Re: [ruby-cvs:18323] ruby: * eval.c (splat_value): use "to_splat" instead of "to_ary" to

Hi --

On Wed, 11 Oct 2006, why the lucky stiff wrote:

> On Wed, Oct 11, 2006 at 01:38:21AM +0900, [e-mail] wrote:
>> How about a fun technical term, like all the other terms in Ruby? :-)
>
> Because visual terms can be more powerful, in terms of associating with a
> teaching mnemonic.  I can see the argument if it were "to_rofl" or
> "each_with_w00t", but "splat" is such an awesome combination of the visual
> appearance of an asterisk and the action of squeezing list parts into little
> variable-shaped boxes.  It is a term originally unique to Rubyists
> and it won't just go away by vote -- it's a colloquialism and it
> adds color to our speech.  We're not all businesses here, right?

It's definitely not original to Rubyists; I remember it from
discussions of the * operator in Perl ten or more years ago.  But
you're missing my point.  I'm not talking about people's speech;
indeed, I've politely refrained for ten years from saying how silly I
find "splat" as a reference to * :-)  I'm only talking about (and only
speaking up because of) the prospect of a method named "to_splat".
There's no cosmic battle of stodginess against whimsy, nor business
trampling free-spiritedness, nor anything of the kind.  It's much
simpler than that: I just find "to_splat" silly and uncommunicative as
a method name.

(I understand that some people think "splat" actually communicates
what * does, and that's just an "agree to disagree" thing.)

> I'll yield to matz in terms of "to_splat", I just don't want to
> hinder his recent bursts of creativity.

We all will, and we all don't.  That's not at issue.

I seem to remember there being evidence that a programming language
doesn't, itself, have to be insistently whimsical and self-consciously
anti-technical in order to inspire and nurture a certain amount of
linguistic and/or visual and/or musical artistry.... :-)


David

-- 
                   David A. Black | [e-mail]
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[1] http://www.manning.com/black | [3] http://www.rubypowerandlight.com
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