From: Ryan Davis <ryand-ruby@...>
Date: 2010-02-11T07:11:44+09:00
Subject: Re: difference between [] and Array[]


On Feb 10, 2010, at 13:10 , artbot wrote:

> hi,
> 
> all the time i thought [] would be a shortcut for the corresponding
> class method of the class Array, but after
> 
> def Array.[](*args)
>    puts "blah"
> end
> 
> i still get
> 
> a= [1, 2, 3]
> => [1, 2, 3]
> 
> and on the other hand
> 
> a= Array[1, 2, 3]  # or a= Array.[](1, 2, 3)
> blah
> => nil
> 
> so what is the exact cause of the difference?
> 
> can I somehow redefine the 'global' []

no. [1, 2, 3] is an array literal and part of the syntax. It does not invoke a method. Array[...] is, as you point out in the comment, a method invocation to Array::[](*items).