Re: [RCR] Drop :: as a . synonym

I see your point there, but there are only two use cases I can think
of for that:

   1) Code readability
   2) Documentation

I think there are already conventions in place for both.  In the case
of code readability, it's self-defeatng because :: isn't always class
methods or constant resolution, injecting ambiguity into what would
otherwise be clear code.  In documentation, typically instance methods
are indicated using '#', so using something special for class methods
(like '::' if you have to) makes sense but that doesn't mean it has to
be part of the syntax (i.e., you don't see people calling
"thing"#downcase ;)).

I dunno.  You can see my previous post for my rationale, so I won't
cover it here.  But removing that bit of ambiguity would make things
easier to scan and understand for me.

--Jeremy

On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 10:13 AM, Yukihiro Matsumoto <[e-mail]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
>  In message "Re: [RCR] Drop :: as a . synonym"
>
>     on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:48:37 +0900, "David A. Black" <[e-mail]> writes:
>
>  |I do think it's -- well, maybe not silly, but loose and pointless (ha
>  |ha, 'point'less) -- that 'baz'::capitalize is the same as
>  |'baz'.capitalize. At the very least it's casting an awfully wide net
>  |if the goal is actually to have some special-cased treatment of
>  |methods that start with capital letters. But we still haven't heard
>  |from Matz on what the goal was for having two method-senders.
>
>  The "::" for method invocation is a clue to emphasize class methods,
>  which are often treated specially in other programming languages.  In
>  Ruby, they are mere methods of mere objects.  But sometimes it might
>  be useful to treat class methods special to improve readability.
>
>                                                         matz.
>
>



-- 
http://jeremymcanally.com/
http://entp.com

Read my books:
Ruby in Practice (http://manning.com/mcanally/)
My free Ruby e-book (http://humblelittlerubybook.com/)

Or, my blogs:
http://mrneighborly.com
http://rubyinpractice.com