From: Yehuda Katz <wycats@...>
Date: 2008-11-14T18:32:58+09:00
Subject: [ruby-core:19934] Re: {Proc,Method}#parameters (Re: Proposal: Method#get_args)

We need the defaults to handle out-of-order defaults:

def action(bar=1, baz=2); end

Where we get {baz => 5} inbound.

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 14, 2008, at 3:47 AM, Brian Candler <B.Candler@pobox.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 03:30:44PM +0900, Charles Oliver Nutter wrote:
>> The original proposal also asked for literal defaults to be present.
>
> True - but it's not clear if, or how, the literal defaults are used  
> in merb.
>
> Since "=" is not a valid character in a local variable, you could  
> have a
> string-based API which accommodates defaults:
>
>  def action(a, b, c=123, d="hello #{c}", *e)
>
>  => ["a", "b", "c=123", "d=\"hello #{c}\"", "e=*"]
>
> But if this information is more expensive to collect and to split  
> out, and
> doesn't have a defined purpose, then I think it should be excluded.
>
> I don't think anyone's proposing this is an interface to be used by  
> rdoc or
> other tools which need a full parse. In Merb's case, it's so that an
> incoming parameters hash of
>
>   {:a => "foo", :b => "bar", :x => "ignoreme"}
>
> can be passed to the action() method in the correct positions. It's a
> poor-man's named arguments.
>