From: ts <decoux@...>
Date: 2002-09-13T17:58:59+09:00
Subject: Re: not grasping the method overloading/multi-dispatch thing

>>>>> "Y" == Yukihiro Matsumoto <matz@ruby-lang.org> writes:

Y> Guy, who did implement it in his "modified Ruby", might want to tell
Y> you how he felt.

  Well, I can't say more than what I've said in [ruby-talk:26914] (sorry I
  can't give a better explanation, becuase of my bad english, why I think
  that it's not a good idea to add overloading in ruby).

 More, one day I've just written this :

pigeon% cat b.rb
#!./ruby
class AA < Array
end

class A
   private
   def tt(Enumerable a)
      yield "Enumerable"
   end

   public
   def tt(Array a)
      yield "Array"
      next_method
   end
   def tt(AA a)
      yield "AA"
      next_method
   end
   def tt(String a)
      yield "String"
      next_method
   end

end

p A.instance_methods
p A.private_instance_methods
a = A.new
a.tt(AA.new 1, 2) {|i| puts "received #{i}" }
a.tt("string") {|i| puts "received #{i}" }
a.tt(1 .. 2)

pigeon%
 
pigeon% b.rb
["tt"]
["next_method", "tt"]
received AA
received Array
received Enumerable
received String
received Enumerable
./b.rb:32: private method `tt' called for #<A:0x401afb68> (NameError)
pigeon% 

 See the module (rather than the class) in the definition.

 This was my way to *kill* it because I know that when I've written it this
 will give, one day, some incoherence.


Guy Decoux