Re: how to compare two lists without looping? Possible?
Re: how to compare two lists without looping? Possible?
- Subject: Re: how to compare two lists without looping? Possible?
- From: Stan Cleveland <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 14:59:33 -0800
- Thread-topic: how to compare two lists without looping? Possible?
On 2/10/06 11:04 AM, email@hidden wrote:
> BTW, what means 'duck typed'?
Ruby programmers take advantage of the fact that different data types can
behave similarly. In Ruby parlance, if an object "looks like a duck and
sounds like a duck," then treat it as though it were a duck. This can be
illustrated in AppleScript by the following examples:
9 + 3.0 --> 12
9 + "3" --> 12
9 + {3} --> 12
In all cases, the "three" gets treated as an integer, even though the actual
objects are a real, a string, and a one-element list. Since they all "look
and sound" like an integer, why not allow any or all as valid integers where
it suits the situation? (A search for "duck typing" will turn up many web
pages on the topic.)
There are caveats to beware of when using this technique. Check out the
section called "Implicit Coercion" in Matt Neuberg's book "AppleScript, The
Definitive Guide" starting on page 244 in the 2nd edition, 264 in the 1st.
(Other AppleScript books in my library discuss this type of coercion, but
none as thoroughly as Matt's.)
Stan Cleveland
Color Technology Inc.
Portland, Oregon
"If recursion quacks like a loop, then it must be a loop."
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