From: Tom Sawyer <transami@...>
Date: 2002-07-09T06:43:49+09:00
Subject: Re: is there a better string.each?

david,

> str.split(//).each ...

this involves excess overhead just to get each character. better to use:

str.each_byte { |c| c.chr }

but either way both of these take two steps when only one should be
needed.

str.each('') ...

or

$/ = ''
str.each ...

is much more elegent and can be implemented in such a way as to be more
efficient.

~transami

On Mon, 2002-07-08 at 14:55, David Alan Black wrote:
> Hello --
> 
> On Mon, 8 Jul 2002, Austin Ziegler wrote:
> 
> > If $/ (the argument to String#each) could be made to accept regex,
> > then the record separator could be String#each(//) if necessary,
> > allowing character-by-character parsing. This is not currently
> > possible.
> 
> I'll put in (yet another :-) plug for String#split:
> 
>   str.split(//).each ...
> 
> I think the idea of having String#each take a regex is, essentially, a
> kind of compression of this -- in other words, instead of #split'ing
> on a regex and then iterating through the resulting array, moving the
> regex intelligence into the argument to #each.  I'm of two minds about
> the merits of this, but in any case I don't think there would be
> anything possible in the language that isn't possible now.
> 
> 
> David
> 
> -- 
> David Alan Black
> home: dblack@candle.superlink.net
> work: blackdav@shu.edu
> Web:  http://pirate.shu.edu/~blackdav
> 
> 
-- 
~transami

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
 temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
	-- Benjamin Franklin