Perl::Critic::Policy::BuiltinFunctions::ProhibitUniversalIsa(3)

NAME
Perl::Critic::Policy::BuiltinFunctions::ProhibitUniversalIsa - Write "eval { $foo->isa($pkg) }" instead of "UNIVERSAL::isa($foo, $pkg)".

AFFILIATION
This Policy is part of the core Perl::Critic distribution.

DESCRIPTION
    print UNIVERSAL::isa($obj, 'Foo::Bar') ? 'yes' : 'no';  #not ok
    print eval { $obj->isa('Foo::Bar') } ? 'yes' : 'no';    #ok

As of Perl 5.9.3, the use of "UNIVERSAL::isa" as a function has been deprecated and the method form is preferred instead. Formerly, the functional form was recommended because it gave valid results even when the object was "undef" or an unblessed scalar. However, the functional form makes it impossible for packages to override isa(), a technique which is crucial for implementing mock objects and some facades.

Another alternative to UNIVERSAL::isa is the "_INSTANCE" method of Param::Util, which is faster.

See the CPAN module UNIVERSAL::isa for an incendiary discussion of this topic.

CONFIGURATION
This Policy is not configurable except for the standard options.

SEE ALSO
Perl::Critic::Policy::BuiltinFunctions::ProhibitUniversalCan

AUTHOR
Chris Dolan <cdolan@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2006-2023 Chris Dolan.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. The full text of this license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.