From: gwtmp01@...
Date: 2005-12-30T16:19:31+09:00
Subject: Re: What is the difference between :foo and "foo" ?


On Dec 30, 2005, at 12:45 AM, Austin Ziegler wrote:
> Sure, you could get pedantically
> philosophical, but the you'd be saying that 1 really isn't the number,
> it's a thing that represents a quantity of one.

But 1 (as in the ascii character code 49) is *not* the number/object  
one.
And the reference value that the Ruby parser constructs when it sees
the ascii character code 49 is also *not* the number/object one.

I don't think it is possible to have a coherent discussion of Ruby
semantics without clearly and consistently differentiating between
an object, a reference to an object, and an identifier that is
bound to a reference to the object.  In particular, the semantics
of assignment/equality/identity can't be fully explained without
carefully distinguishing between these ideas.

Yes it sounds very pedantic but the devil is in the details.

Gary Wright