Misc #15224
Updated by nobu (Nobuyoshi Nakada) over 5 years ago
Today I looked at:
https://ruby-doc.org/core-2.5.1/Array.html#method-i-initialize_copy
The example to this method is this:
```ruby
a = [ "a", "b", "c", "d", "e" ]
a.replace([ "x", "y", "z" ]) #=> ["x", "y", "z"]
a #=> ["x", "y", "z"]
```
What confused me was that I was looking at the method called `initialize_copy`
but the example showed `.replace()`.
I then looked at `#replace` there:
https://ruby-doc.org/core-2.5.1/Array.html#method-i-replace
And it was virtually identical to `initialize_copy`.
I assume the examples for `.replace()` are correct; and perhaps `initialize_copy`
is just an alias? I am not sure, but I would like to suggest to make the documentation,
in particular the example, a bit more consistent.
When you click on "view source" to look at the C code, they show the very same
content, so I believe that initialize_copy is merely an alias to replace; but I tried
this and they are not fully equivalent:
```ruby
x = [1,2,3] # => [1, 2, 3]
x.initialize_copy [4,5,6]
```
```
Traceback (most recent call last):
2: from /System/Index/bin/irb:11:in `<main>'
1: from (irb):2
NoMethodError (private method `initialize_copy' called for [1, 2, 3]:Array)
```
Yet:
```ruby
x.replace [4,5,6] # => [4, 5, 6]
```
works. So I assume that `initialize_copy` is like `.replace()` but is a private
method instead.
Perhaps it may help to add a sentence below the documentation of
`replace()`, to explain what the use case for `initialize_copy` is. Or to perhaps
mention that it is an alias.
At the least how it is right now is that people may read `initialize_copy`, initialize_copy,
but then see an example of `#replace`. #replace. (Perhaps an example for
`initialize_copy` initialize_copy may help, but either way, I think the current docu-example
is not ideal).