From: David Flanagan <david@...>
Date: 2008-04-09T15:15:10+09:00
Subject: Hash.compare_by_identity

I saw this note about Hash#compare_by_identity at 
http://www.3dubt.com/ruby-m17n-meeting-summary-t14949.html

> == Not sure about Hash#compare_by_identity
> Would like to change to Hash#compared_by(:equal?, :obj_id)
> -> accepted
> -> Hash#identifed_by may be better (see [ruby-dev:33817])

I've got a paragraph about that method in my book, and if it is going to 
change, I'd love to change it in my upcoming reprint. But I need to know 
what the new name will be by the end of this week!  So I'm posting this 
to see if I can make the change happen more quickly :-)

I like the idea of being able to specify symbols for both methods, 
though I don't really know the use cases.  I assume it has been 
well-thought out and there is some reason you're allowing this method on 
a populated hash rather than making them arguments to Hash.new...

I don't have a preference between compared_by and identified_by, though 
I'd suggest the more active forms compare_with or identify_with 
instead...  But I don't like Nobu's proposal (on the cited ruby-dev 
thread) for methods_to_identify as the matching getter method, and I'd 
suggest comparison_methods or identity_methods instead.  Or even make 
this an explicit get/set pair: get_comparison_methods and 
set_comparison_methods


	David