From: gwtmp01@...
Date: 2005-11-07T11:21:48+09:00
Subject: Re: Access control and class methods


On Nov 6, 2005, at 9:47 AM, Mads Kristensen wrote:
> And BTW: what does class<<self actually mean? One < would be  
> inheritance but what does it mean when there are two?

One of the early hurdles I had with Ruby was trying to map
the "class <<object" syntax into a useful mental model.  I'm
not sure why "<<" was selected.  The semantics and syntax
don't seem to be related to those of the "<<" operator and
so you really need to form two separate mental models and just
know which one applies.

Why not something like:

class obj.eclass
   #
end

Where Object#eclass is defined to return the eigenclass of
the receiver?  Even a different keyword would be clearer:

eclass obj
   #
end

It isn't a big deal but it does confuse newbies.


Gary Wright