From: Thomas Yager-Madden <tym@...>
Date: 2003-09-06T10:51:30+09:00
Subject: sleep command in iterators (silly n00b toy question)

So, still busy just getting introduced to this ruby business.  For 
riduculous reasons entirely my own, I decide it would neat-o to have a 
programm write a line of dots on the screen (.....), but to write them 
slooowly, maybe a second between each dot.  Okay.  So I try

25.times { print "."; sleep 1 }
print "\n"

But instead of printing a dot, waiting a second, and then printing 
another dot, &c.  Ruby waits 25 seconds and then prints 25 dots all at 
once.

Interestingly, { puts "."; sleep 1 } shows the desired behavior of 
waiting a second between each dot, but of course it puts each dot on a 
separate line.

It's looking to me like Ruby gathers up print messages, and saves them 
up, writing to stdout only when it encounters a newine or the end of the 
program.

Anybody know how to get my idle little toy to work the way I want it to.  
It would help me scratch this little itch way up on top my brain.

Thanks
Thomas