From: dblack@...
Date: 2006-11-23T21:28:05+09:00
Subject: Re: how do I contribute to Ruby?

Hi --

On Thu, 23 Nov 2006, El Gato wrote:

> Giles Bowkett wrote:
>> check this out, this is the whiniest change ever, but what I want is
>> this to work:
>>
>> irb(main):001:0> "".is_a? String
>> => true
>> irb(main):002:0> [].is_an? Array
>> NoMethodError: undefined method `is_an?' for []:Array
>>         from (irb):2
>>
>>
>> I just HATE writing "is_a? Array" because it's grammatically incorrect.
>>
>> I realize this is incredibly silly and anal, but the thing is, all you
>> have to do is one simple alias command and you're good to go.
>>
>> so -- how do I contribute to Ruby itself?
>
> Well, unlike a lot of languages, in Ruby you can modify all sorts of
> built-ins.    I don't personally believe that a case such as this
> warrants it though, and often in Ruby it's better to use respond_to?
> (duck typing) depending on the situation of course.

Or just duck typing, without respond_to?; i.e., just send messages to
objects based on the semantics of the message.


David

-- 
                   David A. Black | dblack@wobblini.net
Author of "Ruby for Rails"   [1] | Ruby/Rails training & consultancy [3]
DABlog (DAB's Weblog)        [2] | Co-director, Ruby Central, Inc.   [4]
[1] http://www.manning.com/black | [3] http://www.rubypowerandlight.com
[2] http://dablog.rubypal.com    | [4] http://www.rubycentral.org