From: Rick DeNatale <rick.denatale@...>
Date: 2006-10-26T07:03:43+09:00
Subject: Re: '**' as hash splat?

On 10/25/06, Robert Dober <robert.dober@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 10/24/06, Kalman Noel <invalid@gmx.net> wrote:
> >
> > Ken Bloom:
> > > On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 20:49:55 -0700, Trans wrote:
> > >>   a = [2,1]
> > >>   [3,*a]  #=> [3,2,1]
> > > The purpose of splat is to convert an array into a list of parameters to
> > a
> > > method. Since [] is a method,
> >
> > irb> method :[]
> > NameError: undefined method `[]' for class `Object'

>
> Maybe you want to try this
>
>  Array.instance_method :[]

But I think that Kalman's point wasn't that there are no :[] methods,
which of course there are, but that the snippet

 [3, *a]

Isn't a method call but syntax.

And adding to that, splat isn't just for method parameters, but for
cases like this as well as parallel assignment.

And I think of splat as primarily a parallel assignment 'thing' since
both argument passing and literal construction can be viewed as usages
of parallel assignment.

-- 
Rick DeNatale

My blog on Ruby
http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/