From: Gavin Sinclair <gsinclair@...>
Date: 2004-06-28T15:03:03+09:00
Subject: Re: Is it considered Harmful?

Sean O'Dell wrote:

>> I don't even know what
>>
>>   x = X.new
>>   x.class = Y
>>
>> is supposed to mean.  But I do understand the idea behind this:
>>
>>   x = X.new
>>   y = Y.new
>>   x.become y
>
> That's funny, because the first one makes immediate sense to me, but I'm
> not  sure what the second one does.
>
> What happens when x becomes y?  Methods are replaced?

No, the object x points to is discarded and x points to y instead. 
Moreover, *every* pointer to x now becomes a pointer to y, making the
statement a little more potent than

  x = y

The only description of #become that ever made sense to me was "like
String#replace or Array#replace, but more general".  The only
rationalisation for this feature that ever made sense to me was, as usual,
provided by Jim Weirich, in this thread.  That is, replacing a proxy with
a "real" object.  I'm pretty sure he was talking about #become, not
#class=.

Cheers,
Gavin