From: Lionel Thiry <lthiryidontwantspams@...>
Date: 2005-11-23T11:22:25+09:00
Subject: Re: a == nil or a.nil?

ako... a �crit :
> hello,
> 
> this is more of a philosophical question. my C experience makes me feel
> more comfortable with expressions such as 'a == nil' rather than
> a.nil?. i feel strange when i invoke a method on a nil value. i know,
> nil is also an object and not just a zero reference but still it feels
> strange...
> 
> would the experts please comment on why one way would be preferable
> over the other? also, i am curious to know why nil? has been
> implemented at all? is '== nil' not enough?
> 
> thanks
> konstantin
> 

By the way,
	a == nil
is also a method call. It is actually equivalent to:
	a.==(nil)

If nil has a == method, why not adding some other practical methods like
nil? ? Actually, nil? is probably a bit faster than ==(nil).

-- 
Lionel Thiry

Personal web site: http://users.skynet.be/lthiry/