From: Robert Dober <robert.dober@...>
Date: 2007-01-20T21:06:49+09:00
Subject: Re: auto assign arguments?

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On 1/20/07, David Chelimsky <dchelimsky@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 1/20/07, Robert Dober <robert.dober@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 1/19/07, Yukihiro Matsumoto <matz@ruby-lang.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > In message "Re: auto assign arguments?"
> > >     on Sat, 20 Jan 2007 01:58:06 +0900, "David Chelimsky" <
> > > dchelimsky@gmail.com> writes:
> > >
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > > Besides that, I think formal arguments of a method (including their
> > > names) can be seen as part of class API.  Allowing instance variables
> > > as formal arguments seems like disclosing the internal issues.
> >
> >
> > Yes exactly but by explicit declaration, so
> >
> >         def set_length(@length)
> >
> > just would be a willful disclosure a little bit like
> >        attr_writer :length
> >
>
> Thinking about this some more - I wasn't proposing this become part of
> the API. Nor would I want to see this anywhere besides the
> initializer. The proposal is that for initializers (only) you could


Ah I see here we are really diverging. Are you aware that you propose
different formal parameter symantics based on
the method name?
OTOH #initialize is a *special* method of course. But I am against it, would
make the language more complicated.

define (not reference pre-existing) instance variables:
>
> def initialize(@length)
> end
>
> If this were allowed, there would be no need to expose the @ in RDoc.
> RDoc could be tweaked to hide that, so you'd still just see:


Again I fail to agree :(.
If you exposed an instance variable like that would it not be desired for
RDoc to document this?

new(length)
>
> Note that RDoc is already hiding initialize (as an instance method)
> and showing you new (as a class method), so this would just be an
> addition to that transformation.
>
> So the proposed sugar would only be exposed to the intialize method
> and anybody (human or machine) reading the class definition.
>
> David
> <snip>


Robert

-- 
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
- Alan Kay

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