From: Dave Thomas <dave@...>
Date: 2008-12-20T00:50:36+09:00
Subject: [ruby-core:20704] Re: [Feature #905] Add String.new(fixnum) to preallocate large buffer


On Dec 19, 2008, at 9:33 AM, Charles Oliver Nutter wrote:

> I suppose then coming up with a common name that works for both  
> would be a good idea. I'm back to liking "buffer" in both cases.
>
> String.buffer(1000) produces an empty string that can grow to 1000  
> bytes without needing to resize/copy.
>
> Array.buffer(1000) produces an empty array that can grow to 1000  
> elements without needing to resize/copy.

I think the reason I dislike this is that you're creating methods that  
are polymorphic on the types of their arguments, and yet we generally  
don't do that in Ruby-level code. So by creating these methods, you're  
giving them a different flavor from methods that would be written in  
straight Ruby.

How about something more Ruby-like:

   s = String.new(initial_capacity: 1000)

   t = String.new(buffer, initial_capacity: 2*buffer.length)

Dave