From: Aldric Giacomoni <"aldric[removeme]"@...>
Date: 2009-05-04T21:10:02+09:00
Subject: Re: String problem

7stud -- wrote:
> Yukihiro Matsumoto wrote:
>   
>> Regular
>> expressions in 1.8.* recognize UTF-8, EUC-JP, and Shift_JIS.  So you
>> can handle Unicode strings by using regular expressions.
>>     
>
> Too vague.
>
>
> James Gray wrote:
>   
>> And those interested in how all that works may find this series on my
>> blog helpful:
>>
>> http://blog.grayproductions.net/articles/understanding_m17n
>>
>>     
>
> Excellent website.  <c-word here>
>
> Here is something that is unclear:
>
> ----------
> To use the jcode library, set $KCODE and then require the library.
> Setting $KCODE first is important, and you will receive a warning if you
> require jcode without setting it (as long as you took my advice and
> turned ****them*** on)...
>
> http://blog.grayproductions.net/articles/the_kcode_variable_and_jcode_library
> ---------
>
> In the sentence:
>
> -------
> Setting $KCODE first is important, and you will receive a warning if you
> require jcode without setting it (as long as you took my advice and
> turned them on)...
> --------
>
> 'it' and 'them' are pronouns, which should refer to nouns.  The pronoun
> 'it' looks like it might refer to 'jcode' when 'it' actually refers to
> '$KCODE'.   That is pretty easy to sort out.
>
> However, what does 'them' refer to?  'them' should refer to a plural
> noun, so if you actually stop and try to sort it out rather than just
> dismissing the whole paragraph in confusion, 'them' looks like it must
> refer to '$Kcode' and 'jcode'.  However, that doesn't make sense because
> you don't 'set' jcode--you require jcode.
>
> Apparently, 'them' refers to 'warning', which is not only grammatically
> incorrect but it is very hard to make that association.  In any case, in
> that sentence if you change 'it' and 'them' to $KCODE and 'warnings'
> respectively, you will change a confusing and unreadable sentence into a
> sentence whose clarity will be unmatched in modern literature:
>
> -----
> Setting $KCODE first is important, and you will receive a warning if you
> require jcode without setting $KCODE (as long as you took my advice and
> turned warnings on with -w)...
> ______
>
> I'd bet that 90% of the readers of your article stop reading at that
> exact spot.
>   
Alright, so the man who created Ruby doesn't write well enough for you,
and neither does one of the big guys in the community. Maybe you'd like
to offer yourself as proofreader for them, instead of programmer for
others? I liked James' series of articles and was able to read it just
fine... And english is my 4th language.

-- Aldric