Mike Steiner wrote:
> Why is the constructor method named initialize? Why not name it new
> to be consistent?

I had this same question when I first started out. The answer I came
to realize is that "new" is a class method that allocates the object,
and "initialize" is the instance method that does the per-object setup
you want.

For more details on how I came to realize this, read the "new versus
initialize" section of this post:
Short URL: http://rubyurl.com/n1Q
Full URL:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.ruby/tree/browse_frm/thread/c3b22bf2d53bd68b/72313022abed07f9?rnum=1&q=matz+is+smart&_done=%2Fgroup%2Fcomp.lang.ruby%2Fbrowse_frm%2Fthread%2Fc3b22bf2d53bd68b%2F1b4160db0a57e90f%3Flnk%3Dgst%26q%3Dmatz%2Bis%2Bsmart%26rnum%3D1%26#doc_72313022abed07f9