From: Paul Brannan <pbrannan@...>
Date: 2003-09-16T03:21:51+09:00
Subject: Re: Implementing the tape safe enum pattern in Ruby.

On Tue, Sep 16, 2003 at 01:47:46AM +0900, Ged wrote:
> I rather like the type safe enum pattern in Java, and I was wonding
> how I might implement it in Ruby.  Here is an example (based on the
> earlier OO challange thread).
> 
> The big advantage is that it allows me to dynamically specify a
> domain.  Iteration and lookup comes free, all I have to do is declare
> each variation.  I find constant use for it, avoiding the need for
> reflection.

Yes, this is possible in Ruby.  See:
  http://cvs.sf.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/rubycollections/rubycollections/rbc/enum.rb?rev=1.7
  http://cvs.sf.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/excruby/excruby/excruby/enum_wrapper.hpp?rev=1.2
  http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/79041

> Is an equivalent possible in Ruby, or is it irrelevant because Ruby is
> not strongly typed?

Ruby is strongly typed.  It is not statically typed.  See
[ruby-talk:64625].

Paul