From: znmeb@...
Date: 2006-12-24T12:54:56+09:00
Subject: Re: Help with a ruby idiom

Quoting gwtmp01@mac.com:

>
> On Dec 23, 2006, at 3:35 PM, William James wrote:
> >> Might I be a curmudgeon on this Christmas eve eve? I say that any
> >> idiom
> >> that's confusing enough that its semantics isn't *instantly*
> >> recognizable to an old FORTRAN programmer like my curmudgeonly self
> >> probably doesn't contribute to code readability. :)
>
> Isn't an idiom by definition somewhat unique to its cultural/language
> context? If an expression is instantly recognizable by non-native
> speakers of the language then it isn't an idiom at all.
>
> Gary Wright

Uh ... OK ... I'll be the curmudgeon and you can be the pedant. :)

Seriously though, you're right. As David Black pointed out, it's more or less
inherited from Perl, as is "unless". I find "unless" difficult to read in many
circumstances, although it does seem natural in this one:

a = b unless defined?(a)

the missing word "already" gets filled in by my mind.

a ||= b

on the other hand, doesn't read as easily to me.
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