From: "trans (Thomas Sawyer)" <transfire@...>
Date: 2013-01-24T21:20:47+09:00
Subject: [ruby-core:51620] [ruby-trunk - Feature #7738] Deprecate Set#+ as an alias of Set#|, use it for symmetric difference.  Introduce Hash#| for Hash#reverse_merge in Rails.


Issue #7738 has been updated by trans (Thomas Sawyer).


It would help if you gave some examples of what "symmetric difference" actually meant.


Put the last "I also suggest" in another issue. Ok?


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Feature #7738: Deprecate Set#+ as an alias of Set#|, use it for symmetric difference.  Introduce Hash#| for Hash#reverse_merge in Rails.
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/7738#change-35579

Author: alexeymuranov (Alexey Muranov)
Status: Open
Priority: Normal
Assignee: 
Category: 
Target version: Next Major


=begin
I am almost sure this will be rejected, but i want to try anyway.  My goal is to propose a more efficient and consistent use of binary operator symbols for some classes, in this case for (({Set})) and (({Hash})).

I propose to deprecate (({Set#+})) as an alias of (({Set#|})), and use (({Set#+})) later for the ((*symmetric difference*)) of sets.  I think that operator symbols like (({+})) and (({|})) are too precious to alias one another.

Currently (({Set#+})) is probably the only use of (({#+})) for an operation which is not ((*injective*)) in each of the arguments: for sets (({a})), (({b})), (({c})), the equality

  a + b == a + c

does not currently imply

  b == c

The natural binary operation on sets that is injective in each argument is the ((*symmetric difference*)), it corresponds to the bitwise XOR.  I have also noticed that the "(({+}))" for sets is used in "Lectures on ergodic theory " by P. Halmos to denote the symmetric difference.

I also suggest for to define (({Hash#|})) as Hash#reverse_merge in Rails, in my opinion this would correspond nicely to (({Set#|})).
=end



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