> >
> >a = Whatever.new    # other than NilClass or FalseClass
> >
> >if a
> >   # block 1
> >end
> >
> >if a == true
> >   # block 2
> >end
> >
> >block 1 and block 2 will be executed only when a.class is TrueClass.
> >
> >  
> >
> This is not true, block 1 will execute if *a* is anything but nil or false.
> 
> a = "a string"
> puts  "a evaluates to true" if a
> 
> or
> 
> if a then
>     puts "a evalutes to true"
> end
> 
> Zach

output will be:
a evaluates to true
a evalutes to true

--
Mohammad