ruby/ToDo

Language Spec.

* operator !! for rescue. ???
* objectify characters
* ../... outside condition invokes operator method too.
* ... inside condition turns off just before right condition.???
* package or access control for global variables??
* named arguments like foo(nation:="german") or foo(nation: "german").
* method to retrieve argument information (needs new C API)
* multiple return values, yield values.  maybe incompatible ???
* cascading method invocation ???
* def Class#method .. end ??
* class Foo::Bar<Baz .. end, module Boo::Bar .. end
* def Foo::Bar::baz() .. end ??
* I18N (or M17N) script/string/regexp
* Fixnum 0 as false ????
* discourage use of symbol variables (e.g. $/, etc.) in manual
* discourage use of Perlish features by giving warnings.
* non confusing in-block local variable (is it possible?)
  + remove scope by block
  + variables appears within block may have independent values.
* Regexp: make /o thread safe.
* decide whether begin with rescue or ensure make do..while loop.
* a +1 to be a+1, not a(+1).
* unify == and eql? again
* to_i returns nil if str contains no digit.
* raise exception by `` error
* jar like combined library package.
* resumable Exception via Exception#resume.
* method combination, e.g. before, after, around, etc.
* .. or something like defactive in Emacs.

Hacking Interpreter

- generational GC
* non-blocking open (e.g. for named pipe) for thread
* avoid blocking with gethostbyname/gethostbyaddr (use fork ???)
* objectify interpreters ???
* remove rb_eval() recursions
* syntax tree -> bytecode ???
* scrambled script, or script filter
* setuid ruby
* performance tune for in-block (dynamic) local variables.
* give warnings to assign magic variables.
* export rb_io_{addstr,printf,puts,print}
* autoload should work with threads [ruby-talk:4589]
* remove stdio dependency from IOs.
* warn for inconsistent local variable usage (lv m and method m at the same time). 
* MicroRuby
* Built-in Interactive Ruby.
* trap every method invocation, which can be enabled by e.g. trap_call :method.
* unify Errno exceptions of same errno, or new exception comparison scheme.
* 2.times{|i| if i==0 then a = 15 else puts eval("a") end} should print nil.

Standard Libraries

- Module#define_method which takes a name and a body (block, proc or method).
- Enume#inject
- Array#fetch
- IO::for_fd
- Process::waitall [ruby-talk:4557]
- Process::Status
- File::lchown, File::lchmod; xxx - still need work for non existing platforms
- move Time::times to Process.
- Enumerable#sort_by for Schwartzian transformation
- fork_and_kill_other_threads.
- signal list (Signal::trap, Signal::list).
* String#scanf(?)
* Object#fmt(?)
* Integer#{bin,oct,hex,heX}
* Time::strptime
* Integer[num], Float[num];  Fixnum[num]?
* method to retrieve non-number trailer for to_i/to_f.
* Stream or Port, abstract superclass of IO ?
* String#{pred,prev}, String#downto
* optional stepsize argument for succ()
* Ruby module -- Ruby::Version, Ruby::Interpreter
* introduce Boolean class; super of TrueClass, FalseClass
* synchronized method - synchronized{...}, synchronized :foo, :bar
* Array#&, Array#| to allow duplication. ???
* way to specify immortal (fork endurance) thread;
* or raise ForkException to every thread but fork caller.
* Hash::new{default} or recommend Hash#fetch?
* new user-defined marshal scheme. _dump(dumper), _load(restorer)
* hash etc. should handle self referenceing array/hash
* move NameError under StandardError.
* library to load per-user profile seeking .ruby_profile or ruby.ini file.
* warning framework (warn, warning for Ruby level)
* marshal should not depend on sprintf/strtod (works bad for locale).
* ternary arg - a.pow(b,c) == a**b%c

Extension Libraries

* ptk.rb pTk wrapper that is compatible to tk.rb
* Berkeley DB extension
* BitVector
* thread-safe fcgi

Ruby Libraries

* add uri.rb
* urllib.rb, nttplib.rb, etc.
* format like perl's

Tools

* freeze or undump to bundle everything

Misc

- publish Ruby books
- publish Ruby books in English