From: Wilson Bilkovich <wilsonb@...>
Date: 2006-04-30T11:06:54+09:00
Subject: Re: Constant in Ruby.

On 4/29/06, Charlie <peckcharlie@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I'm new to Ruby programming and I saw this article which concerns me:
>
> http://www.bitwisemag.com/copy/features/opinion/ruby/ruby_debate.html
>
> Don't get me wrong, I love Ruby. But, the idea that a constant is not a
> constant is worrying isn't it? Or have I missed something? Please
> comment.
>
> X = 10
> Y = "hello world"
> Z = "hello world"
>
> X = 20
> Y = "byebye" << "abc"
> myvar = Z << "xyz"
>
> puts(X)
> 20
> puts(Y)
> byebyeabc
> puts(Z)
> hello worldxyz
> myvar
> "hello worldxyz"
>

That article is horrible. Don't worry about it.

Classes are constants in Ruby, so it's good that we can modify constants.

Ruby is a scalpel. You can use it to heal or to destroy.