From: Albert Wagner <alwagner@...>
Date: 2002-11-05T03:27:14+09:00
Subject: FAQ update (was Re: Thoughts on Ruby)

Crap.  I forked myself.

Sorry for starting a new thread on this, but the original post  was forked 
from a non-related thread, the subject of which I keep forgeting.  Below, 
Massimiliano is calling for a solution to a recurring problem that I have 
been a large part of.  I apologize for my excesses and give my agreement to 
what he proposes.  I would personally prefer that there be only one place to 
look for answers to the problems discussed below.  So I vote for an extended 
FAQ, that includes William's ``List of things that newcomer to Ruby should 
know'' and sections that summarize threads such as this: 
Why and How is Ruby different from <my last/favorite language>
I believe that the FAQ is the appropriate place for such things because it 
serves this function on so many other lists.  After all, the complaint is 
that these are Frequently Asked Questions.

On Monday 04 November 2002 8:46 am, Massimiliano Mirra wrote:
<snip>
>
> Folks, what do you do when you see code like this?
>
>
>     c1 = 3 * 3 * Math::PI
>
>     c2 = 6 * 6 * Math::PI
>
>     c3 = 21 * 21 * Math::PI
>
>
> You refactor, right?
>
>
>     def area(r)
>       return r * r * Math::PI
>     end
>
>     c1 = area(3)
>     c2 = area(6)
>     c3 = area(21)
>
>
> So we've got wisdom in programming.  <trolling>Can we please apply it
> in life, too?</trolling>
>
> It's simply too much to leave the list for a couple of days and find
> half a hundred messages resurrecting topics (and beating them to death
> again) such as:
>
>     - Alternatives in syntax or `There is more than one way to write
>       it'
>     - Overloading '='
>     - Declaring variables
>     - Compiling Ruby to bytecode or whatever
>
> First it was because Ruby is different than Pythong, then because it
> is different than C++, now because it is different than Smalltalk,
> tomorrow because it is different than God knows what.
>
> Can we (or at least those who still have energy to answer, and yes I'm
> cowardly leaving myself out) refactor this recurring `human code' into
> a wiki or whatever, and redirect people there?  We don't want
> ruby-talk to become ruby-design-advocacy, right?  And we don't want
> matz to waste his time justifying design decisions (which thankfully
> he does very seldom already)?
>
> William's ``List of things that newcomer to Ruby should know'' does a
> great job of satisfying the practical concerns (``How does it work
> like...?'').  Something is needed for the philosophical/theoretical
> side (``Why is it like...?'').
>
> Does this make sense?
>
>
> Massimiliano

-- 
"Every real thought on every real subject knocks the
wind out of somebody or other."
                                           -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.