From: Sean Chittenden <sean@...>
Date: 2003-02-11T07:51:04+09:00
Subject: Re: value of assignment (Re: Order of the value of an expression changed? (PR#579))

> |I have read the thread and I think this is a pretty bad change.  I
> |can't find an instance where this would be the desired result.  When
> |every other expression in Ruby evaluates from right to left, why do
> |assignment statements always have a value of the right most value?
> 
> That's how assignment works.  I just made it consistent for attribute
> access too.

Can I reiterate how absolutely, fundamentally broken this change is
and how much of a departure from the "everything is a method call"
elegance that once used to exist?  Chaining methods and return values
used to be one of the simplest and most elegant things about Ruby.

#BEGIN test.rb
str = '<a id="two"/>' # snip XML dtd/doc
root = XML::Parser.new().string=(str).root
node_set = root.pointer('xpointer(id("two"))')
node_set.each{|n| p n}
#END test.rb

% ruby test.rb
test.rb:10: undefined method `root' for #<String:0x806ae60> (NoMethodError)

*grump* I'll stop pouting now, but I think this was a step in the
wrong direction. -sc

-- 
Sean Chittenden