From: Austin Ziegler <halostatue@...>
Date: 2005-12-31T09:39:14+09:00
Subject: Re: On Symbols

On 30/12/05, Ron M <rm_rails@cheapcomplexdevices.com> wrote:
> Ruby symbols surprised me a bit because unlike most
> Lisps, Ruby's symbols aren't garbage collected.
>
> I still don't understand if that is an implementation
> detail or something fundamental about symbols in Ruby
> that makes them uncollectable.  The answer to that
> question would say a lot about where it's a good
> idea to use symbols.

Probably an implementation detail. That doesn't mean you can't ignore
it, but it means that it's generally a good idea to use Symbols in a
lot of places. Just don't pretend that they're immutable Strings.
They're not. If you want that, freeze the String.

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