Re: Symbol < String in Ruby > 1.8

> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Edward Gray II [mailto:[e-mail]] 
> Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 2:14 PM
> To: [e-mail]
> Subject: Re: Symbol < String in Ruby > 1.8
> 
> 
> On Oct 16, 2006, at 3:06 PM, Rick DeNatale wrote:
> 
> > I'm curious as to why it's a good thing to make String 
> nonenumerable 
> > and remove String#each instead of just aliasing lines to each?  Are 
> > there drawbacks which make it worthwhile breaking existing code?
> 
> Well, now that we're stepping into the M17N world it no longer makes  
> sense to work with Strings until we specify a unit for the content.   
> Each what?  Each character, line, or byte?
> 
> I really think this is a good move.  Every book that introduces  
> String#each says something like, "You probably don't expect 
> this, but  
> Strings iterate over lines..."  Now it will always be crystal clear:
> 
>    my_str.chars.each { ... }

I sometimes write methods that take a string or an array of strings and,
internally, I don't have to check the type - I can just call .each, and
it will do the right thing:

def foo(arg)
   arg.each{ |x| ... } # string or array, either will do
end

I'm not saying this is a compelling reason to keep String#each (or to
keep the behavior of String#each the same, even if there is a
String#each).  I'm just pointing out an added nuisance this will bring
in practice.

Regards,

Dan


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