From: Chad Perrin <perrin@...>
Date: 2005-12-31T12:13:31+09:00
Subject: Re: What is the difference between :foo and "foo" ?

On Sat, Dec 31, 2005 at 11:50:27AM +0900, Austin Ziegler wrote:
> 
> Not really. I think James's description is pretty good, and agree that
> it needs expansion. However, I don't think that the Ruby language
> behaves in any particular way relating to Symbols or their use. I'm
> not sure how to get it clearer than that. The Ruby language doesn't
> really behave in a particular way with respect to Fixnums that impacts
> most developers who *use* the language. The implementation has to deal
> with them specially, and there are corner cases related to the current
> implementation's use of 31 bits and the upsize and downsize between
> BigDecimal, but that is, as I'm saying, an implementation issue and
> not something I see as intrinsic to the language.

Let me put it this way, then:  Why don't we remove symbols from the
language?

Once you answer that, I'll take your phrasing and fit it into what I was
saying, and this ridiculous back-and-forth wherein you refuse to
communicate effectively with me can end.

-- 
Chad Perrin [ CCD CopyWrite | http://ccd.apotheon.org ]

"Real ugliness is not harsh-looking syntax, but having to
build programs out of the wrong concepts." - Paul Graham