This compliant solution uses the croak() function instead of die().

Code Block
bgColor#ccccff
langperl

use Carp;

my $file;
open(FILE, "<", $file) or croak "error opening $file: stopped";
# work with FILE

Unlike die(), croak() provides the file name and line number of the function that invoked the function that invoked croak(). This is solution is more useful for application code that invokes library code; in this case, croak() and carp() also will reveal the file name and line number of the application code rather than the library code.

Exceptions

EXP30:EX0: The -t function should not be used for determining if input is interactive, but it is perfectly valid to determine if output is interactive. So it may be used on *STDOUT or *STDERR.

Risk Assessment

EXP30:EX1: There are several instances when die() and warn() are preferred over carp() and croak():

  • Inside a signal handler because the behavior of croak() and carp() functions when invoked inside a signal handler are not documented.
  • Outside a subroutine, that is, when used in a small Perl script. In this case, all four functions have no stack trace to indicate their calling location.
  • If the string given to die() or warn() ends with a newline, then these functions do not provide any file name or line number information. Consequently, they may be invoked if given a string literal that clearly ends with a newline (and the developer clearly does not wish to reveal file name or line number information).

Risk Assessment

Using deprecated or obsolete classes or methods in program code can lead to erroneous behaviorFailure to handle error codes or other values returned by functions can lead to incorrect program flow and violations of data integrity.

Recommendation

Severity

Likelihood

Remediation Cost

Priority

Level

EXP30-PL

info Medium

probable Probable

low Low

P12

L1

Automated Detection

BuiltinFunctions::ProhibitUniversalCan

Tool

Diagnostic

Perl::Critic

 

BuiltinFunctions::ProhibitUniversalIsa

 

ErrorHandling::RequireCarping

 

InputOutput::ProhibitInteractiveTest 

Miscellanea::ProhibitFormats

Related Guidelines

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Bibliography

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Image Added Image Added Image Added|http://search.cpan.org/~elliotjs/Perl-Critic-1.116/] [ProhibitUniversalCan|http://search.cpan.org/~elliotjs/Perl-Critic-1.116/lib/Perl/Critic/Policy/BuiltinFunctions/ProhibitUniversalCan.pm], [ProhibitUniversalIsa|http://search.cpan.org/~elliotjs/Perl-Critic-1.116/lib/Perl/Critic/Policy/BuiltinFunctions/ProhibitUniversalIsa.pm], [RequireCarping|http://search.cpan.org/~elliotjs/Perl-Critic-1.116/lib/Perl/Critic/Policy/ErrorHandling/RequireCarping.pm], [InteractiveTest|http://search.cpan.org/~elliotjs/Perl-Critic-1.116/lib/Perl/Critic/Policy/InputOutput/ProhibitInteractiveTest.pm], [ProhibitFormats|http://search.cpan.org/~elliotjs/Perl-Critic-1.116/lib/Perl/Critic/Policy/Miscellanea/ProhibitFormats.pm] \[[Conway 2005|AA. Bibliography#Conway 2005]\]Image Removed      02. Expressions      EXP31-PL. Do not use the two-argument form of open()