From: Florian Gilcher <flo@...>
Date: 2008-04-25T03:47:56+09:00
Subject: Re: Function appends same value to string based on number of function  calls

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>
>  class TestAppend
>    attr_accessor :text
>
>    def initialize(attributes = {})
>      @text = "Start of string"
>    end
>
>    def get_some_value
>      value = @text
>      value << '-New Value'
>      return value
>    end
>
>  end

value = @text does not copy the string and << doesn't return a string  
but modifies the receiver in place.

What you are doing is getting a reference to @text which just has  
another name. Then you modify @text by using << on value (which is the  
same object as @text).

If you do not wish to modify @text, use "+" or string interpolation.

===code===
def get_some_value
   @text + "-New Value" #dies if @text == nil
end
#or
def get_some_value
   "#{@text}-New Value"  #doesn't die, but looks ugly if @text == nil
end
===code===

Regards,
Florian Gilcher
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