From: "Matthias Wächter" <matthias@...>
Date: 2008-02-22T00:28:54+09:00
Subject: Re: What does *args do?

Arlen Cuss wrote:
>> You can even do multiple assignment this way:
>> b, c, d, e = *a
>> b # => 1
>> c # => 2
>> d # => 3
>> e # => 4
> It's worth noting that this behaviour can be achieved without the splat
> operator:
>>> b, c, d, e = a # => [1, 2, 3, 4]
>>> b # => 1
>>> c # => 2
>>> d # => 3
>>> e # => 4

I don't like this inconsistency in the language. Left is a list, right should be a list. Making it mate with both list and array can introduce tricky inconsistencies. I am in favor of dropping the latter and always'd require splat for multiple assignment. I think that is _too_ dynamic for an untyped, dynamic language like Ruby.

e.g.

def not_broken_up a
  my_a, my_nil1 = a
  if my_a != a
    puts "Gotcha!"
  else
    p my_a
  end
end

not_broken_up 1        # -> 1
not_broken_up "hi"     # -> "hi"
not_broken_up({1=>1})  # -> {1->1}
not_broken_up [1]      # -> Gotcha!
not_broken_up [1,2]    # -> Gotcha!
not_broken_up [[1]]    # -> Gotcha!