From: David Alan Black <dblack@...>
Date: 2001-12-11T10:01:01+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:28159] Re: The benefits of dynamic typing?

Hello --

On Tue, 11 Dec 2001, Mark Hahn wrote:

> That looks correct.  If String::to_s is fast (it should be since there is
> nothing to do) then this is even simpler:
>
> class String
>     alias old_plus +
>     def +(x)
>         old_plus x.to_s
>     end
> end
>
> But my point was the arguments being made against this feature fell into the
> "protecting programmers from themselves" category which I have a big problem
> with.

Some of the arguments fell into or near that category, but only some.
In any case, the ability to change the behavior of the method in a few
lines of code is as much a reality of Ruby as is the fact that
String#+ only takes strings.  So, in totality, the language actually
does offer the freedom you're talking about.

> How does everyone else feel about "protecting programmers from themselves"?
> At what point does a compiler switch from being helpful to being a pain?

Personally, I would say that the Ruby interpreter would make precisely
that switch if it started trying to guess and recover from a lot of
what are now exceptions and fatal errors :-)


David

-- 
David Alan Black
home: dblack@candle.superlink.net
work: blackdav@shu.edu
Web:  http://pirate.shu.edu/~blackdav