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.IX Title "Perl::Critic::Policy::Modules::ProhibitExcessMainComplexity 3pm"
.TH Perl::Critic::Policy::Modules::ProhibitExcessMainComplexity 3pm 2023-07-26 "perl v5.38.0" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
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.SH NAME
Perl::Critic::Policy::Modules::ProhibitExcessMainComplexity \- Minimize complexity in code that is outside of subroutines.
.SH AFFILIATION
.IX Header "AFFILIATION"
This Policy is part of the core Perl::Critic
distribution.
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
All else being equal, complicated code is more error-prone and more
expensive to maintain than simpler code.  The first step towards
managing complexity is to establish formal complexity metrics.  One
such metric is the McCabe score, which describes the number of
possible paths through a block of code.  This Policy approximates the
McCabe score by summing the number of conditional statements and
operators within a block of code.  Research has shown that a McCabe
score higher than 20 is a sign of high-risk, potentially untestable
code.  See <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclomatic_complexity> for
some discussion about the McCabe number and other complexity metrics.
.PP
Whereas
Perl::Critic::Policy::Subroutines::ProhibitExcessComplexity
scores the complexity of each subroutine, this Policy scores the total
complexity of all the code that is \fBoutside\fR of any subroutine
declaration.
.PP
The usual prescription for reducing complexity is to refactor code
into smaller subroutines.  Mark Dominus book "Higher Order Perl" also
describes callbacks, recursion, memoization, iterators, and other
techniques that help create simple and extensible Perl code.
.SH CONFIGURATION
.IX Header "CONFIGURATION"
The maximum acceptable McCabe score can be set with the \f(CW\*(C`max_mccabe\*(C'\fR
.PP
configuration item.  If the sum of all code \fBoutside\fR any subroutine has a
McCabe score higher than this number, it will generate a Policy violation.
The default is 20.  An example section for a \fI.perlcriticrc\fR:
.PP
.Vb 2
\&    [Modules::ProhibitExcessMainComplexity]
\&    max_mccabe = 30
.Ve
.SH NOTES
.IX Header "NOTES"
.Vb 1
\&  "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."
\&
\&                                                  \-\- Albert Einstein
.Ve
.PP
Complexity is subjective, but formal complexity metrics are still
incredibly valuable.  Every problem has an inherent level of
complexity, so it is not necessarily optimal to minimize the McCabe
number.  So don't get offended if your code triggers this Policy.
Just consider if there \fBmight\fR be a simpler way to get the job done.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
Perl::Critic::Policy::Subroutines::ProhibitExcessComplexity
.SH AUTHOR
.IX Header "AUTHOR"
Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer <jeff@imaginative\-software.com>
.SH COPYRIGHT
.IX Header "COPYRIGHT"
Copyright (c) 2005\-2011 Imaginative Software Systems.  All rights reserved.
.PP
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.