From: Robert Klemme <bob.news@...>
Date: 2004-09-24T01:09:36+09:00
Subject: Re: negative numbers and binary formats


"Markus" <markus@reality.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:1095953157.5019.15.camel@lapdog.reality.com...
> > > >>>[-7000000].pack("i").unpack("h*").shift.reverse.gsub(/^f+(?=f)/,
'')
>
> > > Very nice, thank you. I wasn't aware of the range limit at first.
Only
> > > thing I would change is using .first instead of .shift. (For
clarity)
> >
> > :-))  I deliberately choose #shift in order to make the array a bit
> > smaller and remove all unnecessary references to the string - kind of
GC
> > paranoid. :-)
>
> But:
>      1. the array can't be referenced after the first/shift returns
>         (since it was an anonymous link in a message chain), so the
>         whole array is subject to GC from that point
>      2. shift can be significantly slower than first
>      3. how do you know that shift isn't doing something like:
>
> def Array.shift
>     result = @hypothetical_primitive_array[0]
>     @hypothetical_primitive_array = @hypothetical_primitive_array[1..-1]
>     result
>     end
>
>         ...in which case you'd still have the (scavengable) copy around
>         just as if you'd done it yourself?
>
> It only pays to be paranoid if you can trust yourself more than you can
> trust "them".

LOL

Lession taken.  Thanks!  Of course you're right.  Now I just need to find
out who is "me" and "them"...

    robert