Hi --

On Tue, 5 Jan 2010, Yukihiro Matsumoto wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In message "Re: [ruby-core:27407] Re: [Feature #1082] add Object#singleton_class 	method"
>    on Tue, 5 Jan 2010 11:26:41 +0900, Shugo Maeda <shugo / ruby-lang.org> writes:
>
> |I prefer singleton_class than eigenclass.  I suppose that "singleton
> |class" is not so confusing with a class which implements the Singleton
> |pattern because the word singleton remind Ruby users of singleton
> |methods rather than the Singleton pattern.
>
> Basically, I agree.  But I cannot deny the fact that we already have
> singleton.rb in the distribution, which provide Singleton class.  I
> confess I did.  Probably I shouldn't have.

I've heard lots of people say that the similarity of names presents a
problem, but I've seen no evidence that there's actually a problem.
I've only very, very rarely heard anyone express confusion, and the
confusion only lasts for about two seconds until the difference is
explained:

   Student: Is that related to the Singleton pattern?
   Me:      No, "singleton" here has to do with object-specific
            behavior in Ruby's object model. It's a different
 	   concept that happens to have a similar-sounding name.
   Student: Oh, OK.

And that's all there is to it (if even that much).


David

-- 
David A. Black
Senior Developer, Cyrus Innovation Inc.
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