Rails spinoffs - Dec 2005 - Generic Question about the way code is written

Hi,

This is a generic question about the way code is written in prototype and
scriptaculous libraries.

Inside every object, we find functions that begin with "_".

How are these methods/functions different from the rest?

eg _text, _attributes, _each...

Please let me know.

Thank you,
Mandy.

Javascript does not have private functions, _ means its a private 
function, don''t tuch it ;)

Maninder, Singh wrote:
>Hi,
>
>This is a generic question about the way code is written in prototype and
scriptaculous libraries.
>
>Inside every object, we find functions that begin with "_".
>
>How are these methods/functions different from the rest?
>
>eg _text, _attributes, _each...
>
>Please let me know.
>
>Thank you,
>Mandy.
>_______________________________________________
>Rails-spinoffs mailing list
>Rails-spinoffs-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
>http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails-spinoffs
>
>  
>

I won''t touch it :) but I can call the method - right?

Or is it used for some internal calculations?

-----Original Message-----
From: rails-spinoffs-bounces-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
[mailto:rails-spinoffs-bounces-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org]On
Behalf Of
Abdur-Rahman Advany
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 5:13 PM
To: rails-spinoffs-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
Subject: Re: [Rails-spinoffs] Generic Question about the way code is
written


Javascript does not have private functions, _ means its a private 
function, don''t tuch it ;)

Maninder, Singh wrote:
>Hi,
>
>This is a generic question about the way code is written in prototype and
scriptaculous libraries.
>
>Inside every object, we find functions that begin with "_".
>
>How are these methods/functions different from the rest?
>
>eg _text, _attributes, _each...
>
>Please let me know.
>
>Thank you,
>Mandy.
>_______________________________________________
>Rails-spinoffs mailing list
>Rails-spinoffs-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
>http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails-spinoffs
>
>  
>
_______________________________________________
Rails-spinoffs mailing list
Rails-spinoffs-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails-spinoffs

On 12/15/05, Maninder, Singh
<mandiv-W2hqgAdRMsX2eFz/2MeuCQ@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> I won''t touch it :) but I can call the method - right?
>
> Or is it used for some internal calculations?
You certainly can call it, but you probably shouldn''t.

The ''_'' is used in many languages to imply privacy where
privacy can''t
be enforced.  It''s a way for the creator of the app to tell users of
it "don''t call this function directly".  It''s
usually done for some
mix of the following reasons:

The creator is thinking of renaming, removing, or drastically changing
this function in a future version.

Calling this function directly, instead of using the public api, can
cause unexpected side effects and/or errors that may be incredibly
tough to trace.

HTH.
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
rails-spinoffs-bounces-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
>
[mailto:rails-spinoffs-bounces-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org]On
Behalf Of
> Abdur-Rahman Advany
> Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 5:13 PM
> To: rails-spinoffs-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
> Subject: Re: [Rails-spinoffs] Generic Question about the way code is
> written
>
>
> Javascript does not have private functions, _ means its a private
> function, don''t tuch it ;)
>
> Maninder, Singh wrote:
>
> >Hi,
> >
> >This is a generic question about the way code is written in prototype
and scriptaculous libraries.
> >
> >Inside every object, we find functions that begin with "_".
> >
> >How are these methods/functions different from the rest?
> >
> >eg _text, _attributes, _each...
> >
> >Please let me know.
> >
> >Thank you,
> >Mandy.
> >_______________________________________________
> >Rails-spinoffs mailing list
> >Rails-spinoffs-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
> >http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails-spinoffs
> >
> >
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-spinoffs mailing list
> Rails-spinoffs-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails-spinoffs
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-spinoffs mailing list
> Rails-spinoffs-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails-spinoffs
>

--
Bill Guindon (aka aGorilla)