From: Phillip Gawlowski Date: 2011-03-08T02:40:40+09:00 Subject: Re: Ruby - Missed some core computer science world ? On Mon, Mar 7, 2011 at 3:28 PM, Mike Stephens wrote: > Robert > > Surely, when you elect to use objects, and you are inclined to use > things like .each or .sort, you are making a choice to move away from > worrying about data structures and algorithms? How so? I can define nodes in a tree as a class, and have the actual nodes lying around as objects. It can make life easier, though, since I can interrogate the node like an object, resulting in better consistency (within OO languages, anyway). > There are of course still data structures and algorithms -rather like > the AI book mentioned above - but what people used to talk about in data > structures and algorithms were much more prosaic things which I suggest > are not of the same interest nowadays. That could be because search, sorting, trees, etc. are mostly solved problems nowadays. Science marching on, and all that. Besides: Why should I write my own sorting implementation, when I can use one that is in general use by hundreds, thousands of people, and take advantage of "many eyes make all bugs shallow", as Linus says? It frees me from dealing with issues in my homegrown implementation, so that I can solve 'actual' problems. -- Phillip Gawlowski Though the folk I have met, (Ah, how soon!) they forget When I've moved on to some other place, There may be one or two, When I've played and passed through, Who'll remember my song or my face.