From: Joel VanderWerf <vjoel@...>
Date: 2002-08-05T04:09:03+09:00
Subject: Re: Detecting when an instance variable is created/set

Tom Sawyer wrote:

> at this point i wish to SPEAK UP and say once again, i would prefer that
> EVERYTHING were OO. i choose ruby over python for this very reason!
> (although i like ruby over python despite that now anyway). alas not
> even ruby is pure.

It is pure by my standards: everything you can talk about in the ruby 
language is an object. To "talk about" a thing means: to pass it to a 
function, whether as an argument or as the receiver of a method, or to 
assign it to a variable. If you want to be able to pass variables 
themselves to a method (i.e., call by reference, as opposed to passing 
their values), or assign variables themselves to other variables (as 
opposed to assigning their values), then you are headed back to p**l and 
its references....

Whatever "pure" means, ruby is better off without those backslash nasties.