From: Austin Ziegler <halostatue@...>
Date: 2005-12-05T15:16:59+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby :symbols and C *pointers are related?

On 12/5/05, petermichaux@yahoo.com <petermichaux@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I'm still trying to grasp exactly what symbols are. I am getting a
> feeling that they are related to my old friends the C pointers. Am I
> getting closer?

No. Symbols are just names--they can be considered immutable immediate
strings, but they are best considered names. There is *no* C
equivalent to a Symbol, as such. They can be used by certain methods
in various ways. The most common use, aside from keys on a hash, is as
the argument or arguments to a method that affects the definition of a
class or object. What is special here is *not* the Symbol, but the
method.

-austin
--
Austin Ziegler * halostatue@gmail.com
               * Alternate: austin@halostatue.ca