From: Mohammad Khan <mkhan@...>
Date: 2005-01-20T03:13:21+09:00
Subject: Re: value by reference

On Wed, 2005-01-19 at 12:54, Austin Ziegler wrote:
> On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 02:17:19 +0900, Mohammad Khan <mkhan@lextranet.com> wrote:
> >> a, b, and c are not objects. They're variables.
> > Isn't everything *object* in Ruby?
> > Now you know, what I am after ?!
> 
> Yes, and no.
> 
>   a = 1
>   b = 2
>   c = 3

It would be great if we can do
a = Integer.new(1)
b = Integer.new(2)
c = Integer.new(3)

and we can pass object a, b, c rather than variable a, b, c.

Thanks Austin and Florian for explaining variables and object.

--
MOhammad




> 
> The values 1, 2, and 3 are objects. a, b, and c are not objects.
> 
>   def foo(a, b, c)
>   end
> 
> In #foo, a, b, and c are most definitely NOT objects -- they're
> variables that (will) contain references to objects.
> 
> In Ruby, variables are names, not memory slots.
> 
>   a = b = 1
> 
> The real memory slot is more or less identified by Object#id. The
> variable is just a convenience label for that object. Change the
> object that the label is pointing to, and you just change the
> position of the label's name. You're not actually changing the
> memory location involved.
> 
> What you're after is something you shouldn't do with Ruby. Rethink
> your design.
> 
> -austin