From: Gavin Sinclair <gsinclair@...>
Date: 2002-11-26T18:31:05+09:00
Subject: Re: Things That Newcomers to Ruby Should Know (11/24/02)

From: "Simon Cozens" <simon@simon-cozens.org>


> "Gavin Sinclair" <gsinclair@soyabean.com.au> writes:
> > irb(main):001:0> s = "String\n"
> > "String\n"
> > irb(main):002:0> s.id
> > 134560740
> > irb(main):003:0> s.chomp!
> > "String"
> > irb(main):004:0> s.id
> > 134560740
> ....
>
> Confusing implementation limitations and language design was Perl 5's big
> problem. Don't let it become Ruby's big problem too.

The above code merely demonstrates that String#chomp! doesn't modify 'self',
rather it modifies the data of the object.

The only "implementation limitations" discussed here are that integers are
immediate values.  No problems arise from this - except that ++ doesn't behave
as in C/Java/Perl.  And that's not even a problem, just a surprise for some
people.

I agree with the sentiment though; just hope that it doesn't apply to Ruby so
far.

Gavin