[ruby-talk:02726] Re: Append alias for Array.append?

Hi,

From: Hideto ISHIBASHI

# Here's another proposal to this:
# From: Aleksi Niemel<[e-mail]>
# > >I don't know whether Array should has the `append' method.
# > >BTW, what is the opposite of `append?'
# > >Array.push <---> Array.append
# > >Array.pop  <---> Array.???
#
# > Maybe there should be some Array.remove_from_end but there's two
different
# > view points here.
#
# > Well, the opposite of Array.append would be Array.prepend, just an
different
# > axis :).
#
# I'd add Array.shrink. But some native English speakers might think
# this as not a better name...

The problem is that shrink is ambiguous about which direction/side the
shrinking would occur from.

# Now that prepend seems good, I can't find the word `prepend'
# in my English dictionary, however. Do you guys really use this
# word in your daily life or in technical talks?

Yes, at least for computer-related discussions.

Try www.dictionary.com. Being an online dictionary with access to lots of
cheap storage and being a competitive marketing front-end of sorts, it is
probably more comprehensive and more up to date than your dictionary,
although it doesn't compare to the giant OED (Oxford English Dictionary). It
has the common definition for "prepend". It says that "prepend" is jargon,
but I think that is a little misleading because that is sort of like saying
that "program" is jargon. Both terms are fairly widely known and used these
days, although "program" is much more frequently used.

It doesn't have "rubyholic" yet. This is probably because not enough people
are using comp.lang.ruby, so this term hasn't been swept up by the latest
generation of electronic concordance generators and analyzers.

Conrad