From: Hal Fulton <hal9000@...>
Date: 2003-09-14T14:04:40+09:00
Subject: Dot versus double-colon

OK, I've been thinking (always dangerous after 11 pm).

Class-level entities can be accessed via a double-colon.
No big mystery:

   File::open(...)
   File::SEPARATOR

Happily, a class method can also be accessed via a dot:

   File.open(...)

But a constant can't:

   File.SEPARATOR     # syntax error

First, why is it this way?

Personally, I don't like the :: anyway, as it reminds me
of C++.

By the way, for those who are wondering, this *is* possible:

   class File
     def self.SEPARATOR
       File::SEPARATOR
     end
   end

   File.SEPARATOR       # "/"

Even though it looks almost like recursion. Hmm, that raises
the question of why/how this works.

And another issue is: One *could* write a little module that,
when included in a class, exposed all the class's constants in
this way. Within five minutes I had it "almost" working. I'll
bet someone in another timezone or with more caffeine could
have it working in three. Anyone?

Hal