In ruby, the '.' is an operator that says send the following message to the preceding object. Because it is an operator it my have optionally have whitespace around it just like other operators. Traditionally whitespace is not used around it to visually enhance the connection between the object and the message.
Emmanuel Pirsch wrote: > You can explain that it is just like in English. You don't put a space > before the dot at the end of a sentence, but you put one after. > > > You can say that this is the same rule for the Ruby language, but that it > does allow you not put one after. > > > On Sat, May 16, 2009 at 8:09 PM, Sarah Allen <[email protected]> wrote: > >> interesting. This is more a Ruby question than a Shoes question, but how >> would one explain (to a young novice programmer) why it is ok to have a >> space after and not before? Is it just kind of arbitrary, or is there some >> rationale? I must admit, that I haven't really explored the rules around >> whitespace for Ruby, since I'm relatively new to it myself. They may never >> ask... I'm just curious. >> >> Sarah >>
