From: Brian Candler Date: 2010-09-14T23:44:19+09:00 Subject: Re: method! and method? Gene Angelo wrote: > I am trying to find the meaning of ! and ? appended to method names but > I cannot find what they mean. Can someone explain? They don't mean anything - they are just part of the name. That is, in str.downcase! the method you are calling is called :downcase! - which is a distinct method to :downcase However, there are conventions as to when they should be used. Methods ending ? typically query the properties of some object and return a boolean-like result, while methods ending ! are "dangerous" in some way, such as modifying the state of the object when a non-modifying alternative method is available. -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.