[ruby-talk:6633] RE: Why is WeakRef#__getobj__ missing from the p ickaxe book?

Cullen J O'Neill proposed:

> My question is, isn't it a better idea to just get a real reference
> to the object using __getobj__?
> 
> ----
> if ref.weakref_alive?
>   real_ref = ref.__getobj__

I don't know much about weak references, but I'd guess you risk losing the
real object with above code. I feel I would not rely on the fact there
happens no GC between alive? and __getobj__.

Nevertheless I guess some combination of your's and book's versions would be
ideal, while pretty wordy. I don't like the idea GC is disabled, at least
for longer periods.

Maybe there's demand for 

  weakref.if_alive do |ref|
    # stuff
  end

And hide the ugly semantics of GC disabling, and allow immediate GC
enabling.

	- Aleksi