matz / zetabits.com (Yukihiro Matsumoto) writes:

> OK, OK.  Let's discuss.
> 
> The principle above have both pro and con.
> 
>   (+) consistency.
>   (-) returning nil somtimes breaks method chains.
> 
> The latter can be avoided if one follows the no-bang-method-chain
> rule.  But I don't force you to agree with me (yet ;-).

There's another way to view consistency: sort and sort! might be
expected to return the same type of thing.

How often is the fact that ! methods return nil actually used in
practice (a genuine question). Perhaps that overall functionality
might be up for review.


Dave