String freeze

Ruby
1

Hey all,

So I’m trying to freeze a class variable, and I discover that
Object#freeze
breaks down every time on my machine. Even with simple strings.

irb(main):001:0> test = “good”
=> “good”
irb(main):002:0> test.freeze
=> “good”
irb(main):003:0> test.frozen?
=> true
irb(main):004:0> test = “bad”
=> “bad”
irb(main):005:0> test.frozen?
=> false

What gives?

I must be missing something.

fiery

2

On 4/23/07, Stephen S. [email protected] wrote:

=> true
irb(main):004:0> test = “bad”
=> “bad”
irb(main):005:0> test.frozen?
=> false

What gives?

I must be missing something.

You are missing the difference between a variable and an object.

test = “good”

test is a local variable which references a string object.

test.freeze?

This freezes the object referenced by test.

test = “bad”
this makes the variable test refer to an entirely different string.

For another thing to ponder try this:

test = “good”
test.freeze

another_variable = test
another_variable.frozen? => true

The point is that you can’t freeze variables.

This distinction between variables and the objects they reference is
a stumbling block for many people coming to Ruby if they haven’t been
exposed to other languages in the family.

–
Rick DeNatale

My blog on Ruby
http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/

3

On 4/24/07, Stephen S. [email protected] wrote:

Hey all,

So I’m trying to freeze a class variable, and I discover that Object#freeze
breaks down every time on my machine. Even with simple strings.

fiery

Try altering it instead of reassigning it.
I think this is a little more like what you expected.
Not exactly, but you can see freezing.

test = “good”
p test
test.freeze
p test
p test.frozen?

test << “bad”
p test
p test.frozen?

Harry

4

test references two different objects… try this…

test = “good”
test.freeze
test.object_id

test = “bad”
test.object_id

You will notice different object_id’s in the first and later case.

-abhijit

On 4/24/07, Harry [email protected] wrote:

Try altering it instead of reassigning it.
test << “bad”
p test
p test.frozen?

Harry

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