From: Hal Fulton <hal9000@...>
Date: 2006-03-27T09:39:11+09:00
Subject: Re: Why do some methods names which replace the content in place doesn't have the "!" sign?

Tim Hunter wrote:
> Eric Boucher wrote:
>>
>> Is it because the name really mean what it mean? Maybe am I all wrong?
>>
> Using a ! to mean "destructive" is not a hard-and-fast rule. Usually 
> (but not always) it's used when there are a pair of methods with the 
> same name, one destructive and one not. If there is only one method with 
> that name, such as the two examples you give, then adding the ! is not 
> particularly useful. But there are always exceptions.
> 

The ! doesn't even mean "destructive" really. It means "dangerous" or
"caution required." In the core, there is only one instance of a non-
destructive bang method, but in my own code, I do like to make the
distinction more.


Hal