[ruby-core:38527] [Ruby 1.9 - Feature #5008] Equal rights for Hash (like Array, String, Integer, Float)

Issue #5008 has been updated by Suraj Kurapati.


Yui NARUSE wrote:
> First of all, Ruby has two way of the type conversion; implicit
> and explicit.  to_i, to_f, to_s, to_a and so on are explicit
> conversion.  to_int, to_str, to_ary and so on are implicit
> conversion.

I see, then for Hash:

* to_h should be explicit conversion
* to_hash should be implicit conversion.

> > Add Kernel#Hash method for converting objects into Hash strictly
> > (see issue #3131).
>
> Why don't you discuss in #3131?

You're right.  Sorry for bringing that up.

> > Define NilClass#to_h so that we can convert nil into an empty
> > Hash.
>
> You should show the use case: what is the benefit of the function.

The benefit of NilClass#to_h is convenience.  It is the same reason
why NilClass#to_a and NilClass#to_s exist.

For example, we might process an array that (1) can be empty or (2)
have a hash as the first element:

  some_array.first.to_h.each_pair do |key, value|
    # do some processing ...
  end

Without NilClass#to_h, we need to do some extra work:

  if hash = some_array.first
    hash.each_pair do |key, value|
      # do some processing ...
    end
  end

Furthermore, this extra work seems unfair to Hash because all of the
other primitive data structures (strings, arrays) have NilClass#to_*
conversion methods. :-(

Thanks for your consideration.

----------------------------------------
Feature #5008: Equal rights for Hash (like Array, String, Integer, Float)
http://redmine.ruby-lang.org/issues/5008

Author: Suraj Kurapati
Status: Assigned
Priority: Normal
Assignee: Yukihiro Matsumoto
Category: 
Target version: 


=begin
Hello,

I am using ruby 1.9.2p180 (2011-02-18 revision 30909) [x86_64-linux].

Although Ruby has a rich set of primitive data types and structures, 
the Hash seems neglected in the Ruby API in comparison to its peers:

* String: Object#to_s by API
* Integer: Kernel#Integer by API and Object#to_i by convention
* Float: Kernel#Float by API and Object#to_f by convention
* Array: Kernel#Array by API and Object#to_a by convention
* Hash: Kernel#Hash (issue #3131) and Object#to_hash by convention

In particular, the Hash seems neglected by the Ruby API because:

* Its convention method (#to_hash) is longer than one character (#to_h).
* It did not have a Kernel-level method until recently (see issue #3131).
* It has no methods for conversion from NilClass, unlike #to_s, a, i, f.

Please rectify this un-orthogonality and grant Hash equal rights by:

* Establish #to_h as the convention method for converting objects into Hash.
* Add Kernel#Hash method for converting objects into Hash strictly (see issue #3131).
* Define NilClass#to_h so that we can convert nil into an empty Hash.

Thanks for your consideration.
=end


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