From: William James <w_a_x_man@...>
Date: 2007-01-09T19:10:06+09:00
Subject: Re: Why is there a seperate Math class?

Erik Veenstra wrote:
> > If I were to ask someone for the length of the word apples, I
> > would say "What is the length of apples?" In ruby, this would
> > be "apples".length.
>
> Length is a property _OF_ "apples".
>
> > If I were to ask someone for the sine of, say, 90, I would
> > say "What is the sine of 90?" In ruby, this would be
> > Math.sin(90)
>
> Sin is an action _WITH_ 90.

Very crooked thinking.  Consider

  %w( the ruby mafia strikes again ).sort

Is 'sort' a property of %w( the ruby mafia strikes again ) ?

>
> > even though the structure of the sentence is the same as for
> > "apples" above.
>
> To me, it's not.

I'll help you out.  Consider

  What is the zig of zag?
  What is the boo of hoo?

See the similarity?  However, Ruby, a programming language, doesn't
need to emulate English.