From: jeff_alexander_44@...
Date: 2007-03-24T23:45:05+09:00
Subject: scope and RAII


def scope(*args)
   yield(*args)
end

scope(Array.new) { |array|
   array.push 1
   array.push 7
   array.push 11
   puts array.join(",")
}
# here the variable 'array' is gone -- is it deallocated?

I am interested in using ruby for some resource-intensive tasks.  In
the above example, imagine Array replaced with some resource-tied
class written in C, for example a set of hardware textures.

Does ruby make a special effort to release a variable when it goes out
of scope?  The canonical example is

File.open("foo.txt") { |f|
    print f.read
}
# internal file handle released here

Is this behavior a general rule, or just a special case for
File.open()?  And is it released immediately or upon the
next GC pass?

Thanks,
Jeff