13 May
2006
13 May
'06
1:19 a.m.
On 5/12/06, Bob Erb bob.erb@gmail.com wrote:
Here's a question I feel comfortable asking on the Newbies list. :-)
What's the hash mark signify when used as a prefix to a method name,
The hash mark signifies that it is a symbol.
Another word for "method name" is "selector". You sometimes see this in comments in the code. For example, see the method #addSelector:withMethod: in Behavior. A "selector" is always a symbol. This means that the name of a method is always a symbol.
If I were writing a paper on Smalltalk and wanted to mention a method name, I'd probably make it bold face, but when I am using plain ASCII, like in e-mail or a Smalltalk comment, I'll put a hash mark before the method name to indicate that it is a symbol.
-Ralph Johnson