From: Jake McArthur <jake.mcarthur@...>
Date: 2006-05-16T02:58:38+09:00
Subject: Re: begining programmer questions

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On May 15, 2006, at 12:50 PM, Regg wrote:

> I would have hoped that once a type has been established for an  
> object,
> the object would only adhere to the rules of that object...not change
> itself into a new object type.

This is the case. However, variables are only references and are  
themselves "typeless," in a sense. While you cannot change the object  
a variable points to from one type to another, you can have the  
variable point to a different object entirely which can be of a  
different type. Here is something that won't work:

"5" + 5

Since the two objects are different types, they cannot be added/ 
appended. The two correct variations are below:

"5".to_i + 5 # => 10
"5" + 5.to_s => "55"

Hope that clears things up.

- Jake McArthur
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