From: Dave Thomas <Dave@...>
Date: 2001-08-24T11:20:17+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:20234] Re: ++ Operator

matz@ruby-lang.org (Yukihiro Matsumoto) writes:

> Hi,
> 
> In message "[ruby-talk:20206] Re: ++ Operator"
>     on 01/08/24, Dave Thomas <Dave@PragmaticProgrammer.com> writes:
> 
> |Matz:
> |
> |Is there any logical difference between a++ and a.succ!
> 
> The difference is the fact that since Numeric is immutable, a.succ! is
> not possible. "++" is fundamentally an assignment.

OK, but... (this is where I make a fool of myself).

Is the fundamental property of Fixnum that its objects are immutable,
or that its objects do not have copy semantics? If the former, then
obviously ++ just isn't viable. If the latter, then it's possible to
imagine implementations that would allow it.

I know we're not going to see ++ in Ruby in my lifetime. However, I'm
wondering if this is a necessary restriction on the language, or
simply on implementation convenience.

Dave