From: "Peña, Botp" <botp@...>
Date: 2002-11-22T11:23:51+09:00
Subject: Re: difference between "and" and "&&"

Hi sir Gavin Sinclair [mailto:gsinclair@soyabean.com.au]:

You wrote:
> No, but other languages don't typically have 'and' and '&&'.  
> So yes, '=' has a low precedence, but 'and' is lower.  To 
> achieve your example you use '&&'.  If Ruby had no 'and' it 
> wouldn't be confusing.  Likewise if 'and' was just sugar for 
> '&&'.  AFAIK, no other langugage is like Ruby in this regard, 
> so it's bound to be confusing at least once.  I believe Matz 
> has designed it correctly, though.  'and' and '&&' are subtly 
> different and can be used to communicate different programmer intent:
> 
>   result = value && value.size
>   param  = param || default_value
>   action() and consequent_action()
>   action() or alternative_action()
> 
> Without *thinking* about precedence, the code above just 
> reads nicely: the subtleties of the intended high-level 
> intention are communicated very well through the symbols used.

Very cleary explained, sir Gavin.

Many thanks.

> Gavin

kind regards,
-botp