From: Robert Klemme <bob.news@...>
Date: 2003-04-14T17:57:24+09:00
Subject: Re: Does dynamic typing make it easier to place an object in a container?


<nathaniel@NOSPAMtalbott.ws> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:000801c300f9$03afdea0$1800a8c0@LEWIS...
> Ahem. I beg to (gently) differ. I program in Ruby and in Java on a
> regular basis, and it is much more difficult to use containers in Java
> than it is in Ruby. For example:
>
>     a = ["1", 2]
>     a.each {|number| puts(number.to_i * 2)}
>
> vs.
>
>     Collection a = Arrays.asList(new Object[] {"1", new Integer(2)})
>     Iterator iterator = a.iterator();
>     while(iterator.hasNext()) {
>         Object thing = iterator.next();
>         int number = 0;
>         if(thing instanceof String)
>             number = Integer.parseInt((String)thing);
>         else
> number = ((Integer)thing).intValue();
>         System.out.println(number * 2)
>     }

If java.lang.Object had a method "public int toInteger()" like ruby's
Object has the Java example would have been much more similar to the Ruby
example.  IMHO in this case it's not so much about typing style but about
the interface of the core classes.

    robert