From: mengx@...
Date: 2002-01-03T00:39:16+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:30046] Re: A Bug or something else?

> 
> pigeon% ruby
> class Fixnum
>    private :to_s
> end
> 
> p "#{12}"
> 12.to_s
> ^D
> "12"
> -:6: private method `to_s' called for 12:Fixnum (NameError)
> pigeon% 
> 
Looks like it only happens in string evaluation? apparently, Ruby's
interpreter bypasses the rule, correct?

>  Well, I've not yet understood what you have against `nil' :-)) but I
>  suspect that you expect that it work like an `undef' (i.e. undefined
>  value), no ?

I meant that any ruby method/C-function should check if a variable is nil
and raise exception or whatever action is appropriate, such that "1 == nil"
would raise an exception instead of being false. nil.to_s -> "" and
nil.to_i -> 0  seem really strange. They are not even consistent with
Ruby's own idiom that "" and 0 evaluate to "true" in logical context.

Thanks

-Ted