From: Lennon Day-Reynolds <rcoder@...>
Date: 2004-07-14T13:16:57+09:00
Subject: Re: Functional Ruby (Re: Why I don't use Ruby.)

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 10:48:41 +0900, zuzu <sean.zuzu@gmail.com> wrote:
[...]
> also, assignment in ruby is much improved over von neumann C-style
> assignment.  in ruby assignment is merely the naming of objects for
> convenient reference (like pointers). see "Assignment" @
> http://www.rubycentral.com/book/tut_expressions.html  correct me if
> i'm wrong, but isn't this essentially what functional programming
> languages call "macros"?
> 
> i suppose this has been clarified?

Ruby variables are indeed different from standard "procedural" ones,
in that assignment actually just changes the binding for that scope,
not the value of a memory location. However, they have very little to
do with macros, which allow language syntax extensions and source code
transformation.

The closest feature in Ruby is probably 'eval', which is in theory
just as "powerful" as a macro system, but far less convenient and
safe.

Lennon