[ruby-core:17236] Re: Enumerable::Enumerator#with_memo

Hi --

On Thu, 12 Jun 2008, Rick DeNatale wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 2:52 AM, David A. Black <[e-mail]> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 11 Jun 2008, David Flanagan wrote:
>>
>>  I'm beginning to feel that the method we're discussing here is one
>>> particular member of a set of methods for defining custom iterations.
>>> Imagine something like:
>>>
>>> a1.each.with_index.and_next_of(a2).and_const(a3).and_returning([]) do
>>> |elt1, index, elt2, a3, retval|
>>> end
>>>
>>> Or:
>>>
>>> [1,2,3].each.alternating_with([4,5,6]).and_returning([]) {|x,ret|...}
>>>
>>> Does anyone like the use of "and" instead of "with" to indicate the
>>> addition of a new value to be passed to the block?
>>>
>>
>> I don't particularly. But then again, I'm not a fan of lots of
>> chaining that tries to make things sound like English narrative. It
>> never really does, and I just lose track of it in the Ruby part of my
>> brain.  That's why, as much as I respect the talent and effort behind
>> it, I can't use RSpec.
>>
>
> I keep hearing this objection to RSpec, and can't help but think that it's
> based on outdated information.
>
> I had lots of issues with RSpec when it first came out, but looked again
> after talking to David Chelimsky at RubyConf.
>
> While it used to use method chaining a lot, it really doesn't any more.

I know. It's not just the chaining I'm thinking of, but the whole
trying to get it to sound like English thing, which I think adds a
nice flavor to the language up to a point but doesn't really hold up
when it tries to cross the joins between arbitrarily many syntactic
elements. I can't come up with an exact formula for when I think it
does or doesn't, but RSpec isn't a borderline case; it's fully
committed to doing that, so if one happens to find it unappealing or
hard to follow, one probably won't take to RSpec. I'm very happy for
its developers that they've had such success, nonetheless.


David

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