From: Sean O'Dell <sean@...>
Date: 2002-05-26T01:57:38+09:00
Subject: Re: Stymied by Ruby's garbage collector

Nat Pryce wrote:

> From: "Sean O'Dell" <sean@BUHBYESPAMcelsoft.com>
> 
>>Finalizers don't cut it for me.  Proper object destruction requires
>>special tasks much of the time (freeing memory, closing files, etc.).  A
>>proper destructor is helping keep the function of the object
>>encapsulated.  It's an exit routine.  Last I heard, finalizers were
>>called when the object was already gone...so you can't much in the way
>>of closing anything or freeing anything that the object was
>>maintaining...it's just not the same thing.
>>
> 
> This is a common complaint from people used to C++ or Java, probably because
> they are not used to a language with proper closures.  This page on the Ruby
> Garden wiki explains how to use finalisers to clean up an object's private
> state:
> 
> http://www.rubygarden.org/ruby?DiscussionOnUsingFinalizers

Yeah, I know...it's not the same thing.  I hope we get real destructors 
one day.

	Sean