>>>>> "H" == Hal E Fulton <hal9000 / hypermetrics.com> writes:

H> Which raises the question: Why is this
H> "non-OO"? Why not str.integer (for instance)
H> instead of Integer(str)? Is it just to make
H> it more universally available (i.e., to 
H> different data types, Integer(non_str_obj))?

 Well, you can write

pigeon% ruby -e 'p Integer(12.4)'
12
pigeon% 

H> And why is Integer capitalized? I know of 
H> only four methods in the entire Ruby core 
H> that start with capital letters.

 and they do the same thing (a conversion) :-)


Guy Decoux