s[3,0] is "", instead of nil.
That behaviour is contrary to the description in the 1.9.2 docs here:
http://www.ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Array.html
The docs certainly could be more clear but the actual behavior is
self-consistent and useful.
Note: I'm assuming 1.9.X version of String.
It helps to consider the numbering in the following way:
-4 -3 -2 -1 <-- numbering for single argument indexing
0 1 2 3
+---+---+---+---+
| a | b | c | d |
+---+---+---+---+
0 1 2 3 4 <-- numbering for two argument indexing or start of
range
-4 -3 -2 -1
The common (and understandable) mistake is too assume that the semantics
of the single argument index are the same as the semantics of the
*first* argument in the two argument scenario (or range). They are not
the same thing in practice and the documentation doesn't reflect this.
The error though is definitely in the documentation and not in the
implementation:
single argument: the index represents a single character position
within the string. The result is either the single character string
found at the index or nil because there is no character at the given
index.
s = ""
s[0] # nil because no character at that position
s = "abcd"
s[0] # "a"
s[-4] # "a"
s[-5] # nil, no characters before the first one
two integer arguments: the arguments identify a portion of the string to
extract or to replace. In particular, zero-width portions of the string
can also be identified so that text can be inserted before or after
existing characters including at the front or end of the string. In this
case, the first argument does *not* identify a character position but
instead identifies the space between characters as shown in the diagram
above. The second argument is the length, which can be 0.
s = "abcd" # each example below assumes s is reset to "abcd"
To insert text before 'a': s[0,0] = "X" # "Xabcd"
To insert text after 'd': s[4,0] = "Z" # "abcdZ"
To replace first two characters: s[0,2] = "AB" # "ABcd"
To replace last two characters: s[-2,2] = "CD" # "abCD"
To replace middle two characters: s[1..3] = "XX" # "aXXd"
The behavior of a range is pretty interesting. The starting point is the
same as the first argument when two arguments are provided (as described
above) but the end point of the range can be the 'character position' as
with single indexing or the "edge position" as with two integer
arguments. The difference is determined by whether the double-dot range
or triple-dot range is used:
s = "abcd"
s[1..1] # "b"
s[1..1] = "X" # "aXcd"
s[1...1] # ""
s[1...1] = "X" # "aXbcd", the range specifies a zero-width portion of
the string
s[1..3] # "bcd"
s[1..3] = "X" # "aX", positions 1, 2, and 3 are replaced.
s[1...3] # "bc"
s[1...3] = "X" # "aXd", positions 1, 2, but not quite 3 are replaced.
If you go back through these examples and insist and using the single
index semantics for the double or range indexing examples you'll just
get confused. You've got to use the alternate numbering I show in the
ascii diagram to model the actual behavior.
Gary Wright
