initializing w/ undef, HasSeq() etc, SCIENCE Next Wave

[Georg Fuellen]

Below are 2 good points made by Steve A. Chervitz.

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> Georg,
> 
> > -re- Molecule.pm: Do you have a rationale for initializing w/ undef ?
> 
> Primarily for documentation purposes, I've been listing all data members 
> for a class at the top of the _initialize() method. The set methods 
> really take care of the initialization. I used undef so that the variable 
> wouldn't take up space unless necessary. My accessors then check 
> if(defined xxx) for the member in question.

Good idea - I've made a note in the TO-DO section of the Bio::UnivAln POD.

> > Instead of HasSeq, I would use the standard accessor which may return 
> > "" or 0 ?! 
> 
> I have no objections except if the data member is an object and the  
> accessor returns 0 instead of reference, dereferencing it will generate 
> a run-time error (e.g., $gene->blast()->hits()). Another concern is
> if the data member in question is very large or would take time to access 
> and you are not really interested in obtaining the data, just knowing if 
> it has been set for the object. 

Good points - again, I plan to do this in the next release !

best wishes,
georg