On Sunday, January 5, 2003, 6:20:41 PM, Justin wrote:

>>  Because #succ can be destructive, a stupid example with 1.6.8

> #succ _could_ be destructive, but destructive methods should have a ! 
> appended. so #succ! should be destructive, while #succ, following normal 
> Ruby naming, should NOT be destructive.

It's not as simple as that.  ! methods are generally to differentiate
from non-! methods when both are provided.  Many methods are plainly
destruvtive, and it would be stylistic overkill to append a !.  For
example:

  Array#shift,unshift,push,pop,delete,...

Gavin