From: Chad Fowler <chad@...>
Date: 2003-10-03T03:56:28+09:00
Subject: Re: newbie question: function overloading

On Fri, 3 Oct 2003, Dimitrios Galanakis wrote:

# I need to define a method that performs differently when operated on objects
# of different type (overloading). Currently I use various if's to check for
# the type of the object as follows:
# 

There are really two answers to this:

1) Ryan Pavlik has created a library that provides overloading capability 
like this.  You could give it a try and it might feel right to your C++ 
ways.
2) I would lean more heavily toward this one:  The Ruby Way to accomplish 
what you're trying to accomplish very likely isn't to check type in this 
way.  I remember coming to Ruby from C++/Java and wondering why I couldn't 
do method overloading like this.  My brain was wired into the static 
typing way of doing things and I even felt like overloading was almost 
a necessary part of OO.  It didn't take long before I stopped feeling the 
need for this capability as I started reading existing code and 
understanding the Ruby idioms better.

Maybe if you could post a more specific example/statement of what you're 
trying to accomplish, we could see about helping you with option #2.

Chad