From: Chad Perrin <perrin@...>
Date: 2006-01-05T12:04:27+09:00
Subject: Re: using irb

On Thu, Jan 05, 2006 at 10:47:27AM +0900, Paul Legato wrote:
> John Maclean wrote:
> >it seems as is irb is a better "place" or "way" to try out stuff. This 
> >correct?
> 
> irb is great for rapidly getting a feel for how things work, since you 
> get instant feedback on each line. If something doesn't go as expected, 
> you can instantly start experimenting on the live state of ruby to 
> figure out what's going on.
> 
> That said, it is not necessarily the best tool for every job, and I 
> certainly wouldn't recommend using it alone. I often keep an irb running 

Assuming you mean that using irb alone shouldn't give you the impression
you all there is to know about Ruby, I agree.  If you mean that it
shouldn't be used alone for other purposes than getting a feel for the
language, I disagree: I've found that irb makes a better calculator
application (for my tastes) than any other simple calculator app I've
ever had the (dis)pleasure to encounter.  I use it for stuff like
calculating my income tax rate, for instance, and the ability to save
intermediate values in variables while calculating something complex is
great.

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

"A script is what you give the actors.  A program
is what you give the audience." - Larry Wall