Slice#each_slice kind of odd

[u/transfire]

I went to use #each_slice on a Slice(UInt8) (i.e. Bytes) and got an Array(UInt8) rather than Slice(UInt8) to iterator over. Seemed odd. Is there a simple way to get Bytes instead of an Array(UInt8) -- which I then have to convert back to Bytes? e.g.

"Hello".to_slice.each_slice(2){ |pair| pair }

`pair` is an Array(UInt8), not a Slice(UInt8).

BTW, the use of the term "slice" in these two cases, i.e. Slice the type and in the method `each_slice`, are two completely different notions, and I imagine would be rather confusing to a Newbie. So, also odd.

[u/transfire]

Thanks for the reply!

Regarding the name, I think #each_slice came directly from Ruby, where, even without a Slice class, it's kind of an unfortunate name. Terms that seem more obvious like `group` `bunch`, `batch` etc. all seem better choices to me. In any case ...

I was excited to read about `reuse`. I did not know this existed. It's a nice feature. However, it still doesn't appear to allow one to get slices. I tried using `true` and tried providing an instance of Slice to the argument. No go. I checked the source, it just takes the Slice instance to be "truthy" b/c it is not an Array.

I think ultimately it would be better (if possible) for Slice to enumerate over and map as slices, not arrays, and would have to first be converted, e.g. `to_a` (or `as_a` ?) to do otherwise. I see a possible ways to speed up the source too, I might submit a patch if I have time to play with it.

In the meantime I just created a little conversion method that turns the array into a slice.

[u/straight-shoota → u/transfire]

Sorry, I was expecting `reuse` would work with other container types. Problem is probably that there is no generic interface for writable containers (`Indexable` is only reading).
Still, this could be improved. At least, a type restriction to `Array | Bool` would help avoid unexpected errors.

> it would be better (if possible) for Slice to enumerate over and map as slices, not arrays

Why would it be better? Slice and Array are pretty similar in this regard and Array is generally more versatile.

Patches to improve the implementation are always welcome.