David A. Black wrote:
> Hi --
>
> On Thu, 24 Nov 2005, Robert Klemme wrote:
>
>> jemptymethod / gmail.com wrote:
>>> I'm brand new to ruby, as in, one hour!  So along with perhaps
>>> answering my very basic question, please feel free to point me to
>>> other resources on the web
>>>
>>> How do I fix the following so that entering 'q' indeed breaks out of
>>> the loop?  I've read the following but think I will need to see an
>>> example to truly understand.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance
>>>
>>> BTW I always learn new language basics by figuring out how to
>>> convert to roman numerals
>>>
>>>
>>> arabic = ' '
>>> while arabic != 'q' do
>>>   puts "Enter a whole number from 1 to 3999 for conversion"
>>>   puts "to Roman Numerals (enter 'q' to exit)"
>>>   arabic = gets
>>> end
>>
>> Here's another way to do it
>>
>> begin
>>   puts "Enter a whole number from 1 to 3999 for conversion"
>>   puts "to Roman Numerals (enter 'q' to exit)"
>>   arabic = gets.chomp
>> end until arabic == 'q'
>
> Although... see ruby-core 6745.  Matz doesn't like this construct, and
> it may disappear.

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that.  Although I agree with him on the
inconsistency issue I don't like the alternative approach for post test
loops either.  I'd prefer something more in line with what other languages
do - probably

begin
 ...
while foo > 0

do
 ...
while foo > 0

But then again, I can't estimate how hard this would be for the parser...

Kind regards

    robert