From: Lyndon Samson Date: 2006-01-08T16:23:34+09:00 Subject: Re: Demystifying Symbols. ------=_Part_77945_8263137.1136705001200 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline > > ... In this dictionary more than one variable is permitted to be bound to > the same object: > small_dog =3D house_cat =3D 'small domesticated carnivorous mammal' > > In a real dictionary terms are bound to descriptions, but in the ruby > dictionary > of variables we would say terms are bound to objects, this boils down > to exactly the same thing. > > Grok? Seems pretty static and the emphasis is on the underlying objects independant existence, which of course is very much dependant on some live reference or it will be GC'd. How would you explain? a=3Da+1 Anyone who has written or studied the source code to an assembler knows the basics of symbols. Symbol Table Id Table/Array 1 "word1" 2 "word2" 3 "word3" Thus in some simple pseudo assembler loads R1,"word1" loads R2,"word2" loads R3,"word1" assembles to loads 1,1 loads 2,2 loads 3,1 All new symbols are added to the symbol table, and symbols are only ever referenced by Id. I'd guess that most modern VM's would behave in a similar manner. -- > Alex Combas > http://noodlejunkie.blogspot.com/ > > -- Into RFID? www.rfidnewsupdate.com Simple, fast, news. ------=_Part_77945_8263137.1136705001200--