From: benny <linux@...>
Date: 2004-01-28T04:14:54+09:00
Subject: Re: newbee question about "missing" hash methods +, += and <<

Am Wed, 28 Jan 2004 03:45:35 +0900
schrieb Hal Fulton <hal9000@hypermetrics.com>:

> benny wrote:
> 
> >> and I hope that you have read that it don't exist a method=20
> >> Hash#unshift :-)
> > 
> > I know "unshift" only from php. what do you want to tell me with this state=
> > ment?
> > should I better stay programing php?
> 
> Notice there is a smiley. Apparently a small joke.
> 
> I guess when you said "shift" you meant << (which looks like
> the numeric shift operator) rather than the actual method
> named shift (whose opposite is unshift).

no I meant the method "shift" and indeed there is no method "unshift" for hashes (in ruby, in php,
there is). 

I refered to the method "shift" because Mr. Decoux stated 
"(order is given by the hash value, and not
 by the last element added)" 

to say that you can't use << for hashes.

I'm not shure if I got him right. I thought he said 

"the order of the new element in the array when using ["a"] << "b" is given by the array , so that
the added element is always the last one. how would that be in a hash, where we have a key?"

and I wanted to tell him

"I always thought the order doesn't matter in a hash as you can see be the unpredictability of the
result of the method shift."

> 
> I think this minor misunderstanding is only the result of
> a French person and a German person conversing in English.
> 

I think its more the aim of minimalistic communication that leads to confusion.

nevertheless my proposal wasn't {"a" => "b"} << "c => d" (analog to ["a"] << "b" ) but 
{"a" => "b"} << {"c" => "d"}

(see my other posting).

and the argument that this would mean another thing than with arrays (adding an association instead
of an element) I think is not so important because, Hash is an other Object than Array and can
handle << in its own useful way (as String and Fixnum also do).

> 
> Cheers,
> Hal
> 
> 
ps. I saw the smiley just wanted to know if I interpreted the allusion "unshift" the right way.

cheers,

benny